The conventional hunting rifle battery -- here's one way to look
at it.
The only non-variable of bullet construction and one that is very important
is the cross sectional area of a bullet. If we pick the most sold bullet
diameter of all it would have to be the 22 caliber with a cross sectional area
.0394". If we double that we get a cross sectional area of .788 we
land right in between the .30 caliber (the most popular American caliber) and
the 8mm (.323 a very popular European caliber). Maybe its no coincidence
that these have been the most popular calibers for nearly a hundred years!
Taking this one step further and again doubling the cross sectional area to
1.576 we are at the 45 caliber pistol (.451-.452) rounds that are gaining
popularity due to muzzleloading bullets, the growing popularity of the 454
Casull and the newest items on the block, the 460 Smith and Wesson and the 450
Bushmaster..
So let's translate this into the most typical calibers and we find that four
rifle calibers will handle nearly anything that comes up anywhere.
Translated into rifle calibers we have the ubiquitous .22 Rimfires, the .22
caliber centerfires for varmints and predators, the 30 caliber centerfires for bigger animals and the
45 caliber centerfires
for all big game. For hunting purposes the 45s actually have two caliber categories,
the .451-.452 category (45 Colt, 454 Casull, and .460 Smith & Wesson) and
the .457-.458 category (.45-70, 450 Marlin, .458 Winchester).
- The .22 Rimfires - for small game, plinking, and target shooting;
- The .22 Centerfires - for varmints and predators up to the size of coyotes;
- The 30 Centerfires - for bigger predators, deer, elk, and smaller bears
(or 8mm if you like being different);
- The 45 Centerfires - for deer, hogs, elk, moose, the really nasty beasts, and 50
caliber muzzleloading with sabots
Most hunters and shooters know about the first three but a trend that is sizzling
right now is the .451-.452 category of the 45s. Here's, at least partly,
what's driving that
trend.
- The increasing range of wild (or feral) hogs. These are spreading
faster than they can be eradicated by hunting, even without seasons and
limits. They tend to be around cover and have poor eye sight
so can be stalked fairly close to. The best 45 caliber guns for this
type of hunting are short, handy rifles and large handguns in the .451-.542
category. .457-.458 category guns work just as well but are usually
heavier and not as handy in the thick stuff. The newer TC Pro Hunter
in .460 S&W (5 3/4 lbs) and the Legacy Puma (6 1/2 lbs) in .454 Casull
are ideal rifles for this type of hunting, especially if there is a
possibility of running into the larger boars or sows.
- The continuing trend of hunters going to muzzleloading for the extra time
they can spend in the field during deer seasons. Buy far the most
popular muzzleloading calibers have been the inline 50 caliber muzzleloader
shooting the category .451-.452 45 caliber bullets. In the beginning
pistol bullets were being used but in the quest for increased range and
power it led to the development and use of tougher and more
streamlined bullets for use in both muzzleloaders and cartridges like the
.454 Casull and the .460 S&W.
- The increase of what I call the "farm rim". It seems
everyone wants a piece of rural land to live on and farmers have been
willing to sell off their land that borders the roads thereby rimming in
everything between the roads. For instance, the land that I used to
hunt on with my 7mm Magnum rifle now has a small rural subdivision next to it.
What I needed was a bullet that I could fire at 2000fps that was good to
200yds which was generally my longest shot and then drop like a rock to the
ground. I found the magnum muzzleloaders and the .451-.452 category of
45
rifles to be the answer to this need. These can be driven to 2000fps
and can be 200 yard rifles in the hands of a skilled
shooter.
- For hand loaders, the category .451-.452 bullets provides a lot of utility
without stocking so many bullets. Hand loaders can use many of the
same bullets in the 45 Colt, .454 Casull, .460 S&W and the 50 caliber
muzzleloader (with black powder and its replicas). The 45 Colt and
.454 Casull can even be loaded with one set of dies.
- For hand loaders, the same powders work in all of them, including some for
the Savage 10 ML II muzzleloading rifle (NOTE: Do not use centerfire smokeless
powders in muzzleloaders except for the Savage 10 ML).
One thing that's moved me towards this also is the ease of loading straight
walled cases instead of bottlenecked cases. Its a LOT easer and if you
shoot a lot it saves a LOT of time and effort!
Not mentioned above but shooting all those .451-.452 bullets is just plain
fun!
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