Caliber choice for first rifle

[EastoftheBay]

I posted on this forum earlier about getting my first rifle and three calibers have been suggested to me. .40, .45 and .50 all have suggested and to be honest I can't make a decision. I don't have any muzzleloading supplies yet and wont buy any until I get my flintlock (Although I did buy 2lbs of 2F and 2lbs of 3F Powder). I live in Queenstown, Maryland which is on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Our deer aren't hulking mammoths but I'd reckon some get quite hefty. The typical deer harvested on my family farm weigh in at around 140lbs for bucks and about 125lbs for does. The longest shot I'd ever take would be no more than 80 yards on a living animal. I dont want to take any further shots until I get very precise with my rifle whichever I get. That being said at a distance of point blank to 60 yards which caliber is best suited ? I dont really think I need a powder cannon so I think I will get a small caliber rifle and then get a larger smoothbore. I'd also like to add that to me it doesnt matter which caliber has more thing available to purchase because I will buy a mould and make my own ammunition and buy materials to make my own patches. Thanks to all who reply to this thread and a big thanks to everyone who has helped me thus far.

EDIT: On a side note if anyone can reccommend rifles that are in these three calibers that would be great. I have had some offers to buy rifles off of other forum members and those rifles are real eye catchers. However until I know what caliber I will go for I wont be purchasing a rifle, I'd like to get it right with my first rifle. Thanks again for all the help from everyone on the forum. I have gained more knowledge this past week then some longtime hunters and sporting afficianodos in my area have taken in over their lifetime. Hell some of them didnt even know that there were muzzleloaders smaller than .50 caliber when I spoke to them a few days ago.

 

[deerstalkert]

for sheer pleasure in shooting i vote for the .45. inherently accurate and such a pleasure to shoot a .45 always makes me smile.
also the .45 uses less lead and powder. you can find a .45 from just about every maker, plus all custom builders.

for use on bigger than whitetail's a .50 will do. plenty of toys and supplies available for the .50. it also can shine with lite loads.
the last .40 i had was in 1970. some obscure Spanish make. never did get much accuracy with that one, but a sample of one doesn't reflect what the .40 is capable of at all.
should you ever entertain the notion of going for larger bears or elk, personally my choice is the .54. round ball is deadly and you can get the .54 to shoot conical bullets very well.
now my best advice is this, get one of each. or 2-3 of each. you will eventually.

 

[64Springer]

Another vote for a .45. It will put a hurting on your almost deer.

Recently refurbished an old Jukar .45 Kentucky rifle. Sweet little rifle and accurate too. Anyone who's shot a Tradition's .50 Kentucky off the bench knows it will slap your cheek bone.

The .45 can be shot all day long.

 

[CapPopper]

What is your main use going to be and what are your local regs like? A .45 is a good all around gun especially for a focus on smallish whitetails. It is a little much for squirrels but not bad on other small game. I'm a fan of big bores and a .54 is going to be the best balance of power and trajectory and would open up using your gun for larger game. .50 is easy to find everything for and Conicals would open up the opportunities for elk and moose. .38 or larger is the law for whitetail here in Ohio so a .40 would be legal but our deer can run pretty large so I would be iffy on some of them. Really your particular focus is what matters. If it's going to be all whitetail and the possible occasional coyote or pig then the .54 is an excellent choice (.50 isn't bad) are you a recoil sensitive person? Really the .54 is not a monstrosity at all. If you don't want to go that big the solely for northern whitetails I wouldn't go smaller than a .50 cause you never know when that behemoth may walk out and give you a hard quartering shot. I mean a .490 ball weighs less than 180 grains and when you talk velocity and ballistically inferior projectiles weight is what gets it done.

 

[TDM]

for sheer pleasure in shooting i vote for the .45. inherently accurate and such a pleasure to shoot a .45 always makes me smile.
also the .45 uses less lead and powder. you can find a .45 from just about every maker, plus all custom builders.

for use on bigger than whitetail's a .50 will do. plenty of toys and supplies available for the .50. it also can shine with lite loads.
the last .40 i had was in 1970. some obscure Spanish make. never did get much accuracy with that one, but a sample of one doesn't reflect what the .40 is capable of at all.
should you ever entertain the notion of going for larger bears or elk, personally my choice is the .54. round ball is deadly and you can get the .54 to shoot conical bullets very well.
now my best advice is this, get one of each. or 2-3 of each. you will eventually.

Deerstalkert was a little soft on you. 4 of each at a minimum.

But if you don’t want to do that, one .45 will do you fine.

 

[Hermit Tim]

Another vote here for the .45. I have all three calibers you mentioned and they are all excellent choices. But for the size deer you mentioned this caliber will do a great job as long as you do your part. Also, when downloading to about 25 grains, the 45 makes an excellent small game gun. Without much kick and it is easy on resources. Very versatile and a pleasure to shoot. Whatever you do though make sure you get a caliber specific cleaning jag. And never use a stiff bore brush... Keep it clean and you won't have to.

 

[Hermit Tim]

for sheer pleasure in shooting i vote for the .45. inherently accurate and such a pleasure to shoot a .45 always makes me smile.
also the .45 uses less lead and powder. you can find a .45 from just about every maker, plus all custom builders.

for use on bigger than whitetail's a .50 will do. plenty of toys and supplies available for the .50. it also can shine with lite loads.
the last .40 i had was in 1970. some obscure Spanish make. never did get much accuracy with that one, but a sample of one doesn't reflect what the .40 is capable of at all.
should you ever entertain the notion of going for larger bears or elk, personally my choice is the .54. round ball is deadly and you can get the .54 to shoot conical bullets very well.
now my best advice is this, get one of each. or 2-3 of each. you will eventually.

He is right. This is addictive.

 

[QuinnTheEskimo]

I like .45’s personally but they all will work. I shot my first deer with a .45 T/C Seneca in Centreville. You could do worse than a .45 Seneca.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I posted on this forum earlier about getting my first rifle and three calibers have been suggested to me. .40, .45 and .50 all have suggested and to be honest I can't make a decision. I don't have any muzzleloading supplies yet and wont buy any until I get my flintlock (Although I did buy 2lbs of 2F and 2lbs of 3F Powder). I live in Queenstown, Maryland which is on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Our deer aren't hulking mammoths but I'd reckon some get quite hefty. The typical deer harvested on my family farm weigh in at around 140lbs for bucks and about 125lbs for does. The longest shot I'd ever take would be no more than 80 yards on a living animal. I dont want to take any further shots until I get very precise with my rifle whichever I get. That being said at a distance of point blank to 60 yards which caliber is best suited ? I dont really think I need a powder cannon so I think I will get a small caliber rifle and then get a larger smoothbore. I'd also like to add that to me it doesnt matter which caliber has more thing available to purchase because I will buy a mould and make my own ammunition and buy materials to make my own patches. Thanks to all who reply to this thread and a big thanks to everyone who has helped me thus far.

EDIT: On a side note if anyone can reccommend rifles that are in these three calibers that would be great. I have had some offers to buy rifles off of other forum members and those rifles are real eye catchers. However until I know what caliber I will go for I wont be purchasing a rifle, I'd like to get it right with my first rifle. Thanks again for all the help from everyone on the forum. I have gained more knowledge this past week then some longtime hunters and sporting afficianodos in my area have taken in over their lifetime. Hell some of them didnt even know that there were muzzleloaders smaller than .50 caliber when I spoke to them a few days ago.

Sadly, you won't know if you made the right choice until the rifle is fired from your shoulder at targets and an accurate load is developed. Even then, there will come up something that makes you think that there may have been another choice. I've been down that rabbit hole many times.

That said, from your description, a 45 caliber rifled swamped barrel that is 38 to 42 inches long mounted in a full stock flintlock rifle is what I would recommend. Its certainly adequate for the 140 pound buck or 125 pound doe.

 

[oldwood]

The .45 I tried on 200 Yd. steel " knock down " targets , was a little light to consistently put the target on the ground using 60gr. FFFG , about 123 gr. PRBall. By contrast , a .50 cal. w/170 gr. PRball , using 80 gr. FFFG , would knock the iron target down at 200 Yds. every time. My .50 could be used for black bear , and deer. I've used .50 , .62 , .58 cal. on Pa. deer. All were excellent killers. My favorite smaller cal. is hands down the .40 cal. . It's my go to fun gun for small game, and practice. .............oldwood

 

[JeffG]

Another vote for a .45. I have an early production Hatfield, and it's a pleasure to shoot. It is plenty for deer.

 

[smoothshooter]

I posted on this forum earlier about getting my first rifle and three calibers have been suggested to me. .40, .45 and .50 all have suggested and to be honest I can't make a decision. I don't have any muzzleloading supplies yet and wont buy any until I get my flintlock (Although I did buy 2lbs of 2F and 2lbs of 3F Powder). I live in Queenstown, Maryland which is on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Our deer aren't hulking mammoths but I'd reckon some get quite hefty. The typical deer harvested on my family farm weigh in at around 140lbs for bucks and about 125lbs for does. The longest shot I'd ever take would be no more than 80 yards on a living animal. I dont want to take any further shots until I get very precise with my rifle whichever I get. That being said at a distance of point blank to 60 yards which caliber is best suited ? I dont really think I need a powder cannon so I think I will get a small caliber rifle and then get a larger smoothbore. I'd also like to add that to me it doesnt matter which caliber has more thing available to purchase because I will buy a mould and make my own ammunition and buy materials to make my own patches. Thanks to all who reply to this thread and a big thanks to everyone who has helped me thus far.

EDIT: On a side note if anyone can reccommend rifles that are in these three calibers that would be great. I have had some offers to buy rifles off of other forum members and those rifles are real eye catchers. However until I know what caliber I will go for I wont be purchasing a rifle, I'd like to get it right with my first rifle. Thanks again for all the help from everyone on the forum. I have gained more knowledge this past week then some longtime hunters and sporting afficianodos in my area have taken in over their lifetime. Hell some of them didnt even know that there were muzzleloaders smaller than .50 caliber when I spoke to them a few days ago.

My next rifle will be a ..40 since I have never had one.
Unfortunately, a.40 is going to have to be a custom gun.
.45 is a nice caliber and is cheaper to shoot than larger calibers.

 

[smoothshooter]

I posted on this forum earlier about getting my first rifle and three calibers have been suggested to me. .40, .45 and .50 all have suggested and to be honest I can't make a decision. I don't have any muzzleloading supplies yet and wont buy any until I get my flintlock (Although I did buy 2lbs of 2F and 2lbs of 3F Powder). I live in Queenstown, Maryland which is on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Our deer aren't hulking mammoths but I'd reckon some get quite hefty. The typical deer harvested on my family farm weigh in at around 140lbs for bucks and about 125lbs for does. The longest shot I'd ever take would be no more than 80 yards on a living animal. I dont want to take any further shots until I get very precise with my rifle whichever I get. That being said at a distance of point blank to 60 yards which caliber is best suited ? I dont really think I need a powder cannon so I think I will get a small caliber rifle and then get a larger smoothbore. I'd also like to add that to me it doesnt matter which caliber has more thing available to purchase because I will buy a mould and make my own ammunition and buy materials to make my own patches. Thanks to all who reply to this thread and a big thanks to everyone who has helped me thus far.

EDIT: On a side note if anyone can reccommend rifles that are in these three calibers that would be great. I have had some offers to buy rifles off of other forum members and those rifles are real eye catchers. However until I know what caliber I will go for I wont be purchasing a rifle, I'd like to get it right with my first rifle. Thanks again for all the help from everyone on the forum. I have gained more knowledge this past week then some longtime hunters and sporting afficianodos in my area have taken in over their lifetime. Hell some of them didnt even know that there were muzzleloaders smaller than .50 caliber when I spoke to them a few days ago.

I personally not spend a lot of money on a large caliber that I am only going to use for one or two shots on deer, when 99% of my shots will be at targets or smaller game.

 

[poker]

I have some of each also, and for pleasurable shooting I like the .40. But I think thats a tad small for deer. Id recommend the .45 or .50. The .45 will do the job fine, but the .50 would be easier to find lead for if you got in a pinch. Do as others said, and get one of each.. Good luck!

 

[sheriff john]

Most of our M/L deer kills have been with .50's, some with .45's over the last 50 years. Nearly all are corn-fed, fat, big bodied. We butcher our own & see the wounds. Shot placement's more telling than an .05" difference in caliber.

Choose a caliber you can shoot well, take only ethical shots, and you won't see much of a difference between a .45 and .50 using patched round balls and a healthy powder charge. Practice using what you hunt with. Often.

 

[Bushfire]

I personally not spend a lot of money on a large caliber that I am only going to use for one or two shots on deer, when 99% of my shots will be at targets or smaller game.

With all due respect. If the cost of shooting a 54 over a 45 is going to weigh into your thinking and ability to shoot you probably shouldn't be shooting anything

 

[TerryK]

45

 

[deermanok]

Just get one of each.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Three calibers you mentioned are all fine for deer. But, the .45 is completely adequate. All my deer have been taken with a .45 prb. These days saving lead and powder is a big consideration also. But, once into this addiction, if you don't like the .45, buy a .50 also, then you should also buy a .54. You can't have too many rifles. Don't overthink this, just get started.

 

[Okie Hog]

Buy a .50 and don't look back.