Everything .40 Cal. Muzzleloader

[Mulebrain]

For punching paper the .40 is very good, and shoots a pretty flat trajectory with the correct load. I tried it at a silhouette match, and shot a perfect score at 25yds, then at 50 yards fell to 50%, at 80yds the scoring died! That .395 ball just doesn't pack enough punch on heavy steel. I have tried it on steel target courses, and sometimes you may nick the steel on targets further out, but you cannot tell if it's a hit.

I am currently building a .50 44" HH barreled long rifle for steel work

 

[Rod Man]

Yeah, I have my .50 for steel and a .54 for lions, tigers and bears. My 40 cap gun is mainly for “FUN” and what ever that encourages be it squirrels, rabbits, turkeys general vermin and stumps. As I mentioned earlier, I will hunt deer with it but will be judicious with my shots.

RM

 

[Gordoncourtney]

I need a Passport just to imagine all these exotic places!

You have to make things happen London to Australia is from around £525 return Stayed a cousins £100 a week covered our costs. Love Perth but the Cannaries are better however France £199 on ferries cheaper fuel and empty roads french people on west coast were so nice to us. Free camp sites called Aires everywhere

 

[Rod Man]

I better clarify something, don’t want to mis lead anyone. You used to be able to hunt Turkey with a rifle that is now illegal.

Thanks for keeping me straight @Dusty_Traveler!

RM

 

[Dusty_Traveler]

I better clarify something, don’t want to mis lead anyone. You used to be able to hunt Turkey with a rifle that is now illegal.

Thanks for keeping me straight @Dusty_Traveler!

RM

No worries! I just thought I might have been reading the regs wrong, and had been missing out!

I know some states do allows turkeys to be taken with a muzzleloading rifle, and I would be all kinds of excited if Arkansas became one of them.

 

[Coinneach]

They got a great shooting range at Jondelup just north of Perth Been north to Exmouth and south to cold wet Bumbry to feed the massive rays they said there were wild dogs and goats needing culling around Carnarvon but I never saw any Marraki is the guy for hunting buff up north lives in Darwin cousins kids lived there nice but the crocs ate a few children so they came back to Perth. Yes love Perth beautiful city but the 23 hour flights are just to long for me now yes love to live there and the sailing on perth and Fremantle water is great. But then Florida would be even better ha ha.

My problem is that WA Gun laws and police application of their own agenda is too oppressive.

Are you a member of the NSC ?
I joined as theyre the only ones actually achieving anything for we LAFO's. The SSAA does little to nothing for us nowadays.

 

[oldwood]

Mustang.........I'l run the cell phone internet Idea past the minister of finance. She regularly beats me with a pool noodle instead of her cain. I used to like the pain , but I'm too old for that now a days..........oldwood

 

[Jay Templin]

For more than 30 years, I’ve been a .45 and .75 calibre guy. Never even shot a .40. Yesterday, while I was in Iowa helping to settle my late Rendezvous friend’s estate, her son in law gave me this .40 rifle, which his father, John Harrison, built in 1976. Most of the parts came from Dixie; the patch box and some of the inlays were flat brass stock from the hardware store that he hand cut. Douglas barrel is as heavy as can be. Mark said “it was dad’s baby. He’s the last one that fired it. I just don’t have any interest in shooting black powder, and I think he’d want it to go to someone who will appreciate it, use it, and pass it on when the time comes.”
I have a .390 mould being delivered on Monday. He said his dad always loaded a .390 ball in a patch of blue chambray, which he swore was always .005” thick. Need to get some jags and all, and install a new front sight as the original bone sight is missing. Hoping to be up and running well enough to take her out to OVPR in the fall! She’s a magnificent gun, and I’m hoping to use her well!
Jay

 

[Mulebrain]

That rifle may shoot better with a .395 depending on the patch

 

[Jay Templin]

That rifle may shoot better with a .395 depending on the patch

Could be. But since .390 was what the builder used, that’s the mould I ordered. I’ll experiment with patch materials. Any recommendations?
Jay

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Could be. But since .390 was what the builder used, that’s the mould I ordered. I’ll experiment with patch materials. Any recommendations?
Jay

My .40 calibre load is: .390 RB, 40 grains fffg, blue stripe pillow ticking, Moose Milk lube.

The gun is a single hole at 25 yrds, tight clover leaf groups at 50 yrds…and from a rest, 6”+/- at 100 yrds. I’m pretty sure that younger eyes could produce much better groups with this gun.

That’s a beautiful gun, by the way.

 

[woodsnwater]

For more than 30 years, I’ve been a .45 and .75 calibre guy. Never even shot a .40. Yesterday, while I was in Iowa helping to settle my late Rendezvous friend’s estate, her son in law gave me this .40 rifle, which his father, John Harrison, built in 1976. Most of the parts came from Dixie; the patch box and some of the inlays were flat brass stock from the hardware store that he hand cut. Douglas barrel is as heavy as can be. Mark said “it was dad’s baby. He’s the last one that fired it. I just don’t have any interest in shooting black powder, and I think he’d want it to go to someone who will appreciate it, use it, and pass it on when the time comes.”
I have a .390 mould being delivered on Monday. He said his dad always loaded a .390 ball in a patch of blue chambray, which he swore was always .005” thick. Need to get some jags and all, and install a new front sight as the original bone sight is missing. Hoping to be up and running well enough to take her out to OVPR in the fall! She’s a magnificent gun, and I’m hoping to use her well!
Jay
View attachment 152541

To give that beautiful gun up to someone else because that's what his late father would have wanted, shows how much respect he must have had for the man.

 

[1BadDart]

My .40 is a walnut killer extraordinaire! My shooting buddy came over last Sunday afternoon, after shooting 25 yard targets off hand he noticed my walnut tree had nuts on it and asked if there is anything in that general direction we'd hurt. There is nothing for at least a mile, so he picked one out and promptly missed with his first shot, so he loads back up and this time he shoots it out. Apparently, he hit it right in the top as it just fell to the ground. I loaded up and picked one out and fired, mine must've been a dead center hit because pieces of walnut flew everywhere, he just shook his head and walked off. I'll fess up, I hit the walnut I was shooting at, but it was outhouse luck as I'm not a good offhand shooter, he on the other hand is an excellent offhand shooter. Sometime lucky is better than good.

The turkey and rifle posts remind me of something that happened where I live close to 30 years ago. We didn't have wild turkeys until probably early 90's and for the most part what turkeys we had come from Missouri, we traded deer for turkeys. The turkeys were released on select private property where they stood the best chance of surviving. During the modern rifle deer season that fall there was an off-duty game warden hunting one of the farms that had some of the Missouri turkeys on it. From where he was sitting, he could see onto the adjoining farm and the turkeys were over there feeding along. He said there was a shot and one of the hens fell over and flopped a few times. Now keep in mind there was no turkey season in my county yet and it has never been legal here to hunt them with a rifle in my state, let alone with a centerfire. After seeing the turkey go down, the game warden lets his rifle down and climbs down from the tree and heads to the property line, there was a guy walking toward the turkey. When he sees the other hunter (game warden unknown to him at the moment) he calls out, "hey man I just got me a turkey". The game warden replied, 'you sure did, now I need to speak to you". I forget what the fine was, but it was substantial, and it cost him his rifle and I think five years of hunting privileges. And he didn't even get to eat the turkey. LOL

 

[Gordoncourtney]

My problem is that WA Gun laws and police application of their own agenda is too oppressive.

Are you a member of the NSC ?
I joined as theyre the only ones actually achieving anything for we LAFO's. The SSAA does little to nothing for us nowadays.

No
Not a member don’t think we will go back to OZ again just to far.

 

[Mulebrain]

Could be. But since .390 was what the builder used, that’s the mould I ordered. I’ll experiment with patch materials. Any recommendations?
Jay

With a .390 might try denim, and see how it does. However you may have already found the preferred load

 

[Jay Templin]

With a .390 might try denim, and see how it does. However you may have already found the preferred load

Not yet- my mold should arrive today or Monday. Denim patches might give me a way to use up some of these jeans I’m going to fit back into one day…
Jay

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Not yet- my mold should arrive today or Monday. Denim patches might give me a way to use up some of these jeans I’m going to fit back into one day…
Jay

I’ve got a pair of jeans that I’ve wanted to fit back into, for 20 years. I still have hope

 

[Gordoncourtney]

Well I have used a 40 cal. for at least 40 years and I have killed more deer than I can remember . You just have to know it's limits , most deer are killed at 50 yards are less and at that range my 40 can put one right through an eye ball . She can be loaded down to 25 grains and I can squirrel hunt with her . I have owned every thing from .36 cal. to a .75 cal. I think the .40 is the best all a round cal. You can shoot a deer in a lower leg with a cannon and still wont get the deer .

For years the .303 was used to shoot elephant due to the quality of ammunition so nothing wrong with a .400’ ML. It’s purely shot placement that counts and practice practice. Just being picky now as not many seem to use a chrono Remember Graeham Wrights book. “ if the velocity is right then the charge is right”. Flintlocks are for patched ball but how does that compare with conical when hunting and long range Always wanted to fit a scope on a flintlock to see how accurate they can really be at long range. So many unanswered questions. Nice to chat.
Ps I have so many guns to shoot and test but alas the police took away my gun licences. I think they want to reduce the number of guns in circulation , so each year we have taken £6553 guns out of circulation.

Cooler in west London today. My som 50
took a little girl to Disneyland Paris with her mum. It was hot and packed out 1 1/2 hours queue to get on anything. My kids went to the real one in Florida 12 &14 36 years ago. A week before Xmas it was empty and utter magic even for me


.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

For years the .303 was used to shoot elephant due to the quality of ammunition so nothing wrong with a .400’ ML. It’s purely shot placement that counts and practice practice. Just being picky now as not many seem to use a chrono Remember Graeham Wrights book. “ if the velocity is right then the charge is right”. Flintlocks are for patched ball but how does that compare with conical when hunting and long range Always wanted to fit a scope on a flintlock to see how accurate they can really be at long range. So many unanswered questions. Nice to chat.
Ps I have so many guns to shoot and test but alas the police took away my gun licences. I think they want to reduce the number of guns in circulation , so each year we have taken £6553 guns out of circulation.

Cooler in west London today. My som 50
took a little girl to Disneyland Paris with her mum. It was hot and packed out 1 1/2 hours queue to get on anything. My kids went to the real one in Florida 12 &14 36 years ago. A week before Xmas it was empty and utter magic even for me


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I don’t know about this…the .303 is early modern smokeless, it’s ballistically a different beast than a .40 calibre muzzleloader. I don’t think it’s realistic to make direct comparisons.

I’m sorry to hear about the state of things in Great Britain…seems that even though they separated from the EU, still couldn’t help going Woke.

 

[Gordoncourtney]

I don’t know about this…the .303 is early modern smokeless, it’s ballistically a different beast than a .40 calibre muzzleloader. I don’t think it’s realistic to make direct comparisons.

I’m sorry to hear about the state of things in Great Britain…seems that even though they separated from the EU, still couldn’t help going Woke.

If you are not a gunny person it’s a green and pleasant land Full of foreigners , It’s the price of petrol and diesel that’s pissing us all off. £1.98/ lt But we are all suffering on that count world wide , not much cheaper in EU , think they are suffering more than us , and our pensions are not keeping up with prices. I should be spending my money on guns boats and things now , our pension is only £1000 a month , paying £374 a month on local council tax Recon we get through £30k a year with savings going down fast m My son has. a Tesla “ I haven’t been to a petrol station in 4 years. Lots of Tesla cars around And when will we see tasty USA and Argentine beef in the shops not to mention NZ lamb. Thanks to you lot across the pond helping the Ukranians smash the Russians to bits , hope the Russians suffer in the end

Peace from uk