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Should I get a .40?

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You could go on and on with that logic because I have a 50 cal that can do anything your 45 can do and do it as well or better.
Not so as I used a .50 cal in match work for some years and the .45 is far better for long strings of fire in the recoil department. It shoots flatter than a .50 and almost as flat as the .40. It carries up better in the wind than a .40 and the ball is larger and easier to load.
The .45 is probably the most well balanced bore diameter across the board for patch ball , conical or cartridge use with black or smokeless powder.
The bigger bores come into their own if we're only talking hunting use but are not as universally useful across the shooting spectrum as is the .45 cal.
I have a .58 cal Hawken Hunter that shoots a 620 grain maxi with a 150 grain charge of Goex 2F into about 2 inches at 100 yards if you can stand the recoil. It is a real muzzle loading hunting rifle and although very accurate would maim you for target work. One mans opinion !
 
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Just looked up CVA these modern muzzle loaders the new .4 rifle poking out 2800 ft second. Never understand them get a proper rifle. I guess it’s what makes some happy So the argument should be the strong barrel , or , powder not the .4 ball or bullet. I guess Pedrosoli could make one just as good and strong to give 2800 ft sec maybe even in flint. Then we can argue about power belts Then we can view Jeff Hankin , I love his high powered 3500 ft/sec ml rifles but that’s a different ball game and nobody is going hunting with a 28lb rifle unless he's shooting from a bench

The thing is ml , to many of us, is all about the nostalgia of hunting in by gone days , to a friend he says ml take up too much range time , He's finally joined a ml club but shoots like an original trap door.

I love reading the strings from the uk a country with no gun culture police restrictions and few gun clubs I also like the pleasant comments , nothing nasty , at 79 my hay day was the 1960s. Gunny times have changed. Long live the .4 but like me have a .5 and a .6 at the ready

France is better no licence no
restrictions on black powder guns. But there is a very elusive licence to carry I don’t fully understand and how to get one, Or I would be across the channel in a flash, Of course you have to belong , or rather invited, to groups for hunting , plenty of advice on utube still don’t understand french laws

Love to you all from UK
 
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