New to black powder

[Spikebuck]

If you want to see what the .45 is capable of on huge bucks, do a search in the hunting forum on threads started by Skychief. He pretty much uses a .45 and has posted stories of a number of whopper Indiana bucks, some with his .45 Seneca. He might be a good contact for thoughts on your initial load workup.

 

[Sinner]

Real black powder can be difficult to get in some areas, but is the best to use. Triple 7 seems to be okay if no real BP is available.
You may need to try a couple of different patch / ball combinations. Using .015 + 018 thicknesses,. 440 and .445 balls, along with different powder loads to find 5he "best" accuracy. You most likely get acceptable accuracy with the .440 ball / .015 patch and around 60g fffg. You will also need an adequate lube. Because of fire danger, I've gone to a 60/40 mix of Hoppe's black powder solvent/water.

 

[hanshi]

Real black powder is always better but sometimes it's simply not available. Most of my deer fell to a couple of .45 flintlocks and all were dropped with just one prb. The .45 is my go-to for deer. I've loaded both .440" and .445" ball with .024" canvas patches; both size ball shoot identically tight groups. Experiment to find what shoots best in your particular rifle.