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Have both T/C 50 & T/C 54. Which would you choose for deer?

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Loyalist Dave said:
Since you haven't shot them yet, whichever one is the most accurate will be the one you want. IF they are equally accurate, then go with the one you will enjoy carrying the whole day.

LD
:thumbsup: Yup, that's what Id do, (though I have to admit I'm partial to the .50's because that's what I own...)
 
Alden said:
So, a .50 will have them bound 100 feet or more?

I never had to chase one that far. My first elk about that distance, shot with four ..50 PRB. Was new at it though and broke a front shoulder, one in the ham (he fell then) one in the neck (so as not to damage the mount :shake: ) and finally a head shot. Still only bout 100 yds though.

and elk alot harder to kill than deer. .50 will do fine. What shoots the best in YOUR hands will do finer
 
Out of the 3 deer I have seen shot with black powder rifles, one ran a circuitous 200 yard dash and ended about 60 yards from where he was shot. (.490 PRB with 80 grains 3F) One dropped on the spot, kicked a couple times, bleated once and expired. (.50 275 grain conical with 90 grains of 3F) And one dropped on the spot, recovered, thrashed a bit, then dropped, and recovered and dropped again and was recovered 30 yards from the place she was shot. (.535 roundball with 100 grains of 3F)

Point is that each bullet and charge was different than the other and every deer ended in the stew pot.
How far a shot deer will run with a fatal wound is rather academic really. My guess based on what I have seen and what I have read is that a deer will get on average about 25-50 yards from where he was shot and the worst cases will be at about 200 yards. Many will drop on the spot.
 
Having shot deer with both caliber roundballs and presuming good shot placement and a decently powerful charge ,the 220 grn .530 ball punches a bigger hole than the 175 grn .490 ball .
And since we are speaking of round balls only the way to get more footpounds on target is size and speed.I prefer both .
I know lots of deer have been killed with fast flat shooting .45's but for my part I want to hit it hard , hit it once and use a bigger ball as insurance.With iron sights shot placement is never guaranteed to be perfect .

We all strive to kill as ethically as possible.For me I will use the bigger of the two calibers without question.

I have had to help track some less than perfect shot placement jobs, for a bow hunter and couple of cartridge gunners .(Thankfully never a muzzleloader shooter yet )

In each case I thought to myself ''This is a valuable lesson... use enough weapon,do everything in your power to stack the odds in your favor ''. You owe it to the animal you hunt to bring it down as quickly and humanely as possible.Fair chase does not mean using an atl-atl like the paleohunters did .

I have a hunter friend in Germany who thinks I am nuts for using a muzzleloader. Sabine tells me the use of muzzleloaders for hunting is not allowed in Germany .We aren't Germans but no one can say their concern with a quick dispatch is in anyway misplaced.
 
azmntman said:
Alden said:
So, a .50 will have them bound 100 feet or more?

I never had to chase one that far. My first elk about that distance, shot with four ..50 PRB. Was new at it though and broke a front shoulder, one in the ham (he fell then) one in the neck (so as not to damage the mount :shake: ) and finally a head shot. Still only bout 100 yds though.

and elk alot harder to kill than deer. .50 will do fine. What shoots the best in YOUR hands will do finer

Thanks. Sorta kidding as that was the average, the .50 being between that .44 and the .54.
 
a deer will get on average about 25-50 yards from where he was shot and the worst cases will be at about 200 yards. Many will drop on the spot.

Those I have killed went the aprox. 20 yard bit. I call that "reaction leaps". They are dead but don't know it yet. Long runs after a hit are from poorly placed shots.
 
throwing in my two cents, I concur with the consensus. (this is in no way an admission of any kind that I work and play well with others)...

I'd go with the more accurate rifle, and, if both are about the same, I would give the nod to the .54, which will let more air in and more blood out (to paraphrase the great Elmer Keith).

I would encourage you to practice with the rifle you choose to the maximum extent possible. This is a fun and beneficial thing.

(also, to wring maximum accuracy out of whichever rifle you choose, check out Dutch Schoultz' method - here's a link: http://www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com/
best accessory I have ever purchased)

good luck - here's hoping you get to turn Bambi into little white packages!
 
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The first deer I ever killed with a blackpowder rifle ran about 20 yards and the next just fell over and still had its legs extended like it was still standing. Both shot with a .50 cal traditions deerstalker. I've came a long way in guns since then but the end result has always been the same. I would love to expire one with my .62 smoothie with round ball to compare to the .50!!!
 
The .62 round ball will hit them like they had a safe dropped on them. Most of mine were killed with a couple of .45s. Several .50s also accounted for quite a few. I had more DRTs with the .45 but the .54 did very well as did the .50s. Rather than choosing the most accurate rifle I usually recommend choosing the rifle that one shoots better with and has confidence in.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
a deer will get on average about 25-50 yards from where he was shot and the worst cases will be at about 200 yards. Many will drop on the spot.

Those I have killed went the aprox. 20 yard bit. I call that "reaction leaps". They are dead but don't know it yet. Long runs after a hit are from poorly placed shots.

MUST disagree.... :shake:

I have never lost one but have double lunged AND Heart shot em and had em go 30-40 yds no problem (one further).

ONCE i shot a cow elk thru the heart with a :eek:ff 30-30 at 50 yds, knew it was a heart shot by the way she leaped. I was but 100 yds into a hike so I just turned around and went back to the truck for some rope n stuff, drank a cup of coffe and for some reason??? took the rifle back up the hill with me to clean her and she got up and ran, butt shot her running and when I cleaned her she had a hole centered in her heart yet 20 minutes later got up and ran? Odd but true. some of these critters have an incredible will to live and the best placed shot sometimes they still scamper away.

The of course we have all heard the many many grizzly stories of heart shot bears attacking hunters and runnin off. Some AK guides will NOT allow a shot brown bear that gets back into the brush to be tracked. They warn you if it runs back into the brush hunt over. Even when binos on the bear show a perfectly placed shot??
 
Well this thread has certainly picked up steam!

Still waiting to get to the range to shoot both rifles. However as the two sit in the workshop side by side, I find myself reaching for the New Englander more...it's just a bit lighter, shorter and simpler. Yes, I'm only pretending at this point so we'll see how the comparison goes at the range.

One not so crazy thought has been crossing my mind. If I do indeed like the New Englander over the Hawken, sell the Hawken and use some of the money to send the New Englander barrel to Mr. Hoyt to rebore to 54 caliber. I cast as well and already have a .530" PRB mold for the Hawken. Yeah, I know...getting ahead of myself here.

Good grief, I have to get to the range to clear my head :)
 
Recruit, if you and Brown Bear had just listened to me a page and a half ago you'd have arrived at the same place much sooner and without having to follow all those blood trails...

:wink:

Of COURSE you don't wanna tote that barge and lift that bale. .50's the bee's knees. The New Englander is fine, just get some quality time in with it.

Have fun, be safe, and good hunting!
 
I agree with Eric, having shot dozens of deer with 50 caliber conical bullets, and 12 gauge slugs through the heart and lungs I never expect a deer to conveniently lie down and expire on the spot. People tell me some of their's do but that is not my experience. Ever, unless I hit a major bone.
I took my first .50 prb deer last fall. It did the job just fine.
Though I own multiple 50's if I purchase another muzzleloader it will be a .54.
My $0.02.
 
People have made meat will all. For me its not the cal. but the rifle I feel confident with. In the past I tried to hunt with different guns and found that I needed to stick to one rifle per season if I wanted to do my best. The rifle I been shooting all summer is a .50 traditions kentucky kit rifle that's about as ugly as a kit rifle could be but. For deer it wouldn't matter what the cal. was .45,.50 or 54. It feels good in my hands, i can aim it free handed without it moving around and for me that's a challenge. Thats what you need to find out, which one feels the best in your hands then learn how it shoots and you will see that the size of the ball is the least of the work.
 
Recruit,
Either will get the job done!Take the
one that looks the loneliest. :wink:
snake-eyes :hatsoff:
 
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