Welcome to the hobby.
It's still not too late, you could still make a good escape. NO? Well it's less expensive than golf....
..., so I do understand weighing powder, bullet weights and so on,
So black powder and substitutes are measured by volume. They may actually weigh the same amount as the volume measure setting but then again they may not.
and I'm cursed with horrible hunting laws. Regulations state a .45 cal can be used as a legal method of take, but only with conical bullets. With loading for centerfire cartridges I naturally wonder about using bullets meant to load for .45acp, 44 magnum, 45 colt or anything similar in size simply because I'd rather shoot it as I would hunting to know the weapon....,
So as the folks have mentioned, your barrel will not shoot most conical bullets. The twist rate of the rifling is too slow to stabilize the bullet and modern bullets wouldn't be a good choice either. A modern bullet swages onto the rifling, while a muzzle loading conical bullet
obturates, onto the rifling. Which means that it is of soft lead, and inertia when it gets hit in the arse with the powder gases, cause it to widen, and grab the rifling.
So as the folks mentioned as well, there is a company called Lee that makes muzzle loading bullets and molds, just like it makes centerfire bullet molds. Now Lee came up with a new conical called R ifling E ngraved At L oading, aka R.E.A.L. bullets. So what happens is the Lee REAL bullet has a forward rim that's a teeny tiny bit too large for the bore. You the shooter then force the bullet onto the rifling when loading, ensuring the bullet engages the rifling. The only thing left to find out is if it will be stable enough to shoot well.
I have a pound of pyrodex although I dont know which type, and I'll still need percussion caps which I understand to be shotgun primers. Any suggestions will be heavily appreciated, I need to use this rifle next year hopefully. Thanks in advance!
Well one of the members told you to get percussion caps. They are not interchangeable with centerfire or shotgun primers. It's very likely that your rifle uses caps not primers, BUT..., it is possible your rifle was modified to take primers. We will need to see photos to tell you.
YES you can have the rifle upgraded by being bored out to .50 and then also have a gun for hunting small game with shot, OR having it re-rifled. It just costs a tad more for the rifling.
Finally, some of the CVA Kentucky rifles had an adjustable trigger pull. So if when you try the rifle the trigger pull is too heavy for your liking, let us know and we may be able to help you adjust yours.
LD