It seems like they were all the rage a few years ago, my dad and Ibought one a few years ago but it seems like you can't find them anymore. I would love to find a break action muzzleloader in 45 but they seem few and in between.

CVA still offers one in their APEX line. They used to offer a 45cal in the Accura line also just a year or two ago.

APEX 45 SKU CR4011S
Price: $615.95 MSRP but they can be found for less.
http://cva.com/CVA-Store-View.php?id=796
Accura 45 SKU: PR3117S
http://cva.com/CVA-Product-View.php?id=16

Knight offers a 45cal in the Mountaineer line only now.

IMO you are better off buying a 45/70 break action and having a breach plug installed by Slufoot on Dougs board. You get a faster twist and a true CF quality barrel. There are also several custom barrel makers that offer 45cal ML barrels for Encore/ProHunter and H&R platforms. Bullberry, MGM and SMI just to name a few.

Its really hard to beat a smokeless capable 45cal. 2700fps is a breeze with a 200gr sabotted bullet and sabotless takes things to a whole new level of performance.

The .45 caliber muzzleloader is still very popular with the smokeless shooters. They are getting .45 caliber barrels and having them threaded with a Savage smokeless breech plug or buying single shot .45-70s and having them threaded for the Savage breech plug. My only .45 is a TC Cherokee with both .32 and .45 barrels. I use it primarily with light loads for squirrel hunting.

It is kind of ironic though that the local Walmart used to get equal quantities of .45, .50, and .54 caliber bullets and sabots. The .50 cal stuff sold out in a hurry and the .45 and .54 cal stuff would sit there waiting to be marked down for closeout.

Personally i prefer a 45cal even if its only a BH209 rig. I have one 50cal i love and only because its a total custom build.

A 45cal will do anything a 50cal can do except shoot a 50cal conical. Ive shot many sabotless rounds with BH209 in my 45s using the same bullets you would use in sabots with a 50cal.

Barrel heat is hardly an issue with sabotless and FPS is greater with the same amount of powder vs the 50cal and sabots. Its a win win situation.

There will always be a demand for 45s but less than 50s. When I purchased my first muzzleloader, it was a 54 and it seemed then like "bigger is better" was the word of the day (in the 80s).

I think mainly due to the "50 cal minimum" that most western states have for elk, most people who are buying their first muzzleloader will opt for 50 (just in case), and I recommend that to any person that asked.

Because of that, most accessories, bullets, etc are slanted toward 50 cal. Some of the newer generation conicals (Hornady FPBs etc) are only in 50 cal because that cal sells more than all others.

Unfortunate for those wanted to expand and use the 45, because as you say, it can pretty much do anything a 50 can, but they just don't produce the number of sales

Keep watch on Gunbroker for an MDM Buckwaka in .45. They use a fast 1:20" twist that'll handle long chunks of lead. I bought one for my SIL several years ago for $150. There's one on GB now with an extra .50 barrel for $325.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=443227601

i shoot a cva kodiak pro mag in .45 with 70 weighed grains of bh209, a cci 209m primer and a sightron 3-9x40 with a barnes 195 mz expander
i bedded the receiver and floated the barrel (had issues with the action shifting in the stock at 1st when i got it) sanded off the ridiculous ambidextrious cheek piece on the right side and sanded the monte carlo rise down even along the comb and refinished the laminated stock, also reoutlined the checkering deeper and i also tweaked the trigger spring pull weight slightly

the rifle suits me fine now

it shoots accurate and hits hard..................

Its a shame the 54cal never progressed too. Shooting 50cal bullets in 54x50 sabots, its a beast. Rem made a few and with the proper bolt/plug conversion they are super nice BH209 shooters.

I would be a bit cautious of MDM products. They used Brazilian made receivers for some and the owner was less than reputable. His mistakes at the old BlackMag powder plant cost two workers their lives.

It's possible the receivers were made by Rossi, although the one I had wasn't marked as Brazilian made. Even so, can't be any worse than BPI.
It's a shame what happened at the powder plant. I had hoped someone else would pick up the Black Mag III powder formula, I liked it better than any other sub.

Its not that the receivers were bad, its that he played it off as being completely American made. They were still nice SS receivers and very few companies used SS for break action ML only receivers.

He also made some wild claims about his MDM branded bullets which never lived upto his claims. At one time IIRC he advertised 200gr loads in the 45cals. Thats nuts if you plan on any kind of accuracy. Even the Ultimate has a fairly hard time with that kind of load. 3 mag pellets seem to be the preferred load among the owners now.

Blackmag though was a wonderful powder. At least the last revision was outstanding. This junk they now call BlackMZ is garbage by comparison and i doubt the formula is even close to real BlackMagIII.

The .45 is a niche product. The average goober goes into a store, looks at the selection of ML stuff available, and concludes the .45 may be hard to get stuff for. The stores, see a declining market for .45 stuff and stop stocking it lest they be stuck with a lot of close-out stock. Vicious circle. It has nothing to do with how good the caliber is, just how well it will sell. If you want to play with .45s, you're just gonna have to settle for fewer choices and look harder for stuff.

You can buy 2 items for a 45cal and NEVER have to look any harder than you do for a 50cal ML. Its called a adjustable sizing die and a reloading press.

No more sabots needed.
Shoot any .45X a 50cal can shoot.
Never wait for barrel cool down again. (within reason)
They load surprising easy too once you get the hang of it.

You're both correct. The market is aimed toward the "average goober" that really doesn't want to get into the sport, just hunt during the special season. I talk to several people each year that want to hunt the season but don't care anything for the sport. They buy the cheapest gun, a box each of primers, pellets and bullets, shoot it enough to sight it in and go hunting. The .50 is the easiest route for them because of the availability of components. For those of us that ENJOY muzzleloading the .45 is no problem, just part of the enjoyment of assembling components to suit our needs.

Today I shot my TC Black Diamond XR .45 anticipating that my niece might use it in Iowa. It shot well with 275 gr powerbelts and 70 gr of 777 2f. The 200 gr Hornady SST did not do as well and was a lot harder to load.

Try the Harvester 45x40 light blue smooth or crushrib sabots instead of the supplied tan sabots. They are easier to load.

Thanks,O'45, but because the TC's exposed 209 nipple is not BH209 friendly, the TC is a backup/loaner that seldom gets fired. I have enough powerbelts to feed it for years.

The Harvester sabots run about $6-7/50 if you know where to look. 40-200gr SSTs can be found for about 55cents each in bulk,,,again,,if you know where to look.

http://www.smokelessmz.com/bullets.html

They sure beat the recoil of a 275gr PB and 70gr of T7 for a youth load. Ive shot the 300gr PB Platinum with upto 90gr and recoil got a little harsh. The same load with a 200gr SST or even a cheap 200gr XTP shot just as well and recoil was minimal.

Cost savings is huge by comparison.

NOT AS GOOD AS THE 50

The 45s must be doing something right. They keep taking titles and winning matches at Friendship.

not as good?
the .45s can do anything the 50s can with higher velocities, better bc bullets and a flatter trajectory.
use a wad in a 45 instead of a sabot and you are shooting the same bullets without plastic.
whats not to like about 45s?

I build custom smokeless guns and out of near 100 I have yet to build a 50? why is that?

hillbill

I cant imagine why your post is in response to me. I love the 45 and ive sold all my 50cals but one. Its kinda special and just shoots too damn good to sell.

IIRC the last match at Friendship had a 45cal in 1st and 2nd place. 1st place was one of the best scores ever.

It wasn't. It was in response to bea175's post above your
last post.

45 is a nice little rifle but in states like colorado where they limit you on caliber, its not to useful if you are an elk hunter,especially when you draw both deer and elk tags for the same hunt.

54 is pretty much in the same class as a 45, no market for them period.