45 or 50 cal
 

I am going to buy a ML and start shooting over the summer. I hope to deer hunt with it next fall. My question is should I buy a 45 or 50 cal.? How much difference will I see in bullet velocity, drop etc. (I know loads will make a difference here, but in general will I be able to tell much difference.) I do not plan to scope this gun, so shots to 100 yards will probably be about the limit.


I am strongly considering a TC Omega. Will this be a good choice? What other in-lines should I be looking at?

Thanks for the help.

Randy

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Welcome to black powder shooting/hunting!
I'd go with a .50
More choices out there for you.
The TC is a great gun.
I have 2 older,sidelock TC and they have served me well for 30 years.
I just bought a CVA Optima Pro and like it so far even though I have only been to the range once with and still do not have it dialed in to my liking.
Shop around, see what gun fits you best.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

If you're not going to scope it, you'd probably really enjoy something like a TC Hawken in .45 or .50caliber...

100grns of FFg (Goex or Pyrodex-RS)
An Oxyoke wonderwad
.018" TC prelubed pillow ticking patch
Hornady .440 ball (.45cal)
Hornady .490 ball (.50cal)

They take deer year after year all over the country with iron sights at typical 50-100yd woods distances

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

The T/C Omega .50 and the Knight Disc Elite .50 are the two best pure muzzleloaders going right now. The T/C Encore is great also if you prefer a gun that you can switch barrels on. By all means, I would get the .50 in whatever you buy. There's way more in the choice of projectiles for the .50 and most people seem to be able to achieve good accuracy out of a .50 with a little less trial and error than with a .45 ML. Good luck!

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

.50 caliber is the better choice. There is nothing that a .45 caliber can do that a .50 caliber can not match or do better. Also the selection of bullets is much better in the .50 caliber. We are going to a slower projectile, why would you want to also go to a smaller one? I would take the .50 caliber any day......:eek:

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

thats why they make them all ; 45 ; 50 ; 54 and so forth.it depends on what you like.if you find a rifle you like and it is in 45 cal. don't hesitate to buy it. there are just as many bullet and powder chocies for the 45 as there are for the 50 or 54.most people go with the 50 cal. because if you go west for bigger game,the laws make it 50 or above????????????????????

for white tail with open sights at 100 yards or less,it depends on you and what you like.they all work just as good as the other.

I have shot 45 cal. for the past 35 yeard now and love it.TC 45 hawken sidelock.went to an inline about 5 years ago also in 45.it has put meat in the pot every year after the first year.thats a bunch of meat.JMHO.


wish you luck in what ever you choose.you may go to the range and watch and ask questions,most BP shooters will give you a chance to shoot there gun.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Treeclimber, I've reached the point where I'm lucky to have a few different calibers too, standard twists, round ball twists, percussion, flint, etc...but after all the shooting and comparing and deer taken with them all, if I had to be stuck with only one muzzleloader, it would be a TC .45cal flintlock with 1:48" twist.

They shoot the 128grn patched round ball very accurately from powderpuff squirrel loads to full power deer hunting loads...and the 255grn maxi-hunter is a tack driver in them providing plenty of weight & energy for longer ranges and/or larger game, etc.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Thanks for all the replies. I really appreciate them. I have shot BP before. Never hunted with one though. My brother made a hawken from a kit years ago, I really enjoyed that and am ready to get back into it. With the comments here maybe I will just talk him out of it. I don't think he has shot it in years. It is a beautiful gun .45 cal. and would have some additional sentimental value.

My reason for looking for a new one is that hawken was a son-of-a-gun to clean. We used to shoot black powder and it took forever to clean it after shooting. It seems that the in-lines would be a lot easier to clean after a hunt. How do the new powders work in these older guns. I am thinking this gun is 25 years old.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Inlines are no faster to THOROUGHLY & PROPERLY clean than most traditional muzzleloaders, and a hooked breech muzzleloader (ie: TC Hawken) is about as fast as they get...all I use are TC Hawkens and it's become a pretty straight forward 30 minute job...this is the way I happen to clean & lube my muzzleloaders:

1) Pull the barrel and put it breech end down in a steaming hot pail of soapy water;
2) While the barrel is soaking & heating up, if it's a flintlock, clean the lock with a tooth brush dipped into the hot soapy water, then blow the internals out with an aersol can of WD40 to drive off all the moisture, lightly oil internals with something like Rem-Oil;
3) Then pump flush the bore with patches and always a good bronze bore brush til clean back down to the bare raw metal;
4) Now pump flush the bore in a separate small pail of hot clean RINSE water;
5) Immediately dry patch all the moisture out of the bore to avoid flash rust;
6) Let the residual heat in the barrel bone dry the the bore for a few minutes;
7) Then while still a little warm, heavily, heavily, heavily plaster the bore with Natural Lube 1000 (from a tube, etc) so you're certain every square inch is covered/protected.

They've been a joy to shoot, cleaning and lubing them this way for years.

I used Pyrodex-RS in several TC Hawkens for years, but when I switched to Flintlocks and Goex, I found it to be so fast, clean, and accurate, I rezeroed all my percussions to Goex...but Pyrodex did very well when that's all I had...it's just with Goex, ignition is never, ever a question...ignites extremely easy & fast.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

stay with the .50

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Roundball-thanks for the info. I am going to call my brother right now and get ahold of his hawken. It will be fun to play with again and get some experience with the new powders. I have a dumb begginners question. What do you mean by pump flush? I am guessing you have water in the barrell and push the patch down, but am not sure.


Also do you have any suggestions on where to start as far as loads/bullets? Again this gun is a .45. Sounds like you really like the Goex. I have no experience with this or 777. Shot a little pyrodex way back when, but it sounds like some of these newer powders are better. I also have only shot round balls (we used to make our own), but would like to try some of the others.

Thanks again for the help.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

I know a few folks that have both Knight and T/C ML inlines in 45. None of them complain about having a 45 versus a 50.

That said, if I were buying new or new to me I would be looking more towards 50cal.
There is so much more development projectile-wise in 50 cal than any other ML caliber.

But that does depend on the deal also. I would not likely walk away from a really great deal on a quality 45. If fact, I missed one last year that I sill wish I had snagged up (T/C Encore SS in 45). I guy I know got one for Christmas last year from his wife and simply hated the sport that is muzzleloading. He sold the gun with a Leupold VX-III 2.5x8 for $500.
Then he caught hell from his wife and felt like an idiot after she found out because she had dropped almost a grand on the setup.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

I have 45's 50's and one 54 cal. If I were to pick one caliber it would have to be the 50cal.There are more accessories out there for the 50's.I shot deer with both the 50 and 54 cal. It lays them low.I'm sure the 45 will do just as well.Any you choose will fill the ticket. I just feel you have more options with a 50 cal.

Ruger Redhawk

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Really no matter what caliber you decide on or what style rifle you get, it all boils down to knowing your loads limitations and your rifles abilities.... If you can place that projectile in the right place you will be successful.

A while back I went on the inline craze and now own three of them. I like to shoot inlines and I think they are a great rifle. Funny part was, during out hunting season I was always taking a cap lock rifle most the time. All my shots were going to be under 100 yards, and this .58 caliber I picked, with a roundball is a real shooter. The projectile without doubt is a game stopper, and it was fun to hunt with it.

I did use an inline a couple of late afternoon hunts when I was looking out over a large hay field and I knew shots might be over 150 yards. The only reason though was the Black Diamond XR has a scope. I needed that for my old eyes (and I really needed some venison).

A lot of people own both inlines, cap locks, even flintlocks. They are all fun to shoot. All of them will do the job if you can do your part.... Good luck to all of you this hunting season and season's greetings to each of you.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Right, "PUMP-FLUSH" is simply a term referring to the piston effect you get when you have the breech end in a bucket of water, and run a cleaning jag/patch up and down.

The upstroke sucks hot soapy water in through the nipple or vent, then expels it back out on the down stroke...do this a couple dozen times until the water you pull up out of the muzzle starts looking pretty clean, then I remove the nipple or vent and do a few more pump flushes to ensure the nipple or vent seats are clean;

Then use a good bronze bore brush for a couple dozen full length strokes, followed by cleaning patches again.
================================================== ====
Note: call TC and ask for a copy of their muzzleloader manual, they'll send you one for free...has load data charts in the back for different calibers and projectiles.

Actually Goex is not new...it's a real blackpowder and probably the most popular;
Pyrodex worked very well for me in TC Hawken percussions, Goex works better;

For target shooting/plinking with my .45 TC Hawkens I use:

50grns Goex FFFg (or 50-60grns Pyrodex-RS)
.018" TC prelubed pillow ticking patch (or .015" Oxyoke)
Hornady or Speer .440 balls

For hunting with round balls, I use 90grns Goex FFFg + an Oxyoke wonderwad

For hunting with TC 255grn Maxi-Hunters - 90grns Goex FFg (2F) + Oxyoke wonderwad

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Go with the 50. Many states do not allow the 45 caliber for game bigger than deer.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

I have .45 and .50 cal. I have my opinions of both, but it seems to be getting harder to find a variety of supplies for my .45. There are always plenty of options for my .50. If I was to recommend one, I would say .50.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

The .45s offer one advantage over the .50s for those that like to cast their own bullets: inexpensive mould availability. There are few good moulds available for .50 caliber at reasonable prices but quite a number of .45s that will work well.

Another advantage is the G2 Contender. ;) But TC will be selling a .50 step-up barrel for it next year if my info is correct.

I think I need another G2. :)

One thing I've noticed over the past many years is how the .45 gets "rediscovered" every few years. Huge rises in popularity followed by sharp declines - only to repeat again at some point in the future. Weird.

RE: 45 or 50 cal
 

Exactly...and TC is on the fading side of the .45cal cycle...ie: they stopped making their .45cal barrels at both TC and TC's Fox Ridge subsidiary...I got the last couple .45cal 1:66" flint round ball barrels they had in stock a few years ago...and picked up a couple used .45cal 1:48" standard flint barrels on auctions since then.

I use .45/.50/.54/.56/.58/.62calibers, but always seem to keep coming back to the .45...took a couple deer this season with a .58cal GM flint barrel, but two others plus a squirrel this weekend were with .45's...