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

[waarp8nt]

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

They dun and R-U-N-N-O-F-T

Around here its the same...50 cal is definitely the most common front stuffer out there. There are just about as many .45 cal as there are .54 cal, I assume its because .45 cal is the smallest allowed for whitetail deer. We rarely see anything above .54 cal, if we do its a modern remake of an old military item used for reenactments.

I make every attempt to not miss the local ECA show here in Effingham because one of the largest dealers doesn't like muzzleloaders and it is reflected in the prices. I purchased a T/C Grey Hawk for $75 and passed on a CVA Mountain Rifle simply because I wasn't certain what model it was or its country of origin, but let me assure you it was priced right.

We are starting to see some custom and semi-custom stuff around here. I have thought about something like rfd had done, but couldn't decide between Rayl or Hoyt. I did buy a barrel from Green Mountain and would offer that up as an option to you and the fine folks here on the forum, but percussion breech plugs are non existent. I have tried Pecatonica, Track of the Wolf and The Gun Works...they all have them on order, but no expectation right away.

[Earlwb]

Around here the stores only have the common .50 caliber rifles. But online stores still sell the other calibers though. Dixie Gun Works comes to mind right off the bat though. I remember driving through and I stopped at Dixie Gun Works and sort of went hog wild at the time. That was in 1978. I wound up buying several guns from them at the time. I still have them all too. Much later I bought a .62 caliber rifled barrel with breech plugs (maybe two I forget at the moment) and a couple of stocks to make a couple of plains rifles, but I haven't done anything with them yet. I need to dig the things out and start doing something with them. The only .50 caliber rifle I have is a Dixie left hand flintlock Pennsylvania rifle that was made in Japan for DGW.

[Cheeto303]

You are fortunate to have such a variety and abundance of inexpensive M/Ls. Can't find any here and on the odd chance that I do it's allot for a cheap one. Gun shows want $200+ for an old beater CVA.

As soon as deer season ends it's time to hit all the pawn shops around here. It's amazing what one can find.

[Squeeze]

I’d like to know a little more about your fast twist <.45 cal rifles, loads, and results as I’ve often contemplated something like a .375-.40 for field hunting medium game hoping to achieve a projectile that can keep a point blank trajectory close to 4” out to 200 yds from a sidelock. This seems achievable with a .45 cal and a saboted Hornady 200 grn SST in .40 cal. The idea of a full bore lead bullet holds my fancy more though.

Its all old tech, .45 in 18-22 twist (I have several) My Go to is a 460 grn grease groove usually over 70 grns. I've tried the same in a 14 twist .36 with a 270 grn (accurate 36-270L)and it can outshoot me. I built one as a prototype and was so impressed, i'm now in the process of building another. My .40 is a 16 twist built around a rigby english sporting rifle kit (basically a gibbs/creedmoor style knockoff) 4" at 200 is easily doable with any.
The catch is, that I can only hunt deer here with .44+, so the smaller bores are mostly for range fun, with the occasional groundhog or coyote hunt thrown in.

[Good Cheer]

Heh, the only thing wrong with fifties is that they aren't made with one inch barrels.
Limits how big you can get it rebored to!


OK, just kidding. One of my all time favorite shootin' irons is a Dixie fifty with a one inch barrel 43" long.
That piece will flat embarrass people sitting next to you trying to work their way through the annual ritual of sighting in the deer rifle.

[BPJONES]

Funny--a nice 54 caliber Thompson Center just showed up for sale for $295.00 in the city I live in. Has a scope mount on it though. I'd of thought about but I already have one.

[taco650]

I'll agree that the most common caliber seen by me is .50. I have one Traditions Kentucky rifle in it and just started assembling parts for a home-made half stock made from scrounged parts and it's barrel is an old T/C .50 half stock barrel. Not sure if its an old Hawken or Renegade barrel because it doesn't say but I don't care.

If $$$ were no object I'd have Waksupi build me a Jim Chambers Christian Springs rifle in .58 or .62 and get rid of my .50's but...

[indian joe]

Goin to a shoot over easter - takin a sharps 45/70, a 45 flinter, but the main match (three position 100 yards) will be shot with a sidelock CVA 54 - 1:66 twist - hornady 530 roundball - ticking patch - 100 grains FFG - its an 87 vintage barrel I paid fifty bucks for years ago.