I read an article a while back that said that all of the .45 caliber muzzleloaders built were the same barrel as the 50 cal except with a .45 cal hole. Therefore making them heavier than the .50 barrels. The one exception being the contender barrel. So it's the only "lightweight" muzzleloader. Kinda cool.
I've always used the pellets, but I'll look into the blackhorn 209