.40 For Deer

[Jo]

I recently moved to Alabama and here .40 cal is the minimum legal caliber for deer. So what's y'alls opinion on using a .40 cal for deer. I do have a Hatfield .50 I'm going to use for hogs but,I think it would be nice to have a lighter gun for deer. Anyways give your opinion. Thanks

 

[Col. Batguano]

This has been discussed many times before here. The consensus is that the smaller the caliber, the less margin for error there is. EG, if you were using a cannon, a hit about anywhere would do the trick. With a 40, (or a 96 gr. RB) keep your range short, your loads heavier, and your aim true. .

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I've heard the .40 referred to as an "all around" caliber, useful for deer at short range and squirrel with a reduced charge.

But from personal experience I'm afraid I haven't any to offer. Others will chime in.

 

[Einsiedler]

My favorite RB deer rifle! I've taken a considerable number of cervids as well as porcine creatures with a .40. Just finished a new one.

 

[Jo]

Thanks guys. :thumbsup:

 

[nkbj]

Forty caliber deer rifles? Not legal where I live now but otherwise not a problem.





If you're restricted to using round ball then double ball loading to run up the weight of lead (nowadays called "double tap") might be something to look at.

 

[Jo]

Wow that is impressive, and stacking prbs is something to consider.

 

[hanshi]

If you can easily make a vital hit on a deer with a .50, you can make a vital hit with a .40. A bigger gun doesn't ever, and I mean ever make up for a bad shot. Don't stretch the range to far and use your most accurate load that's heavy enough for deer and you should have no problem. So far every state I've hunted in required a .45 as minimum for deer. And I've taken a lot of deer (one shot) with a couple of .45s.

 

[Jo]

What would you say is the max distance you could take a deer with a 40 is at. Assuming the accuracy is there. I'm thinking with a patch round ball, 70 grains 3fff to be about 75 yds.

 

[ohio ramrod]

My nephew and his youngest son both use 40 calibers on Ohio whitetails, and they do very well! At ranges up to 75 yards.Even a cannon can "just blow a leg off". accuracy is more important than caliber! :idunno:

 

[Tom Compton]

I e taken several deer w .40, .50 and .54. Once I built the .54 flinter I sold the .50 and the .40 doesn't go deer hunting anymore.

IMO it's like a .223 and a .30-06 meaning if a little bullet in the right place will do the job so will a bigger one. My .223 is legal for deer in Texas but if using a CF on deer it'll be the .30-06.
TC

 

[54ball]

What would you say is the max distance you could take a deer with a 40 is at. Assuming the accuracy is there. I'm thinking with a patch round ball, 70 grains 3fff to be about 75 yds.

35 yards is a more realistic maximum range with 25 in being better.

In this terrain whether in the hardwood Ridge and Valleys to the North and East, the swampy hardwood bottoms and Pine flats to the South, you have to get close especially with a small caliber like a 40. It's a killer but killing one and finding one are two different skills.

With a .40 and even a .45...sometimes on up but especially with the smaller calibers you may have no blood trail. Sometimes a .40 does not pass through. In that case the body cavity has to fill with blood to the hole before you get a good trail. So no blood does not mean a miss. You still need to track.

Being close is not just for sure accuracy. It's for watching the animal after the shot.....finding the landmarks.....watching how he acts and where he goes. Then the track begins. This means looking for blood....disturbed leaves.....broken twigs. It may mean searching on your hands and knees.....Pine Plantations are the worst. Hardwoods with thick leaves and mucho deer activity can be tough as well.

You have to be a skilled tracker with a small caliber rifle it just comes with the territory. 75 yard shots with a 40.....Don't forget the flash light and tennis shoes.

.50s and 54s IMHO are much more forgiving. They Pass through except for the poorest of shots and will usually leave a good blood trail.

 

[wattlebuster]

Its simple. little hole vs big hole. Ask yourself which is gonna leave more blood on the ground for you to follow. A 40 cal hole or a 54.

 

[Katahdin]

Know the limitations of both the rifle and the shooter.Hunt close,learn to stalk and shooting is secondary,important but close is better.35 yds would be my max,I hunt with a 45 and keep my shots to 50 yards Maximum.I hunt archery also so I am use to trying to stalking to 20 yds,as a working distance.
Don't go by what others say is maximum!! reason being,You read about Trained snipers shooting a mile and taking out a target,they know and follow the limitations of the rifle and the shooter and they Practice.I would not hesitate to use a 40 I just would limit my range and shot placement. Practice and enjoy,when in doubt,pass up the shot.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Wow that is impressive, and stacking prbs is something to consider.

You better check the laws in your state. It's common that the states stipulate a single projectile in ML or "primitive" season, and some stipulate a single projectile in any season.

Now (iirc) Alabama considers any single shot rifle as "primitive", even breechloaders, which I think is why you're allowed a caliber at .40, when a lot of other states start at .45. Maybe I'm thinking about Mississippi, not sure.

The first part of the equation is accuracy, of the rifle and you. It doesn't matter if the rifle is a .72 Pedersoli Kodiak double-rifle, if the load isn't accurate, or if the target is beyond the range where you can deliver an accurate shot..., the rest of the discussion is moot.

The .40 will do quite well, and one does not need them at handgun range for that to be true. The .40 tends to come out screaming fast, so tends to have a very flat trajectory. A lot of us use them out to 75 yards, and we don't spend all day tracking down the deer. I think, though I've not taken a poll or anything, that most folks with a .40 take the deer at around 50 yards or less, and I think that's true for larger calibers too. NOT because the rifle and the load can't get the job done, but because the shooter's vision and the iron sights make harvesting deer at that range or less much more successful.

I would not rely on "blood trails" as the primary method of finding a deer; perhaps there is a marksmanship problem rather than a problem with the hole being too small. :idunno: IF the brush is very tight that the deer can go a short distance and disappear, I'd submit that to get any shot at all the animal is very close to the hunter, and so you'd be well within the closer ranges that so many folks attribute to the .40, right?

I make the accuracy and blood trail assertion because you can switch to a lead alloy with a patched round ball in the .40 and get a better chance at a pass through shot (on the lungs) at longer range. The velocity would be higher as an alloy .390 ball would be a tad lighter than all lead, AND it won't deform upon impact as would all lead. You can also, as one reply demonstrated, switch to a paper patched conical bullet and in effect mimic at under 100 yards some modern cartridges that are proven, 20th century deer killers. Anecdotally, out of more than a dozen deer that I've harvested, I only had to track two, and they were hit with a .54 and there wasn't a blood trail. The rest fell within sight of the location where they were hit with the ball. Take out the lungs, and they normally don't go very far. :wink:

I've recently dropped my charge in my .40 down from 40 grains to 30 for small game. This allows me to up the load to the Maryland legal limit of 60 grains using a double powder charge using the same measure.

LD

 

[Einsiedler]

Just FYI,



.395 RB 50 grains FFFG. .016 tick patch

75 lb. hog. 50 yards. DRT

Same results on deer.

Use what you are confident with and you have meat in pot!

(I kept this spent ball because it looks so cool! Others got melted back down).

 

[Vaino]

If a .40 is your only MLer or if it's a backup that has to be used, these reasons might scarcely be somewhat of an excuse to use a .40 for deer.....might be barely adequate too in some Southern areas w/ much smaller sized deer.

But....I'm awonderin' why such a minimum sized PRB would in fact be used for deer when the larger cals. would be much more effective on deer....both in energy and blood trail.

Most Mid-western states have "huge" whitetails and I for one wouldn't think of using a .40 on them or in fact on any deer.

A few posters who evidently are "expert" riflemen attest to the effectiveness of their .40s, but in the hands of the average deer hunter, the .40 is not what they should be shooting. This statement is backed by my experiences at my gun club's deer sight in clinic as one who usually took the first shot and if OK, let the hunter do the actual shooting henceforth. Some of the shots couldn't be found in a 4'X4' area and many hunters would either miss the deer or wound a never found deer judging from their observed "lousy" shooting from sandbags.

Most states "outlaw" .40s and for good reason......Fred

 

[Einsiedler]

I couldn't agree with you more! All exceptional points. In my case, answering the OP's question with what works for me.

On the other hand, I don't punch paper. So I'm certainly No expert rifleman. 😁But I do punch animals, pretty effectively. And I am also of the opinion that a good 70% of people out there in the woods, attempting a hunt, truely have no business out there with any kind of firearm. Let alone a muzzleloader.

Sorry I'm just not much of a people person. I should really work on my social skills. 😊

 

[Eric Krewson]

It is Mississippi that allows single shot breech loaders in vintage calibers not Alabama.

 

[54ball]

Something else to consider. A 40 is pretty much a custom caliber. Just the parts run close to a grand. A custom rifle will run from $ 1200 to 3500 depending on the maker and quality. That's some serious coin. So much in fact if I was going custom....I would not limit myself to the .40.
For many a custom rifle is a once in a lifetime thing.