.45 or .50

[flati]

Have a buddy considering the purchase of a Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter. He says he's leaning towards a .45 vs. the .50 because its flatter shooting. He will be using the gun in PA, WV and OH for mainly whitetail and target use. Can you suggest the pros and cons to both calibers. I have always shot .50 thinking it was the "norm" and all accessories/bullets were more geared towards this caliber.

 

[frontier gander]

if its tc, dont get the 45! they've had problems with them not shooting.

 

[Underclocked]

FG, you are looking for a fight - aren't you? Please clarify that remark.

 

[funman]

50cal easier to shop for and more choices of bullets is my guess

 

[fisher2072]

Where as I have never owned a .45, I cannot give you my experience. However after eading many posts, the .50 are usually better in the accuracy dept. This is not necessarily because of better quality on the .50, but because of more bullet and sabot combinations for the .50. You have to work on bullet, sabot and powder combos for either caliber to get accuracy! Because of more options for the .50 caliber, you can usually find better components. And with .50/.40 sabots on the market, you can shoot a .40 cal bullet out of a .50 cal rifle. Which kind of covers what the .45 was intended to do, "shoot smaller caliber Bullets". Hope this helps out. The bottom line is there are a lot more components currently on the market for a .50cal vs a .45 cal.

 

[cayuga]

Get the .50 caliber. Almost any bullet you can shoot in the .45 you can shoot in the .50 caliber. You can load a .50 caliber down to a .40 caliber 200 grain Shockwave and shoot extreme distances. Or you can load some big heavy bullets and put a lot of smack out there at long range.

I just personally feel the .50 is a better choice. I do not know it they are better shooting. But I shoot a lot of different bullets in my .50 caliber with excellent results.

 

[frontier gander]

FG, you are looking for a fight - aren't you? Please clarify that remark.

You should know me better than that by now. I hardly ever pick a "fight"

http://24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ub ... 12/fpart/2

 

[Grouse]

The 50cal offers a bunch of different bullet varieties to choose from. Encores/Pro-Hunters are very fussy with anything other than a 250grn SST in my experiences. I actually think the Triumph is a better all around choice if this option is available.

 

[Underclocked]

In a conical shooter and where the law allows both calibers for your intended game, it's 6 of one and half dozen of the other. In a sabot shooter, the .50 does offer better variety.

FG, you linked me to me (and others).

 

[Lee 9]

Underclocked
FG never had one he just likes to knock certain brands to try and make the elcheapos look god. Lee

 

[flint head]

I just bought a new .45 Disc Elite... If hornady will make a tougher 200 grain SST/Shockwave, coupled with BH powder, this may just be the perfect storm for whitetails. The .45's were a dying breed, but BH has made these guns very interesting again. 120 grains puts these bullets into the 2400fps range... if we could get a good "shoulder bullet," watch out!

 

[paia]

If hornady will make a tougher 200 grain SST/Shockwave, coupled with BH powder, this may just be the perfect storm for whitetails. ... if we could get a good "shoulder bullet," watch out!

I agree with you on the potential of .40 cal bullets with BH209. My .50 with the MMP Blue sabot shoots the 200 SST beautifully with 120 grains of BH209, but I do not have a lot of faith in that bullet on big deer.

I am thinking of trying Hawk bullets--friends have had good luck with them in CF rifles and I am going to try the two .40 ML bullets. Anybody else tried them before?

http://www.hawkbullets.com/muzzlebullets.htm

On the thread topic--I'd go with a .50 and take advantage of all the options in bullets & sabots to learn and find an accurate combo. The .45 won't shoot a 200 grn SST any flatter than a .50 will. jmo

 

[Underclocked]

Well no, I don't dispute what FG said but what he said just does not apply across the board. I had a .45 Encore that was a nightmare for a lot of reasons right out of the box. Bad barrel, action that sounded like broken gears just to cock it, and a trigger that was about as bad as it gets. After 2 trips back to TC, some help from Bellm, a friendly gunsmith with a good lathe, and a 99 cent grinding ball... it was a great rilfe.

The guy I sold it to loves it.

But then I had another .45 Encore that shot great and had no issues from the get-go. It was traded to me used and the guy that owned it said it was junk. It most certainly was not.

 

[fisher2072]

Flint Head,
What do you mean by "shoulder bullet". The PR Dead centers and Extreme elites are offered up to 260gr in .40cal, they are boat tail designs. But being an all lead bullet, youd dont want to push them extremely fast! You would probably want to use the heavier 260gr. They have a good B.C., You just dont want to push them past 2200fps. If you can find a sabot that this bullet likes in your .45 disc, it could be a good flat shooter!

 

[corey012778]

got a little partial to 45cal muzzys. kinda looking to trade one of my 50cals for the same in 45cal.

.40cal to .44cal pistol and the right sabot, favorite powder.

 

[Swampman]

I would get the .50.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/muzzleloading_hype.htm

http://www.chuckhawks.com/45_muzzle_loaders.htm

 

[Reese]

In my experience, using saboted bullets, a .45 cal in-line muzzleloader will kill a PA whitetail deer just as dead as a .50 cal in-line muzzleloader.

I am glad I started with a .50 cal because it was easier to acquire locally the components (sabots and bullets) I needed to test with. Actually it can be a bit overwhelming the number of options available for the .50 cal. I feel for the new person when they are confussed where to begin.

I stumbled in to a good deal on a .45 cal muzzleloader and I enjoyed the challenge in getting this finicky one to shoot. I may have not been as patient or hopefull if this had been my first experience with a muzzleloader. Following threads on great sites like this one, I knew what my options were for .45 cal sabots and bullets and knew where to find them via the Internet. The .45 is now my current go to muzzleloader for PA whitetail deer.

 

[NimrodRx]

The Hawk .40 offerings won't be available for mass production until February'ish.

In my experience anytime sabot thickness gets over .06 problems start to occur. When going from a .50 bbl to a .40 bullet you have entered a very thick sabot into the equation. I have not been able to get a .40 to shoot as accurately out of a .50 bbl as it will out of a .45 bbl. YMMV.

The recommendation about cutting your teeth on a 50 and then considering a 45 is probably a sound one.

I don't know a single person that has switched to a 45 and gone back to the 50. I know I won't.

 

[adelmo]

I wouldn't trade my 45 White G Whitetail for anything.
490 gr Superslug has awesome field and range performance.
Alan

 

[old/new]

I just bought a new .45 Disc Elite... If hornady will make a tougher 200 grain SST/Shockwave, coupled with BH powder, this may just be the perfect storm for whitetails. The .45's were a dying breed, but BH has made these guns very interesting again. 120 grains puts these bullets into the 2400fps range... if we could get a good "shoulder bullet," watch out!

Just picked up some 195gr Barnes .45cal Expander MZs. To try in the new CVA Accura. These might work, no?