deer with a .40?

[George]

I'd like to hear from anyone who has hunted whitetails with a .40 caliber. My first BP gun was a .40 flintlock, I still have it, but have never really hunted deer with it. I've carried it a few times but never happened to have a shot with it. I usually use much bigger guns, .62 or .54, and have always been a bit dubious about the effectiveness of the .40. Tell me I'm wrong so I can take one with my old gun. It is a very accurate one, pleasant to carry and pleasing to the eye, and I'd like to take at least one deer with it.
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac20/Spence_2010/occasional/JDThompsonF1-1.jpg

Spence

 

[Pete Gaimari]

It will kill a deer just fine.

Just keep the shot close and accurate.

 

[vern faulkner]

Worked for me a couple of times. Just be sure of shot placement. Also check state game regs as some states have a minimum caliber size for deer sized game. Wishing you good luck.

Vern

 

[SmokeEater2]

Worked for me a couple of times. Just be sure of shot placement. Also check state game regs as some states have a minimum caliber size for deer sized game. Wishing you good luck.

Vern

Yup,minimum calibers vary a lot by state. Here in Arkansas you can hunt squirrels and rabbits and the like with a ML no larger than .40 cal.
For deer hunting the minimum is .45 caliber. Darn regulations forced me to buy a .36 squirrel rifle since I couldn't legally hunt small game with the .45,.50 or .58. It's rough when you HAVE to buy a new rifle. :wink:

 

[shootemup]

Yup,minimum calibers vary a lot by state. Here in Arkansas you can hunt squirrels and rabbits and the like with a ML no larger than .40 cal.
For deer hunting the minimum is .45 caliber.

Hey there SmokeEater,

You can use a .40 here in Arkansas for deer:
http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Pages/HuntingRegulationsDeer.aspx

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[shootemup]

Hi Spence,

I've taken four deer (so far) in the past two years with a .40. I pick my shots carefully and limit myself to fifty yards or less. The closer the better, actually. I haven't wounded or lost any, and I shot through two of them.

I decided to try the .40 on deer when I saw how destructive it was on squirrels. I think it's almost too much for squirrels, and almost too little for deer. Almost. :grin:

I'll say this. If I had to drive three hours to my hunting area, or if I only got to hunt a couple of times per year, I might not choose the .40. But since I live in deer country and can hunt every day if I want, I enjoy the challenge. Used correctly within its limitations, the .40 is plenty for deer.

I still love the bigger calibers too though. :v

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[George]

I've taken four deer (so far) in the past two years with a .40..... I haven't wounded or lost any, and I shot through two of them.

Good info. My rifle shoots very well with anything from 55-75 grains of 3f Goex, may I ask what you use?

I decided to try the .40 on deer when I saw how destructive it was on squirrels. I think it's almost too much for squirrels, and almost too little for deer. Almost.

My feeling, exactly. I load only 30 grains 3f for squirrels, but even that's not a slow load, so I try very hard to limit shots to heads for squirrels with the .40.

In case anyone is interested in such things, I filed away some .40 caliber velocities from a Muzzleloader article in January, 1984. A .395 round ball with .015 patching, shooting 35 gr. FFFg of GOI, gave an average of 1332 fps in a 7 shot string, with a maximum deviation of 58 fps. Shooting the same ball and patch combination, but with 70 gr. FFFg, a 3 shot string gave an average of 2018 fps with maximum deviation of 79 fps. This was in a flintlock, barrel length 42", I believe.

Spence

 

[George]

Also check state game regs as some states have a minimum caliber size for deer sized game.

There are no restrictions on projectile size for whitetails in Kentucky, as long as it is a single projectile, no buckshot allowed. You can even shoot them with any BP pistol you choose, no energy requirements. It wasn't always that way, but in my zone the population has exploded, and F&G has liberalized the rules because of excessive herd size. They allowed does to be taken, increased the limit to 2 deer, made unlimited extra doe tags available for cheap, allowed shooting deer over bait and took off essentially all firearms restrictions.

Spence

 

[SmokeEater2]

Yup,minimum calibers vary a lot by state. Here in Arkansas you can hunt squirrels and rabbits and the like with a ML no larger than .40 cal.
For deer hunting the minimum is .45 caliber.

Hey there SmokeEater,

You can use a .40 here in Arkansas for deer:
http://www.agfc.com/hunting/Pages/HuntingRegulationsDeer.aspx

:hatsoff:
Spot

Spot, You are absolutely correct and I'm as wrong as I've ever been in my life. Somehow when I was reading the regs I read the ML pistol requirements instead of the rifle requirements!

Thanks for pointing this out to me since I've been kinda' hankering for a .40 rock lock. :hmm:

 

[shootemup]

Hi again Spence,

I use 65 grains of 3f Goex under a .015 patched .395 roundball. For small game I drop it down to 20 grains -

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[shootemup]

Hey again SmokeEater,

Better safe than sorry, easy mistake to make.

:hatsoff:
Spot

 

[saber]

when I lived back east another life time ago I was hunting grays along a rive in the adirondacks and was sitting with a 38 a nice 4 pointer feed his way to with in 30yards truned his head side ways to me a 38cal ball at the base of his ear and he went down like he was pole axed between the eyes

 

[John Wasmuth]

I kll Texas whitetail with a .32 40 grains of FFg, a hornady round ball and whatever patch I happen to have handy. Pick yer shots carefully and it'll kill the DRT. :thumbsup:

 

[gearheart]

If'n yer gonna make a mistake, that is the better one. Better to think you can't when it's OK than to think it's OK when it ain't. :thumbsup:

 

[wattlebuster]

The 40 will do its job if you will do yours. your job is close close close an pick your shot. good luck :thumbsup:

 

[John Wasmuth]

The 40 will do its job if you will do yours. your job is close close close an pick your shot. good luck :thumbsup:

Exactly! :thumbsup:

 

[Travis Gregory]

Iv had a hankerin for a .40 for a couple years now and I have 2 buddies that I work with that both have .40flintlocks. The first guy built his last year and so far has killed 2 deer(doe at 75yds and a buck at 16yds) and 1 hog about 250lbs at 30yds. All died within 30yds of the shot and the ball was recovered under the hide on the off side. The other guy just finished his rifle 2weeks ago and has killed 1 buck already. Shot was a double ball charge and both balls went through the heart and deer went down within 20yds. The .40 is absolutly deadly on deer with loads in the 60-70gr range but you have to put the ball in the right spot no matter what caliber you choose.

 

[hawk]

:thumbsup:

 

[George]

Thanks to all who responded, lots of good info. I'm going to give it a try sometime soon. I really like my .40, there's something about it which I find very pleasant, not sure what it is. It's a faster ball with a flatter trajectory, light recoil and report, and I think one of the more accurate calibers, but it just seems to be the whole package which makes it fun, for me. A fun gun.

Spence

 

[shootemup]

I don't don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us more about that .40 would you, Spence? Sure is a pretty thing.

Spot