Why the comparison? For those that live in a shotgun only zone but also allow pistol cartridges in a rifle.

The purpose would be for whitetail deer in eastern woods. I hunt with a 20 gauge smoothbore but the lever rifle would sure be an appealing option.

Which would you prefer and why?

They are about a wash in my estimation.

.45 Colt. With good hand loads and the Hornady flex tip bullets I would think it would shine out to about 125 yards or better.

Unless you handload,I would pick a 44 magnum carbine over a 45 colt,because of higher velocity and flatter trajectory of factory ammo.

If you already have the 45,it would be my pick over a smoothbore 20.

Thanks for the responses so far. Forgot to mention I do reload.

Having never hunted with slugs, I'll have to let others make any actual comparisons.

The qualitative aspects of hunting are, though, at least as important as the quantitative. Unless you are one of the very few that also load slugs, the Colt round will provide more fun and satisfaction. The hunt will be not just the season, but the load development, too. The ammo will be not just brand X, but brand Recruit.

Something to be said for puncturing game with a bullet you loaded for yourself. Been doing that since 1975. Not about to change. I have several rifles that have never shot a factory load.

I think if I was slug hunting, I'd go big or stay at home -- 12 guage or bust.

I used to deer hunt effectively with .44-40 handloads in a Winchester 1866, so I would definitely pick the .45 Colt lever gun.

I've never had trouble killing deer with handgun cartridges in handguns. If Ahia ever allows them in rifles, all my long gun hunting will be with reloading pistol cartriges instead of $3+ slugs.

I reload my own 20 gauge slugs using the Hornady .452 250 gr FTX bullet at about 1640 FPS with every deer but one in 4 years DRT.

I loaded for our group YOUTH HUNT this year the for a skinny 9 year old the Hornady ,452 250 gr XTP 45 long colt bullet. I cut the charge of blue dot to 24 grains from my normal charge of 31.0 gains to find the recoil level the 9 year old felt comfortable with. The little hunter had to pull the trigger of his Encore 20 guage with two fingers. We started to call him "Two finger Charlie".

I figured the reduced load slug was around 1100 FPS. Little Charlie killed a 10 point at over 100 yards and I saw the deer get shot, stagger..a short burst of speed and fall over. I know the bullet impact speed was less than 800 FPS but you would never of thought it that slow buy the deer's reaction to the bullet.

We found the bullet on the far shoulder with some expansion but nothing like the roll back of an XTP I am use to seeing.

Doc

The Federal P209tc is a solid copper hollow point plastic tipped, 275 grain 50 caliber slug going 1900. My gun shoots 3 touching at 100 yards. Good enough for me.

I'd use a Marlin in 45LC over the 20ga just because I perfer the Marlin Lever action to any shotgun platform. I guess one could make an argument either way on ballistics and on game performance.

With the right cast bullet, the LC will shoot through a horse lengthwise.

Would they accept a .460 S&W? Ruger and others have made rifles in the caliber - better trajectory at longer ranges.

This thread is making me miss my rossi/Puma 454 Casull carbine..... Wonderful rifle, and the 45 leveraction would be my pick all day long.

Cooler guns that hold more rounds, better triggers - by far - on the rifles compared to most any unmodified shotgun.

I did this comparison back when I moved to Iowa in 2002 from South Dakota, where they actually let you shoot deer with deer rifles instead of bird guns... Anyway, I digress. Iowa also permits straight-walled pistol cartridges fired from a pistol. I ended up choosing a .454 Casull barrel and fired 320 gr. cast boolits at 1700 fps from the 12" barrel and was milk jug accurate at 250 yds. Longest kill was only 125 with that barrel, but I switched to a .357 Maximum barrel and put one nice buck DRT at 166 yds. I preferred the accuracy available, handloading and cast boolits. Now I'm sending a PM to Doctor_Encore about reloading 20 gauge sabot rounds, because my daughter's 11-87 in 20 ga will arrive at the FFL today and if there is an option that doesn't cost $2 for every trigger pull, I'm all over that!

I've run good bullets (320 cast) fired from properly loaded ammo in strong revolvers and carbines through a few animals from near to over 150 yards...through the animals....caribou, bear... The only time I've had to kill a problem bear - not a big one either, it stopped a 12 ga Brenneke. Obviously either will kill any whitetail, but you can put me in the 45 Colt rifle camp.

I would go with the carbine for two reasons. Both a 20ga slug or a decent load in 45 colt is fine for deer. But my two considerations would be that the rifle is a nicer package to carry and that if you reload you can shoot 45 colt at a price that will allow you to shoot quite a bit for practice. compare the price of say 200 45 colt reloads to 200 high end slugs..

Sounds like the two are in the ballpark of one another.

Michigan has not yet approved the use of pistol cartridges in a rifle for use in the shotgun zone but I believe they are very close. Passed the House and looks promising in the Senate.

I do not have a 45LC rifle but would sure like to soon!

Here is what I settled on. I really like it.

I hope Minnesota gets their act together and allows pistol cartridges in a rifle in the shotgun zones some day soon. I'd LOVE to hammer whitetails with a .45 Colt or .454 Casull from a lever rifle! For now I'll keep using my "pistol" chambered in .260 Remington, because as long as it has a pistol grip on the firearm, it's a legal pistol in Minnesota...

A 20 gauge smoothbore is miles behind a lever action rifle in just about any chambering one can fathom.

Better accuracy, cheaper ammo, easier to reload.

Hunting with a shotgun sucks. Hunting with a smoothbore shotgun is sucks +P....

The whole idea of shotgun slug only is bad for the critters and bad for the hunters. Its probably given to us by the same people who don't want booze bought on Sunday!

I've got a Winchester 94 Trapper .45 Colt and I would take it over a 12 gauge or 20 gauge slug gun. I have been loading hardcast 300 grain bullets to 1600 fps.

A couple years ago I shot a nuisance bear that was causing property damage. The bear, a 270lb sow, was dead within 20'. The bullet had passes through and hit a piece of oak firewood in the woodpile behind the bear. I found the bullet in the spring laying on the ground when a couple rows of the wood pile were gone. It had passed through a bear and an 18" piece if oak. It was barely expanded and still weighed 280 grains.

Aside from that example most .45 lever actions will be lighter, handier and more accurate than most slug guns.

One other thing...does the OP literally mean smoothbore, and is this an existing, "upland game" (like yr garden variety 870 pump, etc)sort of shotgun being compared to something like solid marlin shooting something like a 45 lc/44mag? I am speaking 2nd hand, but have heard great things about the Savage bolt action 20 ga slug guns, supposed to be really accurate, rifled though, not smoothbore. Most would still be buying $$ slugs tho... but the comparisIon is probably less clearcut re range and accuracy...

Interesting report Fraser - hard cast at sedate velocities can be very impressive and effective it would seem.

I have a 44mag SBR lever gun (12" barrel) - should perform similarly if I load it the similarly. Had it with me in my tree stand hunting bears a few times this year but never got a chance to pull the trigger with it.

I've always liked the looks of the 480 Ruger because it's also very sedate yet should be VERY good at killing big game at modest ranges. I remember when it came out running the Taylor knock out numbers on that one and was quite impressed. Rossi made some lever guns in that one.

Fraser - PM in your inbox

It's nothing fancy JRK...just a single shot H&R Topper 158. Certainly a lever gun can put more lead downrange quicker but am interested in the single shot-to-shot comparison.

My brother has one of those bolt action Savages in 12 gauge. He seems to like it.

I have the same rifle in the same chambering and I shoot the RCBS or Lyman 300 cast bullets in mine most of the time. (They drop around 320)



I popped this guy at over 150 yards, quite probably a good ways further as I had a fair amount of clear sky in my sights (WWG Ghost ring rear, factory post front). The bullet caught him dead center in the left bezel, punched a neat 45 cal hole in it, entered his shoulder, traversed a diagonal path and exited right around the point of his right hip. I know those little lumps of hard lead penetrate, but I that much surprised me. I've seen plenty of "proper" rifles fare worse in drop dead properties than that shot provided.

Here in IN I use the .460 in a Ruger #1.

Hard to imagine any rig much better than that in those woods given your cartridge limitations there. Now that was surely a memorable day for you - and thanks for the great pic.

That's just awesome Klikitarik! A 45 Colt at 150-plus yards...wow Thanks for posting.

Very nice 54Woody! Wish I saw bucks like that on public land What distance did you take him at?

I'd take a 45 Colt over any gauge, any day, for busting deer.

A good small bead up front and a receiver or tang mounted peep.

Load up WFN cast around 300 grains and be careful of what's behind your target.

This is last year's deer. Had trail camera pictures of him from July until bow season started. Coming back to the house from my stand the Sat. After Thanksgiving I saw him at the edge of my back horse pasture. First time I had seen him in the flesh. 90 yard shot. He is a public land deer as my place borders the State Forest. There is a 10 point running the area this year that will score higher. Saw him the last 20 minutes of gun season but could not get a shot so now I am after him in ML season.