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.40 vs .36?

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Sometimes I wonder how I lived this long...

With me and my friends from childhood, and the teen years, it's more of,

"How did we live this long AND manage to arrive at this time with all of our fingers and both eyes?" Followed by..., "When did we become respectable, and how did that happen, cause the folks that chose us for such a position sure didn't know us as kids :shocked2: ?"

Then there's always,
"Scars are like tattoos but with better stories!" Which does apply to all of my friends and myself.

LD
 
I have both and if push came to shove I would pick the .40 over the .36 any day . Tennessee allows the .36 for small game and deer as well but the .36 is a tad light to suit me for deer . Get a .40 or .45 and set up a .36 barrel for it when you move back to better squirrel hunting if you feel the need . .40 and .45 both do excellent work on squirrels .

Eddie
 
Yes, I'm sure we are. Another reason I doubt so many of the long range shot tales.

I am very skeptical about most of those stories as well.
And I have always suspected Major Ferguson was killed at King’s Mountain with a load of buckshot from some kind of smoothbore at close range instead of multiple rifle balls fired simultaneously by multiple dead-eyed American riflemen.
 
I shoot .375's in my 38. That's the most common size to get as store-bought balls for that caliber. I cast them all now, but I didn't at first when first finished the gun.

If you get a 36, you have to look carefully at the box on the shelf to make sure you're getting .350's or .355's rather than the .375's that are intended for 36 caliber revolvers.
 
36 cal, 5/16" ramrod, I use a fiberglass rod with heat shrink tubing over (Like Dewey) it at the range. Hornady 000 buckshot works well, a 5# box is about $30 and you get 530 balls. 36 is fiddley to load with old hands

40 cal 3/8" rod, 380" balls shoot straighter for me. With GM barrels I get the best accuracy with 0.022" patches and watery lube. ??? Can you find 380 balls or a mold. For now Lee molds are unobtanium. I would not hesitate to use 375, 380 or 390 balls with different patches. 40 is easier to load with old hands.

I think the 40 is a sweet spot for target shooting.

It may be in time, restrictions on lead an powder will make smaller calibers more popular. A 32 ball is only 45 grains. That is 155 shots per pound of lead. Powder is 230 shots per pound. That cheap shooting if your quarry is paper or small game.
 
I personally like the 40 for target, small game, and coyotes. Besides better ballistics, the 40 has enough power to move the steel targets that I like to shoot, and, at least for me, is easier to load. I fumble with the smaller round balls.
 
Always kind of cracks me up when a 4 year old thread gets new life and guessing Smokey has now figured out his preference of which he prefers. Ha! It it does give all ya snow bounds warriors something to read and tal about! Greg
 
Folks:

If you use the "Search" feature on the forum and see some old thread that interests you, by all means, read it but, remember these are usually very old posts.
Keeping that in mind, if you want to add a post by answering a question that was made in the old thread remember, the person who asked the question has either figured out the answer or they don't care anymore.
 
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