50 / 54

zebra26

zebra26

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Well the best laid plans.........
Was all set to hop on down and pick up the Lyman Trade but decided to call first.
Good thing. I wanted to get percussion but all they had was flint.
So.
Now that I have put this off for awhile I will get the shop to special order a percussion or maybe a percussion kit. Since I will have to order this I might as well have a second look at caliber 50 or 54.
Like many things this will be an everything ML firearm, at the range and for deer, who knows perhaps moose...
In any event, what do you chaps have to advise regarding the choice of caliber, 50 or 54.
 
I haven't shot a caplock in 15-20 years. I love a traditional flinter. I only shoot .50s. At the range, and hunting as well as 20 ga. smooth. I find, a .50 will take down anything on this continent. I have deer and moose, a cinammon grizzley, caribou, black bear hides on the wall. Best lifetime shot was with a .50. 142 yards over a clover field. Two does, one shot. One, cold dead and the other, dispatched when I got to them. I find a .50 to be a great all around caliber. (That shot hit the base of the neck on both, and was witnessed by five other people).
 
After a 3 or 4 years of using a .45 I went to a .50 Lyman Deerstalker and used it for 16 years, taking over 30 whitetails with it. Last winter I ordered a .54 Lyman Trade rifle from Wholesale Sports. This year I took 2 big does with a .535 round ball at 40 yards. The first one took a high shoulder hit and was blown off her feet, the second was hit through the lungs and went 100 yards with 2 big holes in her chest. I use only round balls, so my vote goes to the .54, but the .50 with a round balls works very well for deer, and a bullet can be used to up the power for bigger stuff. I think the Trade rifle is a good choice in either .50 or .54.
 
If you are using it primarily for hunting, I would go with the .54. On assembly line guns, it weighs a little less and the ball has a lot more oomph on the animal. There is no real penalty for choosing a 54 over a 50 for hunting. For target shooting either is a good choice.

cheers mooncoon
 
i wouldnt make a habit of trying to take grizzlies with a 50 or 54 muzzleloaders they are a lot out of their league,i will stay with my 45/70 guide gun or my .338 for big bears,i faced a griz with a 22-250 years ago and i am still scrapping my shorts,, wade
 
If placing a special order, I would opt for the .54. No doubt the .50 will do very well for deer, but if moose and bears might be on the list then the .54 would get my vote. Both are good choices, but the .54 is better IMHO. Most of the time a PRB will be a complete pass-through. Bigger hole = bigger and shorter blood trail.
 
If you are stuck , on a hunt, having to replace or restock on ammo, for whatever reason, you might consider that IF a place has any black powder supplies at all, they will have stuff for .50 caliber. That would cover pellets, sabots, bullets or balls.

Sorta like the gas station standards (308, 30-30, 303, '06, etc.)that you could expect to find absolutely anywhere. If they had almost no BP stuff at all, i would likely be that the stuff they did have was for the .50.

That's my theory, anyway.

Merry Christmas all!

Cheers
Trev
 
trevj said:
If you are stuck , on a hunt, having to replace or restock on ammo, for whatever reason, you might consider that IF a place has any black powder supplies at all, they will have stuff for .50 caliber. That would cover pellets, sabots, bullets or balls.

Sorta like the gas station standards (308, 30-30, 303, '06, etc.)that you could expect to find absolutely anywhere. If they had almost no BP stuff at all, i would likely be that the stuff they did have was for the .50.

That's my theory, anyway.

Merry Christmas all!

Cheers
Trev
Click to expand...


Get a mould and cast your own balls/bullets and don't worry about it.
 
I have a couple of 50 and 54 cal muzzleloaders and none of my 54's will shoot even close to the accuracy of the 50's. A 54 would be better for moose if shooting round ball but I would use Maxi-ball or similar style bullet in a 50 cal. if I was hunting with it.
 
50/54

Target shooting is fine with a 50 rb or conical but for hunting I love a heavy conical in a 54 or a 610gr mini in a 58 cal with a big hole they do not get up and walk away at any distance. Practice lots with your hunting load and do it at long range as well, you never know when a deer or moose will give you a shot. I practiced all summer with a 58 cal Kodiak rifle out to 220 yds and when deer season came the 167 yd shot (gps) knocked the lights out on a large doe in the special deer season here in Manitoba section 33.. The bigger the better in my eyes
 
wade said:
i wouldnt make a habit of trying to take grizzlies with a 50 or 54 muzzleloaders they are a lot out of their league,i will stay with my 45/70 guide gun or my .338 for big bears,i faced a griz with a 22-250 years ago and i am still scrapping my shorts,, wade
Click to expand...



When my family first moved into this area back in the 1950s, my brother and I were out hunting (30-30 & 303)We came on a old Indian carrying a single shot 22.

He told us that he was hunting griz! When we asked how he did it, he said he just quietly walked up close enough and shot them in the ear hole!!!

He must have been 60yrs old if a day........so it would appear that his hunting practises worked!!! Not my style........................:evil:
 
Heard a similar story about a guy who would hunt bear early in the winter before they went to hibernate. All he carried was an axe and bag of frozen peas.
First thing he would do is find frozen over lake where there were bears...not an easy thing actually. He would then go just a few yards fromt he shore. He would dog a six foot hole in the ice. All the while hoping that the bear would not see him.
He would then spread the bag of peas around the hole and go hide in the bushes near his freshly set bear trap.
When the bear came along to take a pea, he would run out and kick him in the ice-hole.


BTW.
For general BP shooting, targets, fun matches, go 50 cal.
For hunting, go 54. Th-th-th-thats all folks.
Cheers

bluey said:
When my family first moved into this area back in the 1950s, my brother and I were out hunting (30-30 & 303)We came on a old Indian carrying a single shot 22.

He told us that he was hunting griz! When we asked how he did it, he said he just quietly walked up close enough and shot them in the ear hole!!!

He must have been 60yrs old if a day........so it would appear that his hunting practises worked!!! Not my style........................:evil:
Click to expand...
 
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