Small, Medium, Large?

No, not your T shirt? Bore size.

And yes, this is sort of a frivolous topic but I'm just wondering what others consider to be small, medium and large bores?

For me, I would consider 40 and below small with the 40 caliber on the fence with medium. Above 40 to around 54 caliber would be medium and anything above is large. Of course this is only an opinion and will vary with individuals.

I'll bite. Under 36 cal is small. Between 40 to 50 cal is medium. 50 and over large bore. Any caliber over 58 is extra large. Shotguns are a different story.

^
What he said, though conicals vs PRB opens up side roads in my categorization.

My opinion is anything under .45 small. .45 to .62 medium. Over .62 is large.

ppg1949 said:

I'll bite. Under 36 cal is small. Between 40 to 50 cal is medium. 50 and over large bore. Any caliber over 58 is extra large. Shotguns are a different story.

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Sounds about right to me since a 54 will do in anything on this continent, lots of medium sized game has been and will continue to be killed with 40 to 50 caliber guns, and over 36 is a might fierce for small game. All this assumes you are talking about PRB loads. Conicals would change things a bit, I suppose.

Lets see. How about 36 and under (small). .40 barely medium. .45 and .50 solid medium. .54 to .58 large and above .58 BIGGG...!

hanshi said:

Lets see. How about 36 and under (small). .40 barely medium. .45 and .50 solid medium. .54 to .58 large and above .58 BIGGG...!

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Ditto!

(Small ) .36 Hopkins Allen underhammer, (Medium) .54 cal Tip Curtis flintlock, (Large) Tip Curtis 16 gauge flintlock smooth bore.


My bad..... scratch the .54 , make the 16 my (Medium)

And my (Large) an original Wm. Moore 10 gauge double barrel percussion gun!

longcruise said:

No, not your T shirt? Bore size.

And yes, this is sort of a frivolous topic but I'm just wondering what others consider to be small, medium and large bores?

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Less than 40 = small
40-50 = medium
over 50 = large

Shotguns
under 20 gauge = small
under 12 gauge = medium
12 and over = large.

That's my frivolous opinion.

Carbon 6 said:

Less than 40 = small
40-50 = medium
over 50 = large

Shotguns
under 20 gauge = small
under 12 gauge = medium
12 and over = large.

That's my frivolous opinion.

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Sounds good to me.

hanshi said:

Lets see. How about 36 and under (small). .40 barely medium. .45 and .50 solid medium. .54 to .58 large and above .58 BIGGG...!

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I agree!
Thomas

I agree!
Thomas

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+1

Since i started this I'll throw my. 02 cents in.

Small 45 and under
Medium 50 to 58
Large over 58

I only own three calibers so for me 32 small 36 medium 45 large. White tail is the biggest animal I hunt so I am covered. However I am having a 32 with some pitting re-bored to 40 so now my ratings are all messed up.

Bassdog1 said:

I only own three calibers so for me 32 small 36 medium 45 large. White tail is the biggest animal I hunt so I am covered. However I am having a 32 with some pitting re-bored to 40 so now my ratings are all messed up.

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You do have ALL hunting/target usage covered with that selection.

I think so too. Unfortunately I keep reading this forum and looking at all the beautiful guns posted and cant stop buying. My next purchase however will definitely be a custom build. I had to literally force myself to quit following the show us your squirrel rifle forum. Nothing good was going to come out of that but a really expensive custom build with extra fancy maple, Chambers flint lock, Rice barrel and engraved TG and patch box. Maybe I did not quit looking at that forum soon enough.

When Whitworth and others stated shooting 45’s they were considered small bores as previously the .577 was the size.
Bore rifles 12, 10, 8, etc were considered big/ dangerous game guns prior to nitro.

Was thinking about this today on the toilet:

Small: .25-.40

Medium: .41 to .49

Large: .50+

Here in Arkansas the wizards in the game and fish dept. have anointed the .40 caliber as the all around caliber, legal for any small game and seemingly any big game except turkeys which are so bullet proof it takes a load of shot to kill 'em. Up to and including .40 cal. is small, .40 and above is large and I like the .58 for anything deer size and above, so it's extra large.