.36 or .40 ?

[ZUG]

There is a reason why the .45 was so popular years ago and it was mostly as you stated - then people got the "Bigger is Better" idea maybe it was due to poor shot placement & lost game. Don't get me wrong the big calibers have there place but for deer size game & under and sensible ranges the .45 is a great caliber.

 

[mooman76]

I liked my 45 just dandy when I got it and it was my first ML rifle. They were popular then and about the only caliber you ran across unless you special ordered one. The problem was, I wanted to hunt deer with it and it was too small grain wise to hunt deer and it didn't shoot conicals well but would shoot the Lee REALs good enough for minute of deer. I eventually got a couple 50s.

Congrats on your 40. I honestly don't think there is enough difference between 36 and 40 to make much of a fuss. Either would work fine.

 

[M. De Land]

I was looking at a .40 when all the craze was on for them some years ago while planning a target rifle but after looking at velocities, wind drift figures, ball weights,recoil and powder/lead consumption and recoil, the .45 just made the most sense.

 

[hanshi]

I respectfully disagree and think a .45 is just about as close to an all around caliber as one can own.
Good on targets, squirrel or deer and easy on powder and lead.
I do want a .36 next though for just the joy of shooting a small bore.
My .58 and .54 don't get much use anymore since the .45 was born in my shop. :grin:

I stand corrected...sort of. I think I've mentioned before that the .45 is my favorite caliber; I own more guns in that caliber than any other. But it's my favorite for deer and predator size critters but not for small game. True, the .40 is a tad light for deer though fully qualified for that purpose. It's much better suited for true "small game" than the .45 but is "almost" as destructive with a bad hit. This is why I picked the .40 as the best all around when the thread's emphasis was, after all, small game.

Having said that I will agree with you that the .45 does rule.

 

[flintlockmdj]

Were I to start over I would go with a .32 then go to a .40 then a .50 and ether a .58 or .60. There just isn't enough difference in a 32 and a 36 or a 36 and a 40 to get excited about. What I did was a .36 then a .45 with a few .50 and .54 thrown in but ultimately it's your choice. For what it's worth I still have and use the .36 that I built in 1976 it's been restocked but the basic gun is still there.

 

[AZbpBurner]

When I was a kid, Dad decided to build a .40 cal caplock. Golden Age Arms had their shop downtown from where I lived, and he got lock, Douglas barrel and some parts from Jim Johnston. I borrowed some other parts and sand cast the trigger guard and buttplate. It took about 2 years of evening and some weekend work, and was finished in 1970 when I graduated from High School.

I think it took Dad longer to fit the sights than any other task, and first trip to the range, he had it sighted in to take the center out of a pie tin at 100 yards. He could hit whatever he could see. I fired it a few times long ago, and have it today - hasn't been fired for several decades, and the right day will come soon.

My first rifle was a .54 cal. Gallagher, and I began casting for it even before firing the first round. Naturally my flint preference runs towards the .54 cal, but I also shoot .50 cal in flint and percussion.

 

[smoothshooter]

What kind of accuracy do you get with the .36 smoothbore?

 

[Tinker2]

What kind of accuracy do you get with the .36 smoothbore?

Not sure how to answer that, I have never put one on paper to see.

I usually hit what I shoot at if that helps, shot or ball.
I could put up some paper targets at whatever distance you like and see.



William Alexander