I bought my first ML in 1973, a little .40 caliber flintlock rifle made by a local builder named J. D. Thompson. It has been a fine little gun, accurate with any load I put in it, totally dependable and fun to shoot. I have used it mostly for squirrel hunting and for the monthly novelty shoots at my ML club, but that was at least 25 years ago. I've never hunted deer with it, being a fan of bigger calibers for bigger game. I have shot it very little for a long time, just take it on a squirrel hunt for old times sake every ten years or so. On day last week I was thinking about the .40 and decided what the heck, I've had this sweet little rifle for 39 years, I really should try it for deer before one of us gets too old.
The rifle has a 42", 13/16" Douglas barrel with a 1:70 twist and .012" rifling. I loaded it with 70 grains FFFg. a Hornady swaged .395 ball in a .012" linen patch lubed with my homemade beeswax/lard mix. That load should give a MV a bit over 2000 fps. That combination is loose enough that I can start the ball with the side of my patch knife blade and ram it without using a short starter. I always prime my flintlocks with FFFFg Goex.
I set up in an area where I would have no long shots and promised myself I wouldn't shoot further than 50 yards. While hunting the area for turkeys last week I had been seeing signs of a bigger buck , droppings, tracks, a fresh scrape, and the buck feeding in the edge of the woods. It was a good day for it, 23F in the morning but in the 40s in the afternoon, light wind in my favor. I walked into my chosen spot at 1300 and hadn't been there 20 minutes when I saw a deer walking the same trail I had used and coming my way through the trash. I couldn't get a clear look, but it moved like a buck. I was really hoping for a doe, my usual choice, but I'm an equal opportunity predator, first come first serve. We can shoot either in my area. It took 15 minutes of putzing around in the brush for the deer to come into the clear, and I saw it was a mature buck with a swollen neck. I also saw it was what I guesstimated to be 60 yards out. But, oh, so sweet, walking slowly along, broadside to me, and me sitting against a tree, rifle on my knee, full cock and trigger set... but I reminded myself I was shooting a .40, and 60 yards is a fair bit. I never could stand temptation, I put the bead on the X and took the shot. Instant ignition, and I don't think I've shot that rifle for five years. The deer did something I've never seen, he bucked. Bounced forward onto his front legs and kicked both back legs like a bucking bronco. In 4 jumps he was out of sight, but I learned a long time ago to listen to deer after I shoot them, and I heard him hit something in his going, and then make a big crash in the brush off a bit to the right of his track when I saw him last. I thought he was mine.
I was right, I found him about 70 yards away, deep in the trash, with a hole right where I aimed. He was a large-bodied 9-pointer, a beautiful deer, fat and healthy.
The ball shattered ribs on both sides, but didn't exit. The chest was completely full of blood, I hadn't hit the heart. The deer went down just about exactly the way I expect when I do that double lung shot with even a .600 ball. The little 92 grain ball had done good work.
I paced the shot and found I had overestimated the distance, it was 50 yards. I'm now a fan of the .40 for deer, in the right hands... mine... :haha: and in the right conditions. I think I'll keep this one.
Spence
The rifle has a 42", 13/16" Douglas barrel with a 1:70 twist and .012" rifling. I loaded it with 70 grains FFFg. a Hornady swaged .395 ball in a .012" linen patch lubed with my homemade beeswax/lard mix. That load should give a MV a bit over 2000 fps. That combination is loose enough that I can start the ball with the side of my patch knife blade and ram it without using a short starter. I always prime my flintlocks with FFFFg Goex.
I set up in an area where I would have no long shots and promised myself I wouldn't shoot further than 50 yards. While hunting the area for turkeys last week I had been seeing signs of a bigger buck , droppings, tracks, a fresh scrape, and the buck feeding in the edge of the woods. It was a good day for it, 23F in the morning but in the 40s in the afternoon, light wind in my favor. I walked into my chosen spot at 1300 and hadn't been there 20 minutes when I saw a deer walking the same trail I had used and coming my way through the trash. I couldn't get a clear look, but it moved like a buck. I was really hoping for a doe, my usual choice, but I'm an equal opportunity predator, first come first serve. We can shoot either in my area. It took 15 minutes of putzing around in the brush for the deer to come into the clear, and I saw it was a mature buck with a swollen neck. I also saw it was what I guesstimated to be 60 yards out. But, oh, so sweet, walking slowly along, broadside to me, and me sitting against a tree, rifle on my knee, full cock and trigger set... but I reminded myself I was shooting a .40, and 60 yards is a fair bit. I never could stand temptation, I put the bead on the X and took the shot. Instant ignition, and I don't think I've shot that rifle for five years. The deer did something I've never seen, he bucked. Bounced forward onto his front legs and kicked both back legs like a bucking bronco. In 4 jumps he was out of sight, but I learned a long time ago to listen to deer after I shoot them, and I heard him hit something in his going, and then make a big crash in the brush off a bit to the right of his track when I saw him last. I thought he was mine.
I was right, I found him about 70 yards away, deep in the trash, with a hole right where I aimed. He was a large-bodied 9-pointer, a beautiful deer, fat and healthy.
The ball shattered ribs on both sides, but didn't exit. The chest was completely full of blood, I hadn't hit the heart. The deer went down just about exactly the way I expect when I do that double lung shot with even a .600 ball. The little 92 grain ball had done good work.
I paced the shot and found I had overestimated the distance, it was 50 yards. I'm now a fan of the .40 for deer, in the right hands... mine... :haha: and in the right conditions. I think I'll keep this one.
Spence
