to .45 or not to .45
- Thread starter noctrfire
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I have been wrestling with the same thing. I have a .50 (tc omega) and I have been trying to justify a knight elite in .45. The only thing the .45 will get me is a little more velocity with the same powder charge. Everything else is in the .50's favor. If your .45 likes 200gr SST's or 195 gr barnes, it will work fine for deer. If you have to experiment for the right bullet/load, the .50 will definately give you more options.
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The only way to settle this is to get both... for me in the South the .45 will do it all and in fine fashion. If I lived in Elk country I would go with the .50... but heck they are both fun so get one of each! :wink:
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i love the .45s. Sure i cant use it for elk in my state but 95% of the time i am hunting deer. The bullets i use are available in wide variety so i can use which ever i want to try out.
Its just a personal thing. Heck i prefer my 54 and 58 over the 50.
Its just a personal thing. Heck i prefer my 54 and 58 over the 50.
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Blackhorn loves the 45's. about 100fps faster for same charge over a .50
tnt1960 said:
I agree as well. I've owned SEVERAL .45s, Omega, Apex, White 98/97(shouldn't have sold the 97 :evil: ), and a Disc Elite. I still have a Disc Elite .45(never shoot it) and a White 98 .45(conical shooter). They are okay, most have been a little on the picky side, IMO when compared to their .50cal counterpart. Rifle selection...not many out there. No more Omega .45s and never has been a Triumph .45. Midsouth only has one model in stock(Acura). Knight only offers a Disc Extreme. ALSO...bullet choices are FEW. While a .45 would be fine for whitetail hunting I certainly wouldn't carry one elk hunting mainly due to bullet selection. In fact MOST .45cal saboted bullets(.40cal) can be fired in 50cal muzzleloaders with no decrease in accuracy or performance. Finally you have game laws where some states only allow .50cal or LARGER.. The clear choice IMO is the .50.
As an owner of a Knight .45 I recommend to my friends that they get the 50.The availability of bullets and the calibers popularity make it easy to find what ever you are looking for. That being said, I am not looking to replace my .45, for the same reason as Spitpatch. Somethings are worth the extra effort.
If it comes down to .45 vs .50, I would go with .50 for the reasons stated above. If you need an excuse for another inline, "needing" a .45 works for me. I like mine, but I already had a good setup in .50. It started out as a cheap project and turned in to my go to gun for whitetail. Mine was picky at first but now that I know what it shoots well, I stock up on the bullet and sabots before the manufacturers change something or stop making them.
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i'm a little byist i love the 45's got lest 10 of um.i cast also so bullets selection is not a big deal,i have molds from 200grs up to 680grs what can i say i like big chunks of lead 8) 8)
not so long ago i picked up acouple of 410 cal muzz's and with the 455gr cast bullet i hope to wack a moose this year with it {if i get a draw
}shot my first whitetail with that 410 455gr combo at 210yds this year complete pass thru 8) if you put the shot in the right place it's gunna go down it's just that simple
not so long ago i picked up acouple of 410 cal muzz's and with the 455gr cast bullet i hope to wack a moose this year with it {if i get a draw
}shot my first whitetail with that 410 455gr combo at 210yds this year complete pass thru 8) if you put the shot in the right place it's gunna go down it's just that simple The tide is turning. There's a reason that converting the smokeless MLII into 40 and 45 cals has become a cottage industry. This is leading to a much better offering of .40 offerings. Hawk, Lehigh, Hornady, Parker, and Barnes (off the top of my hat, I'm sure there are others) all now have .40 bullet offerings.
The bullistics of a 200gr/.40 at 2500 fps (which is easily attainable with BH) trumps a 300gr/45 all day long, and even more so over a 250gr/45. For WT, there's just no need for a 300gr/45. What you gain in terminal performance (though it isn't needed) is lost in drop, drift, and recoil.
While you can shoot a .40 saboted out of a 50 cal. I have yet to personally see this done with MOA or better accuracy. I know others have, I have not. Using that thick of a sabot typically creates problems.
If you want to walk into Gander Mountain and buy your components off the shelf and have no great desire to shoot tiny little groups to 150 and 200 yards (without even compensating for drop), then get a 50 cal.
If you really enjoy shooting, are willing to think ahead and order your components on line, and want a MLer that is hell on WTs well beyond 200 yards, get a 45 cal.
The bullistics of a 200gr/.40 at 2500 fps (which is easily attainable with BH) trumps a 300gr/45 all day long, and even more so over a 250gr/45. For WT, there's just no need for a 300gr/45. What you gain in terminal performance (though it isn't needed) is lost in drop, drift, and recoil.
While you can shoot a .40 saboted out of a 50 cal. I have yet to personally see this done with MOA or better accuracy. I know others have, I have not. Using that thick of a sabot typically creates problems.
If you want to walk into Gander Mountain and buy your components off the shelf and have no great desire to shoot tiny little groups to 150 and 200 yards (without even compensating for drop), then get a 50 cal.
If you really enjoy shooting, are willing to think ahead and order your components on line, and want a MLer that is hell on WTs well beyond 200 yards, get a 45 cal.
