.36 or .45
 

Right now I own a .54 cal GPR and oh boy does it pack a wallop. I'm wanting to do some coyote hunting and was wondering if anyone has used a .36 cal. for shooting coyotes? Or what would you recommend? Thx.

the nice thing about a muzzleloader is often you can change your projectile to meet the needs of your hunt. I really do not know what to tell you. Although I own a .45 caliber and with a good projectile it could have some impressive range to it.

What's your load in the GPR?

Well, i have never actually hunted coyote with a 45 caliber rifle, but i would think a straight shooting 45, would make an excellent coyote rifle. About 115g of powder, and a 200g 40 caliber bullet in a sabot, will reach out beyond 300 yard. Recoil is kinda mild too.

I have a 36 cal I think it would be a little light for coyote. The 45 cal with a 40 cal 180 would be good medicine.

i've busted numerous coyotes using .50 caliber inline muzzleloaders. Recently nailed a big male coyote with my .54 FireHawk.

Mike R.,

I've pretty much always considered the .36 as a small game caliber and the .45 as a versatile caliber because it's capable of taking both large and small game by simply tailoring a load for the game you're hunting. I have a T/C Seneca .36 and the max recommended load for a .36 (128 gr.) Maxi-ball is 60 gr. FFFg while the max recommended load for my .45 Hawken with a 240 gr. Maxi is 100 gr.

I've taken a number of deer with the 240 gr. Maxi over 70 gr. of FFFg so it's plenty enough for any coyote that gets in it's way. You're choice of conicals for the .36 is very limited as well, so the .45 is a much better choice in my opinion.

BPS

I use a 45 for squirrel with a light load [50 gr RS] and round ball and with a180 gr jacketed bullet [XTP]+sabot for coyote and coy-dog and a 200 grain SST+sabot for deer. I switch to my 50 for elk with a 300 grain bonded Shock wave.

For punching paper I load 65 grains of (don't anybody shoot me now) Pyrodex P. :s13: I shoot Pyrodex cause I found a good deal on it and loaded up on it.

I was shooting 80 grains and even with the butt of the stock between my bicep and shoulder, it was beating me up too much. I had some major bruising on my arm and boy was it sore. Even now with 65 grains I've got to be careful that I remember to really lift my elbow up and move the crescent butt plate down from my shoulder a little.

The .45 might be a bit easier on me...I not young anymore.

You could try some Pyro RS. It will shoot softer than the P.

I assume you're talking about shooting a PRB?

As a last resort you can cut off the curved butt, and install a recoil pad. (Sims)

I have a feeling you're shouldering the gun wrong, but I have no way of knowing without seeing you do it. Your load with the weight of a GPR shouldn't kick bad at all. Your body should be almost 90 degrees to the target with the gun going across your body.

Are you shooting offhand? Shooting off a bench will kill you with that gun. It did me no matter how I mounted it, but offhand it was fine.