.40 Caliber - What's the Point?

[Josephg]

.40 caliber rifles tend to have superior sights on them.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

FWIW the top shooter in the recent NE Flintlock Invitational Championship Shoot ... was using a 40-cal. Out of 50 shooters too! On a windy day to boot!

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Too bad he had to return it to his daughter...it's her rifle, and she shoots as good as her dad!

ADK Bigfoot

 

[Gordoncourtney]

Interestingly Thompson Center, God rest their traditional muzzleloader soul, made the Cleland Match Rifle in .40 caliber. I've never seen one and I've heard they're kind of rare. I wonder what made T/C select the .40 to offer in a match gun?

Look up Gibbs target rifle , bristol
England and it has Metford riffling. The .4” out to 500 yards and I recall the .45”
Out to 1000 yards it won all the matches and trophy’s since 1885

 

[Gordoncourtney]

Look up Gibbs target rifle , bristol
England and it has Metford riffling. The .4” out to 500 yards and I recall the .45”
Out to 1000 yards it won all the matches and trophy’s since 1885

Meant to add , a BP , like my unmentiable, 577-500 double rifle 1885 ???? Lot of lead 440g and 140g of BP. A lot to carry and reloading cost back in 1885 Not to mention today uk price of the brass around £11. You can see why the .400 was preferred Love to hunt bear with above .500 , it will drop water buff etc. see Marraki Darwin OZ. Nice stories too . The .4 nitro had better stories like man eating tigers in India all on google as I said before, no hunting with a ML allowed in Western Australia. It’s unkind to animals waste of time , been there to Perth 3 times

However i am happy as an old fart shooting my 22 pcp bsa scorpion from my rocking chair the flyers were setting up the scope the rest a 30 mm red blob at 50 yards scope on 8 magnification cost £14/500 pellets, cheap shooting for years i kept my 450/400 beside my bed , felt happy , there’s tigers and elephants at the zoo a mile or two away ha ha


Take care from a dried up green and pleasant land ha ha enjoy

 

[nkbj]

Have you tried conical bullets out of any of them?

I've shot various designs of paper patched and lubed lead from both.

 

[nkbj]

 

[nkbj]

 

[nkbj]

 

[nkbj]

 

[nkbj]

Also tried out various .41 revolver bullets sized down to load like a maxiball.
Got all different kinds of results. The tough part is achieving the same result every time I pull the trigger.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

To the original posting: I get the idea of .32 or .36 guns for smaller game, I get the .45 for targets and deer, the general purpose .50 and the .54 on up big game thing but what is the need for .40 caliber?

The answer is simple: BECAUSE IT IS THERE! I own a .32, 36, 40, 45, 50, 54, 58, and a 62. Why? Because they are there! Simple.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[nkbj]

You obviously need a .42!

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

If I find one of them in a lefty flintlock, I will!

ADK Bigfoot

 

[Rock Home Isle]

………… I own a .32, 36, 40, 45, 50, 54, 58, and a 62. Why? Because they are there! Simple.

ADK Bigfoot

Reminds me of the ending lyrics of an old Johnny Cash song…

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I get the idea of .32 or .36 guns for smaller game, I get the .45 for targets and deer, the general purpose .50 and the .54 on up big game thing but what is the need for .40 caliber?

By the way, I own a couple.

Well I knew several men, long before I got interested in flintlocks, who had grown up with .40 caliber, caplock rifles. They had all been WW1 babies, their mommas getting pregnant as their dads enlisted and left for war, they being born in 1918... all three were living and hunting in different parts of Appalachia as teens during the great depression.

The .40 for them was the perfect rifle. It was the cheapest to shoot round ball with, and still have enough umph at 50 yards on a deer, and accurate enough to take the head on a rabbit or a squirrel or a groundhog, or a racoon, or a turkey. They were also very accurate at target shooting events, and in those days there was heavy competition for a small ham, or a side of bacon or some linked sausages.

So..., when I had a chance, I picked up a rather plain Jane version of one in flint.

LD

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

A .40 can cover a pile of bases, that's for sure. I really do enjoy mine.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I ordered a TVM Natchez Poor Boy in .40 calibre. I have enjoyed shooting that gun so much, when I finally made the leap to buy a Kibler SMR…it arrived in .40 calibre.

 

[TexiKan]

Way back when, I started with a .40 cal rifle from Dixie. Yeah, it was an inexpensive, basic caplock and I use it until the lock wore out. A local store decided to sell out of their blackpowder inventory and I purchased a .45 cal Navy Arms rifle. Liked it, until it was stolen. In the quest for another rifle, my fellow club members urged me to get a .50. I was not crazy about going in that direction but I gave in. I am not a hunter and I am strictly a target shooter, and the .50 has been far heavier than I would like but I had to adapt. The .40 and .45 were better suited to my body frame but I was not about to invest more into such a gun, especially after losing my initial investment to a fellow in Florida who was supposed to make me a .50 caliber Hawken. If I had a better quality .40, I'd go back in a heartbeat...

 

[Fisherking]

Reminds me of an old Johnny Cash song…

Underrated comment.