Muzzle Loader: .50 vs .54 cal?
- Thread starter 41 Colt
- Start date
I think it's a poh-tay-toe poh-tah-toe kindof debate - .50 cal uses less lead and powder on average and with the right barrel allows you to get into heavier conicals for hunting, but the 54 allows you more weight in general, but at the cost of velocity and extra lead useage. Lead and powder useage is probably a pretty minimal issue in any event.
I use 50, but that's just me... if I'd bought a 54 I probably wouldn't have noticed... then again, I've never really had any first hand experience with 54.
P.S. I'm assuming you're talking rifled. Not really any experience with smoothbores in either cal.
I use 50, but that's just me... if I'd bought a 54 I probably wouldn't have noticed... then again, I've never really had any first hand experience with 54.
P.S. I'm assuming you're talking rifled. Not really any experience with smoothbores in either cal.
The .54 certainly has more punch. I love mine. On the other hand, accessories have become very hard to find in local shops. The inline .50's have taken over. I have ordered lot's of stuff from TOTW though except for balls, kind of heavy to ship. I have always cast my own, probably impossible to find them now. Just for these reasons maybe stick with a .50 cal. It will do the job also for hunting.
I have both calibers; if I were hunting, I would use the 54 but for target shooting and trails, I use the 50 because less lead and less powder. For swinging gongs the extra lead in a 54 is handy but not really enough to worry about unless most of the gongs were out around 100 yards.
I shoot most flintlocks but have shot the same calibers in percussion and the type of ignition makes not difference to my choices. Perhaps also should have mentioned that I shoot patched roundball only
cheers mooncoon
I shoot most flintlocks but have shot the same calibers in percussion and the type of ignition makes not difference to my choices. Perhaps also should have mentioned that I shoot patched roundball only
cheers mooncoon
vagrantviking
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- High River, Alberta
The most popular *traditional* muzzle loaders in order that I see them would be. .50, .45, .54, .58, .36. Then there are all the others that are more uncommon.
Of those I would say that the .45 is fast falling out of 2nd spot too. Only real difference is the extra punch that a bigger ball has when you are hunting or shooting in a crosswind and even thats debatable. About 180gr for a .50 vs 225gr for a .54.
So .54 stuff is pretty easy to come by and the .50 stuff for inlines is all pretty well usless for the round ball shooter. For under $100 you can get the equipment you need to cast all the balls you can use too. They are the only thing thats caliber specific on a ML. Patch material you can buy by the yard at a fabric shop. Order some .54 cleaning jags, etc. when you buy the gun.
Of those I would say that the .45 is fast falling out of 2nd spot too. Only real difference is the extra punch that a bigger ball has when you are hunting or shooting in a crosswind and even thats debatable. About 180gr for a .50 vs 225gr for a .54.
So .54 stuff is pretty easy to come by and the .50 stuff for inlines is all pretty well usless for the round ball shooter. For under $100 you can get the equipment you need to cast all the balls you can use too. They are the only thing thats caliber specific on a ML. Patch material you can buy by the yard at a fabric shop. Order some .54 cleaning jags, etc. when you buy the gun.
I shoot .45, .50, .54, and .58. The deer seem to drop no matter which hits them. Find the load that suits you best and you should be good no matter what. Since you are loading every shot I view it the same as reloading. You can pretty much make any of those calibers accurate and deadly.
I hunt and shoot both a .50 cal and a .54 cal flintlock. the .50 cal weights about 7.5 lbs and the .54 cal weights about 9 lbs. the recoil end of it is about the same, but I carry the .50 cal in the bush for hunting due to it being lighter and shorter . the only big problem I find or at least in my area is finding real black powder to fire in them. I have bought molds for the 2 calibers and cast my own bullets out of wheel weights,so projectiles are not a problem. with some fine tuning and experimenting with flint position they are as reliable as a modern rifle. it is easier to find .50 cal equipment at the major outdoor shops but finding stuff for the .54 is not that hard if you look around.
If you are going to shoot PRBs in a slow twist barrel, you will be better off with the .54, because of the heavier projectile. It will pack more punch than the .50. If you plan on shooting conicals in a faster twist barrel, the .50 will be much less punishing to the shooter.
I have a 50 TC Hawken and just sold a 54 Lyman. I like both cal's and will be getting another 54 soon.
Someone here mentioned casting bullets from wheel weights. TC has a warning not to use wheel weights, as they don't size properly and are to hard, causing loading /shooting issues. They say to use pure lead only.
Pete
Someone here mentioned casting bullets from wheel weights. TC has a warning not to use wheel weights, as they don't size properly and are to hard, causing loading /shooting issues. They say to use pure lead only.
Pete
I only shoot patched round-ball .54 right now, the next one will be bigger, David's chart says it all, size DOES matter
I have rifles in .80 and .95 caliber and I rarely shoot either because of lead and powder consumption plus the recoil of the 95. If I were hunting large animals like elk or buffalo, I would think about using the 80 cal but for ordinary trail walks, even it is just too big and would only damage targets. Think about it for a minute; 3 oz of lead and 30 shots per pound of powder gets pricey
cheers mooncoon
oops, that was me petew..maybe I should restate my comment. I do use wheel weights ,they are ribbon wheel weights they are quite flexible and are easily cut into strips with a pair of scissors. not too sure but do think they are like 98-99 percent "pure" . the clip on wheel weights are not that great for any cast bullets for muzzle loaders, they do work fine for cartridge firearms. From what I have read, but never tried,is some folks mix pure lead 50/50 with the clip on wheel weights and have had success. sorry for the confusion in my original post.
After shooting the .95, the .80 must feel like a popgun!
Seriously, we need to see pictures!!
Suka
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
While we enjoy target shooting, we are primarily hunters. I chose .54 and only shoot patched roundballs. Both hornady and speer balls are readily available almost everywhere. Goex and other bp's if not available locally are always available at gunshows.
I'm not really sure why .50 has become more common, since most now are those inline/fast twist guns made for hunting I'd have thought they would have pushed the .54. For my hunting dollar less than 2 minutes comparing trajectory/energy, and it was a no brainer.
I'm not really sure why .50 has become more common, since most now are those inline/fast twist guns made for hunting I'd have thought they would have pushed the .54. For my hunting dollar less than 2 minutes comparing trajectory/energy, and it was a no brainer.
I shoot a .54 TC Renegade with a 1-70" GM ball barrel.It shoots clover leafs at 75 yards and always on a tennis ball at 100 but would do better with younger eyes.I use a 100gr charge of FFG .018 patch and a home cast .530 ball.Devastates deer ,got complete pass through at 90 yards on a WT buck.Recoil in a 10lb + rifle is not bad as the barrel is 1" across the flats! With 110gr charge it opens up a 1/2" grouping...........Harold
