Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Muzzleloaders Is the .45 caliber (.440) round ball adequate for deer?

I have a deposit on a custom made muzzleloader that is a beautiful piece of craftsmanship. It is unfired, but over 30 years old. I'm a lefty and to find one that is left handed is even more of a rarity. It was made with a heavy barrel in .45 caliber (.440) and that is the rub. I like everything about it but the caliber. I've already got a price to rebore it to either .50 or .54 at a very reasonable number but have also been thinking about having another barrel made for it and keeping the original barrel as it came from the maker.

What I'd like to know is what experience does anyone have with actually shooting east coast sized deer with a .45 caliber roundball. Good, bad or otherwise.

I share your concern ROMAC, though I must admit I have no personal experience shooting deer with a .45. I just won't do it (personal choice). Yeah, I know a .440 ball is adequate for deer with a well placed shot at a reasonable range. But in my view (and if you have the option) why hunt with a .45 when the .50 or .54 is so far superior and more appropriate for deer size game?

Way back when I was hunting a good bit with a ML, I thought about getting one of the TC rifles in 45. I figured since it was smaller and lighter, it would be a handy rifle for my type of hunting. 40cal and up is legal here for WT. I figured to use a maxiball.

If one were going to a bigger heavier rifle, as I did, I would think it would negate the advantages of the 45. I chose a TC 54 renegade. It has served me well with both RB and Maxiballs. I favored the maxiballs because they were much easier to start and push down the barrel.

No one I hunted with, or knew, used the 45 cal. There were a lot of 50's used.

Others may have more input.

Good luck, I hope this helps.

I already have T/C's and Lyman's in .50 and .54 and have had complete pass throughs multiple times on broadside shots over the years. This would be my 5th muzzleloader but first custom. I was quoted $135 plus return shipping for a rebore. I know I'll have to pay a lot more for a new barrel but I just might go that route.

The 1st deer I ever took with a Muzzleloaded was with a 45 cal. hatfield, big button buck at 63 paces, droped it, thru the smoke I saw a hind leg kick and it was done. used the 440 lead ball thru the lungs, a huge hole on the off side, deer went down as fast or faster than if I used a 06! wish I still had that gun beside looking Great it shot cloverleaves at 50yrds! live & learn!

LEAVE IT ALONE, the .45 is GREAT for deer. 90% of the over 200 I have taken with a ML has been with a .45 flinter.
I question the .440" thing though. A .45 will be .450" across the lands and a .445" ball is best but I use .450" with a .010" patch.
Get the land to land measured so you don't use a ball too small.
TC started the smaller ball junk for their barrels but they still shot better with the right size.

It's about equal to the M1 Carbine. Not my first choice but it will work.

Perhaps you should try it and see how you like it. You can always rebore or rebarrel.

I never had any deer go out of sight before dropping and many dropped right now.
I was told by someone long ago that the .45 was too small but you can't prove it by me.
Don't ever look at energy figures, see what the gun does and you will be happy.
I have killed deer with everything you can think of and the .45 round ball will never take a back seat.
It will make a .30 carbine look sick, better compare to a much larger gun. I would say a .35 Rem and maybe better then a 30-06.
All that with no meat loss.

I'd NEVER rebore the original barrel. Instead, I'd simply get a new Green Mountain .50 caliber replacement barrel for your muzzle-loader and retain the original barrel if that is your desire.

That said, the .45 prb is just fine for whitetails out to 70-80 yards... no need to go "bigger"... the .45 will get the job done with ease as long as you place your shot within the "kill zone" which is true of even a .40 caliber which is legal for deer in some, but not all States.

If you "gut-shoot" a deer with a .50, .54 or even a .58 caliber ball, you have a "mess" on your hands. Better that you shoot it with the .45 which has lighter recoil and adequate "power" within that limited range I've already mentioned. I know a good many deer hunters who successfully use the .45 caliber rifles with a round, patched rifle ball to bring down their annual venison.

While the .50 is better, the .45 is more than "adequate" and will do the job if you get reasonable bullet placement. Case-in-point, most States allow the use of the .45 caliber rpb for deer hunting.

'Nuff said... good luck...


Strength & Honor...

Ron T.

I would agree with the others here . The 45 is a good deer rifle and will do the job just fine even for NW Mule deer . that�s my personal experience

Now that being said . If your barrel is a 45 . It will be . 450 bore . Thus you will be shooting a .435 or .440 ball .
If you bore is .440 then you have a 44 cal not a 45 .
If you do some historical reading on the American long rifle , you will find that they were of small caliber .
50 + were big bores .
In the L&C journals , you will find that Clark and others write about Clark taking even elk size game with his Small rifle . He describes this rifle as shoot 100 to the lb . thus it would be a 36 cal .

The problem wasn�t that it wouldn�t kill elk size game the problem was that it didn�t leave a big enough hole to leave a good blood trail . but again thats a 36




get to know your rifle and become able to consistntly place your shot . do that and you will have no problems

What powder charge will be used?

FWIT-
The old Lyman BP handbook I have, in 45cal a 80gr charge and a 133gr RB lists at:

MV 1931 fps with 1088ft/lbs ME;

at 100yds e is 314ft/lbs.

It falls off pretty quick.

This is from a 28" barrel.

Not so for size. If you want accuracy you NEED the patch to engrave the ball .005" at the bottom of the grooves. A .445" ball and .020" patch will just do it. In the old days when I started we used a .450" ball and .010" patch and it still works with the proper rifling that is deep enough. The problem is that TC started to make shallow rifling and removed the accuracy a ML is capable of.
This is what you should get at 50 yards with 5 shots, with the proper fit.

I've use a 45 a lot ,better to carry and more fun to hunt with for deer .Now I have them all pretty much 36 threw 58 the one I use most now days is 45 cal 80 to 100 gr, maxi ball , a sabot mite shoot better then round .I have a cva that loves these over the round ball with a twist of 1-66

sorry i ment to say 440 or 445 "popular "dont know what i was thinking

past that dont bet on the engraving thing
smoothbores have no rifling nore do they need a patch and with a proper load can hold a single hole group even at 5o yards +.

now past that . take me hershel rifle . her bore is .548 . i shoot a . 530 ball and a .018 patch . not that tight of a combow and guess what ?
the world turns .
well i seem to do ok








see the thing is , while the patch has to impart twist to the ball , it can still do that becouse the ball exspands somewhat as the pressure from the main charge slams into it.

i also use hard ball for hunting . there is very little engraving of patch material concerning them

I shot one once with a 54 round ball that did not do much bleeding for the first 100 yards, then lots of blood. I did use a 45 some but used the maxi ball and it will kill deer dead. I switched to the maxi ball on the 54 and killed several deer with it before I got an inline and they all bled good. miles

I know now why I said .that
Because this bore isn�t a 45 . it�s a 44 IE the bore is .440 .
Im sure this has been said before . But ill remind everyone .
Just because your barrel says 45 , 50 , 54.���.. Or you have been told it�s a given caliber . That doesn�t mean it is .
In actuality is can be under or over bored . Especially concerning Custom barrels .
Its not un common to find Colerian barrels + or - .008.
Douglas I have found seen range + or- .010
Green mountain ? Im thinking they are down to in the .005 to .010 range .
My wife�s 50 carries a GM barrel and she plays hell getting a .490 ball down with anything bigger then a .005 patch
Even Getz and Rice barrels carry a variance .
Not sure what Ed Rayls tolerances are now .

I want to say TC tolerances are + to minus .010 .
Im not sure what CVA�s tolerances are . But I can tell you they very
Original barrels ?? Well they are what ever they turned out to be

Please don't shoot deer with a 110 grain round ball.

I am sure a 44 or 45 RB or whatever you want to call it will kill a deer, but I wouldn't want to try and track it through our woods.

I've hit them with a 54-Maxi and not have them bleed a drop externally. One time in particular, the only reason I knew it was a hit was because the deer went down at the strike, jumped up and ran 100yds or so, through the thickest stuff this side of Seattle. I never found a drop of blood.

Captchee, now that is so very important and I am glad you brought it up. Every barrel should be measured to figure out fit. Rifling depths vary all over the place too and that makes a huge difference in what can be loaded and what will be accurate.
What I shoot will not go in other barrels without a sledge hammer.
You must work with what you have so there is no place for any arguments at all.
I still say a round ball rifle or one that uses Maxi balls is SOOOO much easier to load then a lot of the inline rifles.
Friends bring those things here to sight in and I seen too many of them forcing the ram rod against a tree to get a bullet or sabot in after only one shot.
How I hate to wipe a bore between shots when hunting.
What I found and use in my rifles will NOT work for all guns so I will never dispute what anyone else shoots.