Where Did All Of The .58s And .54s Go?

[Landy88]

The .50 has always been the sales leader, but it's big sisters were always in the market. Now, it seems it's almost, to paraphrase Henry Ford, "...available in any caliber you want as long as it is .50."

[waksupi]

.54 is the most popular in this area. .50 is fairly rare. I just finished a .53 Poor Boy a couple days ago.

[nicholst55]

IMHO the inlines pretty much killed anything other than .50, at least for the mass market. When you go to most places that carry 'muzzleloader' stuff, it's strictly for .50 inlines. You ask about flints and round balls, and they get that deer in the headlights look.

[Tracy]

IMHO the inlines pretty much killed anything other than .50, at least for the mass market. When you go to most places that carry 'muzzleloader' stuff, it's strictly for .50 inlines. You ask about flints and round balls, and they get that deer in the headlights look.

Yep. And if you ask for black powder they say, "What kind do you want? 777, Pyrodex Pellets, White Hots...?"

[Good Cheer]

Manufacturers have gone middle of the road as the marketplace generally has a mania, a fixation on deer.

[rfd]

this is all about offshore production trad ml's, as onshore builders will render whatever ya want. investarms (lyman, dgw, cabela. etc) does offer a .54 but for whatever reason they're hard to find. dunno about traditions and other euro manufacturers, but i think pedersoli does a .54 and a .58 (with much higher price tags than the others). i couldn't find a .54 GPR last year, so i bought a .50 and sent the barrel off to bobby hoyt for a .54 ream. this allowed me to better tailor what i really wanted - .012 radius groove rifling in 1:56 twist. replacing the lock with an L&R RPL05 was another mod for the better.

[dsayer]

Have to admit I've never looked much at 58s, but I shoot 54s exclusively. I have three Investarms rifles; a Cabela's Sporterized that my dad gave me on my 12th birthday, another Cabela's rifle I bought when I was in undergrad ~15y ago, and Lyman Plains Pistol. My next one will be a flintlock.
They are harder to find than their 50cal cousins but Track of the Wolf and other online retailers usually have some available.

[trapper9260]

I see that there is more inline then side locks and some of the new side lock have the twist of sabots then for able to use round ball to do the job you like.But I did found a side lock to shoot round ball.The other 2 side locks I have have the twist I found out that is for sabots.All are 50 cals. I do have a civil war 58cal that shoots good just need to shot it more to get the hang of it.

[Nobade]

this is all about offshore production trad ml's, as onshore builders will render whatever ya want. investarms (lyman, dgw, cabela. etc) does offer a .54 but for whatever reason they're hard to find. dunno about traditions and other euro manufacturers, but i think pedersoli does a .54 and a .58 (with much higher price tags than the others). i couldn't find a .54 GPR last year, so i bought a .50 and sent the barrel off to bobby hoyt for a .54 ream. this allowed me to better tailor what i really wanted - .012 radius groove rifling in 1:56 twist. replacing the lock with an L&R RPL05 was another mod for the better.

Nice! That's certainly an improvement. Same thing I did with a TC.

[Landy88]

Good to be reminded that there are some options if one wants (or is forced) to move up a level or two to a custom or semi-custom ML.

I'm not there, yet; but I do want a dedicated elk ML. I think that a little bore diameter would for that be a good idea, and the general market has very limited options.

[mooman76]

They are out there, you just have to look. Less common but they are there. I have a Cabelas Hawken 58 and a T/C Scout in 54.

[mooman76]

They are out there, you just have to look. Cabelas has them, Dixie Gun Works has them, Cains Outdoors....... And they are ready made or kits, not customs.

[Tackleberry41]

Its one of those self fulfilling things. A store carries tons of 50 but little else, so thats what people buy. Since the 45 or 54 cal stuff does not move, they stock less of it. Which means there is less to buy and soon they say, 'nobody wants the other stuff'. And all the inlines guns I see are 50s, and all places carry anymore. Shop near me wont touch a side lock, just cant sell them. Its a much smaller niche market. Took me a year to sell a really nice Lyman 54cal. Still have the great plains mold I bought for it, just in case I ever got another one.

[Texas by God]

Earlier this year I got a T/C
" hawkengade" in .54 to go with my Lyman PP .54. I'd looked for a few years......

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[Landy88]

Thanks for the encouragement.

I'll keep looking.

[Beagle333]

Cabelas has Hawkens in .54 in stock.
https://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod..._ref=prd727320

[GoexBlackhorn]

Where Did All Of The .58s And .54s Go?

...... and where have all the 50-cal 1/66 twist, half-stock roundball rifles gone?

Since inlines are so market-hot these days, I would even purchase an Inline 1/66 twist...... if someone made one.

I would love to shoot roundballs and patch, out of a gun with a half-stock with removable breechplug and fiber-optic sights.

[rfd]

...... and where have all the 50-cal 1/66 twist, half-stock roundball rifles gone?

they got reamed out to .54

[mooman76]

...... and where have all the 50-cal 1/66 twist, half-stock roundball rifles gone?

Since inlines are so market-hot these days, I would even purchase an Inline 1/66 twist...... if someone made one.

I would love to shoot roundballs and patch, out of a gun with a half-stock with removable breechplug and fiber-optic sights.

Why removable breech plug? I'm not saying they aren't out there but I don't think they were ever made. I'm talking about the ones like inlines that were made to be removed when cleaning. Take care of it and clean it properly and you should never have to remove it, with few exceptions of coarse.

[Landy88]

I think that I even drooled a bit, then I saw the "LH."

A nice LH .54 and 12ga TC New Englander is on GB, if anyone shoots from that shoulder.