.40 For Deer

[Jo]

Yeah to answer your question why a 40, is mostly because I'm wondering the effectiveness of the caliber. I don't have a 40 yet but I do have a 36 that I really like the weight of but is not legal to hunt with so I figured no harm in making an informed decision before I buy one.
It kind of sounds like to me that shot placement is extremely vital and a bone strike at longer range could result in a injured deer.

 

[George]

I had the same question about the ability of the .40 in taking deer, and had seen hundreds of opinions pro and con over the years, so I decided to try it for myself. I took this chunky buck at 50 yards with my .40, and it went down just as quickly as they usually do when I shoot them with heavily loaded .54 or .62 bores.





My .40's MV when loaded for deer is about 2150 fps, and it still has over 1200 fps at 75 yards. That will take down any deer if you shoot it right. A .40 is like any other gun, it's not perfect for everything, but if you are a good shooter and a careful hunter, don't try to shoot through big bones, limit you distance and turn down questionable shots, it will make a very good deer gun.

I believe a .40 may come as close as is possible to being the best all-around gun if you could only have one. It can do it all, and do it well.

Spence

 

[wattlebuster]

A 40 will most certainly take a deer but so will a 32 If you hit it just right. Thats a big if. If you do everything right you are halfway there. Now you have to hope that your deer dont move at the same time you squeeze the trigger. All the conditions need to be right then yes it will work. In these thickets we call home in my part of Bama I want to hit him Hard with a big ball so he will hopefully leave me a blood trail to the thick brush he is gonna head for. I go by the motto "What can go wrong will go wrong" an that applies to deer hunting too. I would rather have too much lead as not enough

 

[hanshi]

If a hunter can't make a vital shot on a deer with a .40, then he won't be able to make it with a .54. About all my deer hunting has been in Georgia which requires a minimum of .45. I've killed lots of deer with a couple of .45s and only one shot was ever required; one deer was a 75 yard shot. In the Deep South a 50 yard shot is a fairly long shot and most deer I killed were taken well under that.

DO use a .40 soft lead ball; it will expand where an alloy ball might not. If you know where to put your shot on a deer and can actually hit there, I don't see any problem with a .40.

Spence! What's the velocity of your .40 got to do with anything? Apparently it's more important to you than accuracy. Been there; done that.

 

[George]

Spence! What's the velocity of your .40 got to do with anything? Apparently it's more important to you than accuracy. Been there; done that.

Accuracy is assumed, if you can't hit the deer where you want, not much else matters. Accuracy is the most important element to me as it should be for anyone shooting at game.

However, velocity is also very important to me, because the trajectory is important to me. The higher velocity is, the flatter the trajectory and the more comfortable I am at taking longer shots. High velocity helps me with my accuracy. Also, If I decide to take a longer shot, I like for there to be enough remaining velocity to hit hard. Doesn't do much good to hit him where I want if it bounces off. :haha:

I use what used to be called the 'point blank range' system, and the higher the velocity the further out that is. Higher velocity makes it possible for me to just point and shoot at greater distances without having to think about it.

Spence

 

[Skychief]

Billy, listen to Spence. It'll serve you well.

Best regards, Skychief

 

[Skychief]

I'll add that I have rifles in 32, 40, 45, 50, and 54 caliber, and have shot a good deal of roundball from my 20 and 12 gauge smoothbores.

It's my experience that none of them shoot flatter to a hundred yards than the 40 caliber. I can't use it here for deer, but would if I could. It'll make venison. Go for it. It's a great all around caliber. :thumbsup:

Skychief

 

[satx78247]

To All,

As I've said before on these .40 caliber threads, my 1st cousin is DEADLY with his .40 caliber LH flintlock mountain rifle. = Probably at least 25 WT in the freezer from that one rifle.
(That should tell anybody all that needs saying about LETHALITY, given a great shot at a deer.)

Nonetheless, I'll stick to my .58 caliber "sort of a Zouave" RM & "homebrew" Minies, for most everything except squirrels/bunnies, as I trust it to bring home the venison..

yours, satx

 

[Kapow]

That's a great buck. Wish I had one! What is that rifle, Spence? I really like the look of it. Good shooting.

 

[Vaino]

My objection in using a .40 is not w/ this caliber in the hands of excellent shots who have the ability to shoot sniper like shots, but w/ the average hunter who only shoots his gun at deer hunting time and as I said, poorly even from sandbags.

Heck, when I was 13 yrs old living in northern Minnesota, I shot a nice big doe in the head w/ a .22 but don't recommend a .22 as a deer caliber.

A poor hit on a deer is a poor hit irrespective of caliber, but there's a chance that a larger caliber just might enable the hunter to still retrieve his deer.

Once in while I've wondered why smaller calibers appeal to some hunters and base my thoughts on 25 yrs of helping hunters sight in their rifles at my club's "deer clinic". The answer is recoil sensitivity. Instead of concentrating on aligning the sights on the target, many hunters are preoccupied w/ anticipating the recoil. Many CF hunters prefer the .270 because of it's mild recoil of 17 ft/lbs compared to the .30/06's 27 ft/lbs.

Wisconsin has over 600,000 deer hunters and many aren't capable of killing a deer w/ a .40.....Fred

 

[Vaino]

I agree w/ Spence that higher bullet speeds yielding a "point blank range" trajectory along w/acceptable accuracy makes the rifle a better "killer" on game.

Started elk hinting w/ a .50 TC Hawken w/ a 410 gr Buffalo Bullet and it did kill a couple of elk, but the range was restricted because of the "loopy" trajectory, so built a .54 Hawken and used it w/ a PRB w/ it's much improved "point blank range "trajectory".

Some might ask the question as to why I didn't use a PRB in the .50 on elk....same reason I wouldn't use a .40 on deer......Fred

 

[BillinOregon]

Spence, that buck is a beauty. Well done, sir.

 

[George]

Wisconsin has over 600,000 deer hunters and many aren't capable of killing a deer w/ a .40.....Fred

There are plenty of hunters out there who couldn't kill a deer with a bazooka. I have no interest in factoring them into any decision I or any good shooter makes about what gun to use.

In these discussions about the appropriateness or capability of a .40 caliber for deer, I'm discussing the gun, not the shooter. The gun will do it. Whether the shooter can is another matter entirely, and is not really something I'm interested in.

Every man is free to choose his own level if incompetence. :haha:

Spence

 

[Vaino]

I agree that "lousy" shooting hunters shouldn't factor into your decisions as to what caliber you use and said so.



This discussion shouldn't consider only the capabilities of the caliber but also the hunter as to how well he can shoot. So in the end, some hunters are skilled enough to use a .40 and many more are not.

This discussion seems to be "circling".....Fred

 

[hanshi]

I've also noticed that up to 100 yards or so that the .40 does indeed shoot a little flatter than larger calibers. The difference may only be an inch or two; so that advantage is more of a subjective consideration than an objective one. This is likely the result of higher velocities with a given powder charge.

I'll also reiterate that if one can't hit the vital zone of a deer from a field position with a .54, there will be no hit with a .40, either. A reasonable test would be to shoot at a soccer ball or large cantelope at increasing distances. At the distance there is one miss out of five shots; one's accuracy limit has been passed. Drop back to the last distance with five good hits.

 

[George]

What is that rifle, Spence?

It's a gun made by a builder in my local area, Louisville, KY, back in the late 1960s. I bought it used in 1973. Not a high quality build, not patterned after any particular 'school' that I've been able to identify, but has been totally dependable for me. Barrel is by Douglas, 42" straight, 1:66" twist. It has always been one of the more accurate guns I shoot, used mostly for squirrels. This was the only deer I've taken with it.

Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

My objection in using a .40 is not w/ this caliber in the hands of excellent shots who have the ability to shoot sniper like shots, but w/ the average hunter who only shoots his gun at deer hunting time and as I said, poorly even from sandbags.

HOW MANY of the latter type shooters that you know use muzzleloaders? Of those, how many use flintlocks? :haha: I think the extrapolation that there are bad shots out there that try to harvest deer ergo a person willing to train with a flintlock to harvest deer should not use a .40, is spurious.

And I'd object to the characterization of "sniper like shots"..., we're talking under 100 yards and iron sights..., the lethal zone on the deer didn't shrink simply because the ball went from a .440 to a .390 and reducing the lead by less than the average .22LR round. Unless you're of the opinion that a .45 long rifle is also anemic for harvesting deer?

LD

 

[Larry Akers]

IMO a .40 for deer is marginal. I'd opt for the .50. With PRBs bigger is better. As Robert Ruark said, "use enough gun".

 

[Billnpatti]

What's the velocity of your .40 got to do with anything?

The kenetic energy of a projectile, or as one of our members refers to it as the "whompability", is a function of both the mass of the projectile and its velocity. KE = 0.5 Mass X (Velocity squared) So, if one assumes a constant mass, the KE is increased by the square of the velocity. So, a little increase in velocity results in a large increase in kenitic energy. The faster that ball goes, the greater its whompability. Plus, it has a flatter trajectory.

 

[S.Kenton]

I've killed several white tails using my 40 cal. Flintlock. The farthest was around 70 yards..not afraid to go out further tho.