50 or 54 for round ball shooter?

[brewer12345]

My TC Hawken in 50 won't shoot round ball for beans. It likes conicals and will cloverleaf a maxi ball at 50 yards with the right charge. This is fine for hunting, but not a lot of fun at the range with a curved metal butt plate and 100 grain charges. I will be buying a Green Mountain slow twist barrel for this rifle with the idea of getting a round ball shooter, definitely for target and possibly for hunting. ToTW has 15/16" barrels for this rifle in 50 and 54. Any reason to choose the 54? My 54 Grey Hawk shoots hunting loads with round ball very accurately and the doe I shot with it this month was very effectively brought down with it, but again it is most accurate with heavy charges (110 grains in this case).

 

[tenngun]

Original Leman rifles were in 15/16 barrels, so it’s not too small.
Do you plan on going after elk or moose, maybe black bear? If so a .54 will do you better.
A .50 will do deer great. It will be a little more comfortable to shoot. 70 grains 3f will go though and through most deer at about any angle at a hundred yards.

 

[brewer12345]

If I am chasing elk I will take the grey hawk in 54. The hawken would be for target and perhaps deer.

 

[longcruise]

I was looking at those barrels earlier today. I think the 15/16 .54 is a backorder.

But regardless, I'd go with the.50. Adequate for hunting and less recoil for target shooting. I have the 54 and it takes a stout charge to get ball accuracy.

 

[brewer12345]

Thanks, longcruise. I was kind of heading in that direction.

 

[fleener]

.54 cal . No doubt about it. I have several and love them all. It aint much bigger then a .50 but it is bigger and not everyone has one.

Fleener

 

[chubbyninja]

I 'm an advocate of the 54, I've shot deer with both .bigger is better[in this instance]. Larger ball, more Kinetic energy, bigger hole =better blood trail,only negative is it's getting harder to find ammo.

 

[Grimord]

What load are you shooting in your Hawken with round balls? I have found that the shallow rifling of the T/C barrels with the 1:48" twist shoot round balls best with lower powder charges. My High Plains Sporter, 50 cal will shoot one hole groups off the bench at 25 yards using 55 grains of 3f. Try lower powder charges before you go to the expense of buying another barrel.

 

[Grenadier1758]

If I am chasing elk I will take the grey hawk in 54. The hawken would be for target and perhaps deer.

Since you have a rifle, the Grey Hawk, for hunting, the choice for economy and comfort in shooting would be the 50. The advantage to the 54 is that it would be lighter. More weight would be an advantage for target shooting.

Your T/C barrel in 50 caliber could be reserved for hunting using the Maxi-Ball.

You have obviously tried to make a 50 caliber round ball work. The T/C barrels often require a very tight fitting ball with a thin patch. Think 0.495" ball and a 0.010" patch. Use an unlubricated patch that you lubricate at the muzzle. Reduce the powder charge to 65 grains of 3fg. It can be quite a trial to get an accurate in those shallow rifled T/C barrels.

 

[DaveC]

.50

 

[Cowboy]

I don’t know if you cast your own balls but here’s something to think about?

7000 gr= 1 pound of lead.

.530 ball at 224 gr each will give you approx 31 balls to the pound.

.490 ball at 176 gr each will give you approx 39 balls to the pound.

That’s an extra 8 balls out of a pound of lead if you’re casting .490 dia ball for a 50 cal. compared to a .530 dia ball for a 54 cal.

Anyway, I have both calibers and personally prefer the 54 over the 50.

Respectfully, Cowboy

 

[tenngun]

Just to throw a wrench at the monkey if you have a .54 for bigger game, a .45 will do well for white tail deer if that’s hunt, and a ton lighter to shoot.

 

[Cowboy]

Just to throw a wrench at the monkey if you have a .54 for bigger game, a .45 will do well for white tail deer if that’s hunt, and a ton lighter to shoot.

And that’s 54 balls to the pound at 128 gr each.

 

[Sparkitoff]

Another vote for the .54. The GM barrel with slow twist (mine is 1:70) doesn't need a heavy charge for accuracy. I am using 80 grains FFFg Goex and it is getting 1754 FPS with a 224 grain ball. Around here, the .54 balls are just as available as other sizes (no conicals though), and just as easy to order if necessary. At the range I can see the .53 diameter holes better than smaller sizes and in the field it just makes a bigger hole.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I have .50 and .54 rifles in flint and percussion and am delighted with both. My preference however leans more toward the .54's. I remember reading somewhere, about 30 ago, that in a RB rifle, the .54 offers the optimum compromise in velocity, impact energy and flat trajectory. In my experience a .54 RB over a hefty charge packs one heck of a wallop.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Whatever you shoot with a 54 will be much deader than making it dead with a 50.
.
My personal choice is the 54, but I am a recoil junkie and don't feel either one of them is better or inferior to the other. A 54 with 70gr of 3f passes through a deer. You don't need hyper-drive loads.
I own both and shoot both. A 54 for rabbit to the head works just as good as a 50, 45, or 40 and a 45 for whitetail works just as good as a 54. Shot placement is everything.
Make it comfy for you.

 

[brewer12345]

The state of Colorado disagrees on the usefulness of 45 for hunting. No go for deer unless you use a conical. So this is really a decision between 50 and 54. Have a kit to put together for a 32 percussion for small game, but that will take time.

 

[Big Rviers]

I've used both for years and can't honestly one shoots or knocks down game better then the other. I do lean however to my .50 Dixie Tennessee Mtn. rifle for deer mostly because I like to hunt the river breaks and coulees from a canoe. Just seems more traditional that's all. My .54 usually ends up being my mountain rifle for hunting elk and moose mostly because it's also serious Grizzly country.

 

[hanshi]

For killing deer it makes no difference; they both produce the same degree of dead. Most of my deer have fallen to a couple of .45s, one shot each with quite a few DRTs. I've never lost a deer nor had one run far with either the .45 or .50. I've used and am fond of the .54. And while it's not needed, it's nice to have.

 

[SDSmlf]

I own a number of GM barrels and find them very accurate. The 32” 50 caliber 1-66 roundball barrel will out shoot a couple 1-48 TCs it sharess stocks with, but not until you feed it 95 grains of powder, while the TCs 1-48 are getting there with 65 grains, up to 85 grains plus. This from the bench, and honestly, off hand for me it doesn’t really matter. Use tight ball and patch combos in all of them.

Personally, I would pick the 54 over the 50, but that is just me, as both poke holes in paper and deer size game. Now if I were hunting in Colorado, I would for sure suggest stepping up to a 54, as there seems to be doubt in your mind or you wouldn’t have asked the question. Plus your good for paper and legal for deer and elk with one rifle.