.40 for Squirrels?

[Smokey Plainsman]

I’m hearing some talk around these parts that .40 is “too much of a good thing” for squirrel and rabbit hunting.

Any truth to this? Or is a .32 or .36 that much better? What, then, precisely is a .40 good for if it’s no good for small game and too light for deer?

Thoughts?

-Smokey

 

[64Springer]

That .311 of yours would work well on squirrels.

 

[BoomStick]

Don't own a 40, but a couple of guys I shoot against monthly do -and they're very good with them. Seems a very good caliber for accuracy and probably not a bad choice on small game.

 

[azmntman]

I would not hesitate to use for either. 20 gr powder. Deer? Ours are hard to kill. I use a .54. The lil cous deer we have would fall easy enough at 80-90 lbs but a big Muley can go 220 easy. a .32 with 15 gr does similar damage to a tree rat as a .22WM so......? After all we are killing them?

 

[nchawkeye]

Well, most of us Southern Boys grew up taking head shots on squirrels with open sighted .22 rifles...I do the same with my .40... I never cared for the brains, we had pigs for that...I load 30grs FFF in mine for them...As far as deer, if that was all I had in my hands and was hungry, that is what I would use and also take a head shot, if she was loaded for squirrels...I have 2 .54s so why use the .40 when it comes to deer...

 

[Crockford]

If all you have is a .40 than that is perfect for small game. But if you have a .32 or .36 they are excellent too. The smaller caliber will save you some lead and powder over the .40. My .40 is more accurate over 50 yards. At .25 yards they are about the same. So if you are going to shoot squirrel or rabbit at Long distances over 50 yards, go with the .40. I will say dead is dead any of those calibers will kill a squirrel or rabbit. I use to hunt with some older gentlemen that used .50 on squirrel. They would sometimes "bark" the squirrel to kill it. They would shoot for the head. If they missed close to the squirrel sometimes they would still kill it.

 

[oldwood]

Pa. deer season regs. say the .40 is too light. My .40 is my all around favorite rifle for small game , and practice. For small game , a light charge of about 35 gr. FFFG is good. For coyote size critters , 60 gr. FFFG is ok. Love the .40 cal.. . For a light weight long rifle , use a .40 cal. , 3/4 " oct. , 38 " length barrel.

 

[WalnutRed]

Here in Ohio .40 is legal for deer. While I've never used a .40 for me normal tree stand shots are 45 yds or less. I suspect a .40 would work at that range if you do your part. .

 

[oldwood]

I was hunting with a guy once in the late Pa, flint lock season. I pushed a deer to him by accident , antlerless buck. I heard him shoot. I went to him , and he was hunting with a .40 cal. . He said the deer dropped like a stone. We took the deer back to camp , and examined the body cavity. The ball stopped under the skin on the opposite side , from where it entered , after passing just under the spine. A .45 , or .50 would have passed completely through , with energy to spare. That is the only time I ever saw a .40 cal. kill.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have hunted squirrels with my .40 with limited success, my shooting, not the rifle malfunctioning, it will drive tacks. I have found that any body hit below the neck will not leave you much to eat, just a ball of bloody fur. I was shooting 30 gr of 3F and probably should have been shooting 15 gr.

I used to hunt squirrels with a .50 percussion gun, I was young, had great vision (I could see the sights) and loaded my rifle with just a pinch of powder. My rifle went bloop instead of bang, I almost never missed a head shot out to 30 yards, with my reduced load there wasn't much damage to the squirrel's head.

 

[oldwood]

What's fun about this m/l sport , is the nuance situations discovered. I accidentally ran into one of these adventures , and think I learned something. One late afternoon during flint lock deer season , no deer came down the trail I was watching , and all afternoon a large nosey grey squirrel sat on a partilally down tree trunk , scolding again and again. If any deer might have come to me , they heard the never ending commotion beside me. The grey became part of camp supper. Once I examned the place where his head was , the 150 gr. ball using 80 gr. FFFG , had vaporized his head and neck , and the wound across the squirrel's shoulder was clean like severed with a meat cleaver. All this got me to thinking , that this vaporization due to too much power , just to kill a small animal , would be best throttled down by using smaller calibers , and reduced powder charges. Up until now , when squirrel hunting , I had used a .36 cal with 30 Gr. FFFG. I found I could use the squirrel's rib cage as my aiming point , with minimal damage to the meat . Squirrel heads are too small for me to hit beyond 15 yds. , so the ribs are a better choice. I've fell in love with the .40 cal for woods running. 30 gr. FFFG is my load to keep the vaporization down , but confidence says a coyote will die , if I shoot it w/ this load.....oldwood

 

[smokepolehall]

I have couple of .40's, one of them is my small game/Deer rifle. The 2nd is a slobber knocker on deer, i load it from 50 to 65 gr .I use conicals in it from 150-250 gr.