Caliber Preferences?

[Doug1968]

50 cal muzzleloader , 270 and my 444 for deer but starting to love my 22-250 more than my AR for coyotes !
I’ve been eyeing a 25 06 for awhile and thinking I might need it as well lol.

 

[Hanshi]

For years it's been flintlocks, only, for hunting. But I am very anxious to get the cf gang out to the range for exercise some.

 

[mark1945]

Here is one of my favorite Hog guns they dont run off out into the brush very often.I like the big slow moving lead bullets .

 

[afishhunter]

Depends on what I'm doing.

Hunting with cartridge guns, I prefer medium bore (.30 to .40 caliber) and big bore (.45 caliber and above.)

Hunting with a muzzle loader: Big bore all the way with .50 caliber the minimum.
(the arm also has to be a traditional sidelock.)

My "Go To" Big Game rifle is a (pre factory fire) percussion .54 caliber T/C Hawken

Shotgun: I'm "conservative". IMHO only the 12 guage is worth having.

In the wilds of the Americas there isn't a land or air critter the 12 guage is not capable of harvesting with the proper load, without it beeing a "stunt shot". (The "proper load" for pretty much any in the wild air and land critter in North, Central, and South America is commercially availabe.)
(Taking say ... an Asian or African elephant with a 12 guage would, IMHO, be a "stunt shot" ... and these days would likely be poaching as well.)

Pistol: I'm rather fond of the 1911 in .45 ACP and my .50 caliber "Trapper".

Revolver: .38 Spcl minimum to .45 caliber.

.44 Only for cap and ball. I don't care for the .36.
The .44 is more versital, and is available in solid frame revolvers, which I prefer over the open top revolvers like the Colt.
If y'all prefer the open top Colts, more power to yee, and don't complain too much that they ain't my preference. Since I ain't buyin' any open tops, that means there's more of 'em available for you.
If you try and order one a fraction of 1 second after they sold out at your favorite website or local dealer, it weren't me that got it.

Plinking and Target Shooting: .22 LR, be it pistol, revolver, or rifle.

 

[Marty1]

I'm with you on that one. It's one reason I got into blackpowder. You can tolerate shoulding heavier bullets with the bigger bores.

Here is one of my favorite Hog guns they dont run off out into the brush very often.I like the big slow moving lead bullets .View attachment 447

What load are we looking at with those missiles?

 

[mark1945]

Marty, They are 120 grain of 2F and 500 grain cast bullet from a Lee mold, they actually weigh right at 510 Grain.

 

[LR]

What load are we looking at with those missiles?

It looks like a 50-90, but I am not sure.

 

[BigAl52]

38-55 in a levergun, 54 Caliber Hawken in a Black Powder Muzzleloader, 45-100 in a Sharps, and 41 mag in a pistol with a levergun in 41 mag to make it a combo. Honorable mention going to 243 and 308

 

[LR]

38-55 in a levergun, 54 Caliber Hawken in a Black Powder Muzzleloader, 45-100 in a Sharps, and 41 mag in a pistol with a levergun in 41 mag to make it a combo. Honorable mention going to 243 and 308

Why Johnny Ringo...you look like somebody just walked over your grave.
Love your avatar as I am a big fan of Tombstone.

Having a lever gun and wheel gun in the same caliber is awesome!

 

[Marty1]

Marty, They are 120 grain of 2F and 500 grain cast bullet from a Lee mold, they actually weigh right at 510 Grain.

Caliber?

 

[BigAl52]

Thanks LongRifle. Tombstone is also one of my all time favorites. Val Kilmer should of won an academy award for his role in that movie. As far as combos go I have several combos as single actions and leverguns rule at my house.

 

[Winter Hawk]

Thank you Buck for the explanation, product development comes first, of course.

~WH~

 

[mark1945]

Caliber?

Marty its a 45/120 Pedersoli Quigley

 

[Marty1]

38-55 in a levergun, 54 Caliber Hawken in a Black Powder Muzzleloader, 45-100 in a Sharps, and 41 mag in a pistol with a levergun in 41 mag to make it a combo. Honorable mention going to 243 and 308

Those are great levergun calibers for whitetails.

Marty its a 45/120 Pedersoli Quigley

Sweet!

 

[Hanshi]

That's a rifle to drool over, and I loved that movie. That bp bullet hits like a freight train. Pairing rifle/pistol caliber always struck me as a great and sensible idea. I paired the .45 Colt pistol/lever and the .44 mag combo. Still have the .44 combo and deer have fallen to that very .44 combo.

 

[trapperCVA]

I like the .50 Cal /150 grain or 3 Pellets of the Blue MZ Alliant Brand

 

[JonE]

For caliber preference for muzzleloader I like .54 Cal
For caliber preference for cartridge rifle ie C Sharps 45 2.1" aka 45-70

Both use black powder

 

[Hanshi]

My Sav 99A .250 is my favorite modern deer rifle with my Ruger M77 just about equal. Second is my Rem 700 .350. Next in line was my keenly mourned 700 .257R which I had to sell.

 

[Sparkitoff1]

I'm a big .35 caliber fan. For stand hunting whitetails, bear and just about anything you would sit in a tree or ground blind waiting for the 35 Remington has been awesome. However, I don't care for the Marlin 336 that is tends to come in. I much prefer my Remington Model 8 and 81. In order to get the caliber I like in the rifle I want I had a 35-30 made. The barrel job was less than $200 and the dies were $90 from Midway. I can load 35 Rem type loads but can also load up quite a bit more if I feel like it. A Winchester 94 Trapper and a Henry both are 35-30. I like the 360DW cartridge and have run 100% 1-shot kills on a lot of deer, hogs and a few bigger critters like a bison cow, Oryx and Addax. It is loaded with 180 grain XTP's at 1900 FPS. It seems they stopped making that bullet. This cartridge is in a 5.5" barrel handgun and a 16" barrel Winchester 94 Trapper (357 Mag converted). When it comes to elk, stalking bear, African game in general and longer range situations I turn to the 35 Whelen. A custom Nosler 48 rifle with beautiful wood stock is very classic looking. Handloads of 250 grain @ 2700 FPS carry a long way and I can shoot 400 yards if I know the range precisely because I know the trajectory well. If a whitetail or mule deer hunt were planned (or sheep, antelope, etc.) where that 250 grain bullet just isn't needed, a 200 is way more than enough but can get going at 2900 FPS and does a pretty good job of getting out there. I enjoy the 356 and 358 Winchester cartridges too and even in high-powered PCP air rifles I like the 35 caliber (.357) best. About the only "35" I don't care for is the 9mm pistol round. Somebody make me a black powder sidelock that shoots a 180 grain conical of .358-.360 diameter at 1900+ FPS and I will gladly pull out the cash!

 

[Hanshi]

I treasure my Rem. 700 .350 Rem mag. It handles beautifully, shoots sub-moa groups and drops deer nicely. I worked up a whitetail load with Hornady's 200 grn bullet at just over 2700 fps. I tested more powerful loads and a couple were just as accurate. But my load of choice worked so well I never thought of using any of the others. I did have a box of Remington 250 grain rounds and killed deer with them and reloaded the cases.