Why is the 45 caliber modern in-line rifle considered DEAD?

[T.R.]

Guys:

This makes no sense to me.

One hunter loads his 50 caliber with a sabot 44 MAG bullet.  Another hunter loads his 45 caliber with a 44 caliber Power belt bullet.

Yet Salesman tell me the 45 caliber, fast twist, muzzle-loader is a dead rifle.  I'm deeply confused.

My muzzle-loader is a 2005 vintage Winchester X150 in 45 caliber and it kills deer quite well at 100 yards or less.  If it were a wounder, I'd have traded it off long ago.

Please enlighten me.

Jack 

[longcaribiner]

for the most part, in-lines are for the "higher power pseudo magnum" folks.  Gotta be bigger and badder and faster. 

Truth is, the short little bullets fired by most hunters in in-lines lose stability past 200 yds.  An in-line really can't do anything that a side lock with a similar twist and barrel can do.  In fact a long range side lock will still outperform nearly all inlines. 

Sales people and store are in business to sell things.  Whether they really understand what they are talking about is another story.

Keep in mind that a buffalo hunter could make one shot kills at 400 yds with a 45 caliber bullet and 70 grains of powder. But that was usually a 500 grain bullet. 

[burntmuch]

Not dead just not as popular. I shoot a .40 cal 200 grain SST & 180 grain gold dots with MMP 40/50 sabots. With great results. out of an 50 cal Omega X7. I want to get a .45 ML. Just dont got the xtra money. Last year Ilooked at Winchester X150 in .45. Nice gun. a bit heavy but nice. Plus I think with the .50s you got more options. So not dead just not as popular. I will have a .45 in the next year or two. When I get some xtra money. to play with

[kodiak1]

The 50 cal thing to me is just a fad.  Bigger is better!!!!!

The 45 will kill dead AS YOU STATED.  It all depends on the fella running the friearm.

Ken.

[Swampman]

The .45 has quite a cult following.  With the right twist it's pretty amazing.

[Semisane]

I shoot a .40 cal 200 grain SST & 180 grain gold dots with MMP 40/50 sabots. With great results. out of an 50 cal Omega X7.

Hey burntmuch, I shoot the 180 grain Gold Dot out of my scoped Renegade with the .45 caliber Green Mountain LRH barrel (1:28 twist).  Great bullets - accurate and sweet shooting.

I've tried the .40/200 grain XTP's in my X7, but couldn't get the level of accuracy I can get with .452/250 grain XTPs or Gold Dots.

I don't care much for shooting small caliber bullets in big bores anyway.  But I sure wish the X7 was produced in .45 caliber.  Wouldn't that be sweet? 

I agree, the .45 is not dead - just less popular.  It has a lot to do with availability of components.  I always recommend a .50 to someone just breaking into muzzleloading.  I think most other guys do too.

[hunt-m-up]

The limited variety of sabot/bullet choices and accessories commercially pre-packaged has probably hurt the caliber. You can certainly assemble whatever combination of bullet/sabot you want on your own,but not everyone wants to. My nephew had problems needing to trail up deer that were hit in the vitals with his .45 Encore and saboted bullets on easy shots from a treestand. He went to the heavier Powerbelts this past year and was very pleased with their performance. I've only owned .50 inlines, but have thought about getting a .45 if I find one for the right price.

[grouse]

The 45 is the best Deer hunting ML hands down in my opinion.

[DennyRoark]

But I sure wish the X7 was produced in .45 caliber.  Wouldn't that be sweet? 

Hey, Semi...T/C did have a one year run in 45.  Good Luck trying to find one.

[quickdtoo]

TC made a Black Diamond Super 45 XR at one time.

Tim

[Semisane]

But I sure wish the X7 was produced in .45 caliber.  Wouldn't that be sweet? 

Hey, Semi...T/C did have a one year run in 45.  Good Luck trying to find one.

I sure didn't know that Denny.  I've never seen a report of one on any of the forums.  They've got to be pretty rare.  Do you know if it was a special model for only one distributor?

[wreckhog]

http://store.thirdgenerationshootingsupply.com/browse.cfm/4,7343.html

[Semisane]

Knew about the regular Omegas wreckhog.  The X-7 model is a nice little carbine.

Here's mine in .50 caliber.

[burntmuch]

X7 in .45 shure would make for a nice little carbine wouldnt it..

[DennyRoark]

Semi, must have been in 2007.  Saw it in Cabelas shooting catalogue a few months after I bought my X7.  Called Dundee and they had 2.  Mama said NO!

Now I'm thinkin too hard....maybe it was the regular Omega...jeesh I don't know...my CRS is getting worse!

[longcaribiner]

I remember reading that White made a special group of 40 cal in lines for their factory competition team.   

even back in the long range muzzleloading creedmore style shooting, no one used 50 cal guns.  44's and 45's ruled the roost for 1,000 yd matches.

[burntmuch]

Semisane did you shoot anything with the 180 GDs. All Ive shot is sand with them. They gave me good pentitratoin & the perfect mushroom. Just wondering how they did on game.

[Semisane]

I have not burntmuch.  I first tried them this spring after taking two does with 200 grain XTPs last fall.  I've always been a heavy bullet fan for muzzleloaders.  But those little 200s performed so well they convinced me to try the Gold Dots.  I will be putting one of the 180 grain GDs into a deer next season, you betcha`.

[moto357]

White produced 40's not just for competition, but for the people   they like heavy long bullets, as all the Whites do.  Doc experimented with lots of small calibers, and i believe the .375 was one of his finer calibers that never made production.. 

[Nobade]

While mounting a scope on an Encore 50 cal yesterday we started the same discussion in the shop. Here I had a 50 cal rifle with a twist rate fast enough to shoot a 600 - 700 grain bullet. Now a 50-140 is considered to be an exceptionally large rifle cartridge, and pretty rare. But this thing is pretty much the same thing, only without the case. A 45-70 is considered to be a very good, powerful hunting rifle for pretty much anything. Lyman makes their volunteer bullet, a 450 grain .451" grease groove slug made for shooting in 45 caliber muzzle loading rifles. It's plenty powerful and accurate out to 800 yards or so in a smallbore Enfield or Gibbs. I doubt any game animal on this continent could stop one of those bullets with its body. Any 45 caliber inline with a 1:22 or faster twist barrel would become a 45-70 or 45-90 or whatever you want using that bullet. So why do people feel under gunned with a 45? 

On a slightly different note, I have been toying with the idea of using one of Krieger's .465 NE barrels on a muzzle loading bullet firing rifle. The dimensions are .458 X .465, with a 16 or 18 twist (don't remember right now) - perfect for any normal grease groove or paper patched 45 caliber rifle bullet. Wouldn't need any special moulds, and the selection of bullets is tremendous. It seems to me that would be a really slick setup.

[Rock Home Isle]

Guys:

This makes no sense to me.

One hunter loads his 50 caliber with a sabot 44 MAG bullet.  Another hunter loads his 45 caliber with a 44 caliber Power belt bullet.

Yet Salesman tell me the 45 caliber, fast twist, muzzle-loader is a dead rifle.  I'm deeply confused.

My muzzle-loader is a 2005 vintage Winchester X150 in 45 caliber and it kills deer quite well at 100 yards or less.  If it were a wounder, I'd have traded it off long ago.

Please enlighten me.

Jack  

Most states have chosen to list the .40 or the .45 calibre as the minimum calibre for deer and the western states list the .50 calibre as the minimum for elk. So if you own a .45 calibre you can hunt deer ONLY, but with a .50 calibre you can hunt both. So people buy a .50 calibre because in their opinion the .50 is more versatile.

The days of when you could obtain a good quality muzzleloader for a few hundred bucks are gone. A good solid gun today is over $500.00, so hunters buy 1 gun and use it for deer hunting and if they ever want to hunt elk...it can serve double duty.

That legislation that made the .45 usable for deer but to small for elk, signed the deathnell for the .45 calibre as a versatile muzzle loading rifle. Sales of the .45 dropped off precipitously and economically it costs a manufacturer just as much to make a rifle in either calibre. So why make a .45 that way fewer people will buy, when a .50 is so very popular.

Emd result...the .45 becomes obsolete...

[Rock Home Isle]

.....
I agree, the .45 is not dead - just less popular.  It has a lot to do with availability of components.  I always recommend a .50 to someone just breaking into muzzleloading.  I think most other guys do too.

I just recieved a .45 calibre...maybe 4 weeks ago or so. My dad said to me, "Why did't you buy a .50 cal?"  

[spooked]

Bought me a Traditions .45 inline last year jist cause I had a sidelock in that calibre and a Lee R.E.A.L. Mold fer same...Not about to pay that high price fer them sabots ..when i can mold a bullet full size ...below poverty level income requires one to be conservative if they want to stay in the game..

[equinoxbuilders]

45, not dead, but close to it.  I can see no reason for this.  My dad brought home plenty of venison with .45 roundball when I was knee high to a grasshopper.
Like the 260Rem, it isn't being marketed properly.
.45 cal ML like the 260 is a perfect cal. to introduce younger or smaller framed people to the fine sport of hunting/shooting.
The firearms offered are also going to be lighter to carry around all day.
Light is also good for us aging hunters dragging through the woods.
Everyone that I've let shoot my childrens .45 Rossi has fell in love with it.
I'm sure the H&R Handi is much like it.
The closest thing I've ever seen from TC is the Katadin. 50cal.
I would love to buy a TC Katadin in .45 but can't.  And I certainly wouldn't for $800.
There isn't any reason, that TC couldn't make a 20" 1/20-1/28 twist .45 and market to the groups I've stated for around $500.
Sure, we could have one custom made, but again, we shouldn't have to.
Like the truck manufacturers, everyone gets on the whole bigger is badder bandwagon.
For me, I'll take a Rem. Model7 in 260, a handi ML in .45 and a solid axle 3/4ton with a Cummins 4BT...Too bad they are either hard to find or have to be custom made.

EQ

[tacklebury]

I wish they weren't or that's what I'd have instead of .50's.  I know there are some available sometimes, but so rarely have I run across one, when I wanted one, I didn't wait.  8(

[Swampman]

A Savage rebarreled to .45 is the bomb.

[Buckskins & Black Powder]

A Savage rebarreled to .45 is the bomb.

Literally!   

[1sourdough]

 I think the 45 has enough of a following to be around into the future. Now the 52 cal, now that's one pretty much beyond life support.

[Swampman]

Knight is on the way back and is still producing sabots for the .52.

[yellowtail3]

Re: Why is the 45 caliber modern in-line rifle considered DEAD?

(shrug) I'd guess... because it's harder to get bullets for it, and it doesn't have any real advantage over the more common .50 for killing deer at muzzleloading distances.