Caliber choice

[Mike Brooks]

You'll have to go custom for a .38. Bob Hoyt makes them, might take a year....

[2country]

Mike, yea I don’t see much on the 38, people that have them like them
and it would go with the 36 revolvers but I think I’ll go either .40 or .45cal.

Hay Hanshi, wattlebuster and any one else, I’ll be looking into a 62 after
 I choose my rifle; then decide which one to get first! But I’ll get into
questions on it latter after I study up.

[Snakebite]

I have a .40 caliber SMR built from a TVM kit. It was built by a professional rifle builder. It's a great rifle, a very slim very accurate rifle. I also have a .54cal TVM Late Lancaster that is a very good rifle too. .40 and.54 are my two favorite calibers and would recommend either one.

[RobD]

trying to make one caliber long gun do it all, from skwerls to yotes to deer, will always be a compromise of sorts.  hence why most of us have varied calibers and types of long guns.  i had a real nice jack garner .36 flinter that i should not have sold, a very potent skwerl rifle.  for yotes to deer, hard to beat a .50 though the right .45 can mostly work.  for the larger game it'd have to be a .54 and up - i prefer a .62 smooth rifle, which can easily do for most small to large game because it'll throw both shot as well as ball.

[prairie dog]

I am having my first custom flint rifle built and I choose a .40 cal Rice Swamped barrel.

My other flint gun is a 62 cal smoothbore and I have 50 and 54 percussion rifles.  The 40 should be a good addition.

[Hawken]

I would be satisfied using the .54 caliber for everything. A .54 caliber ball of the right alloy IMO is more than sufficient for deer or elk if it's put in the right place. The photo below shows a session of four targets; the first four I ever fired while ascertaining a zero for my flinter. This rifle was made by Tom Watson over in Georgia and he did a fantastic job. The shots you can see which are at the 'wide side' were basically where they are as I was tapping the rear sight from side to side while getting shots to center up. Once I found the rear sight 'sweet spot'....all went well. FLINTERS WILL SHOOT! All shots from 100 yards. The inner ring is 1.00" diameter.

SgtmovFL by Rick Mulhern, on Flickr

[RobD]

i agree - if yer a hunter, it's hard to beat a good .54 trad flinter for hogs thru elk.

[Hanshi]

2country, My .40 has a 38" "B" weight swamped Green Mountain barrel.  Just a guess but the rifle probably weighs 7&1/2 pounds, could be a little more but not much.  It's a TVM late Lancaster and balances extremely well.  My favorite for deer for many years has been the .45; never had a failure with it even at 75 yards.  It has given me more DRTs than the several .50s I've also used.

A .62 smoothbore is a wonderful gun to have.  I use mine mostly with ball but shot does just as well within 25 to maybe 30 yards.  I bought mine with a rear sight installed and am glad I did.

[RobD]

aye, sir - i agree on a .62 smooth rifle, what a wonderful jack of all trades and smoothies were the dominant long gun of colonial america for it's dual personality.  and it can easily be a master of both ball & shot, too, if yer careful to stay within its best shooting distances for each payload discipline.

[Thunderhawk1828]

2Country:

I agree with the .40 Cal for what you have mentioned. Will do what you want and the rifles you are thinking about are also well suited for the requirements you are looking at. Keep us posted an good luck in your decision!