Reasons for small bore MLers

[Britsmoothy]

What about this way!
Napoleon was mighty annoyed by the Austrian air gun!
So much so he implemented strong punishment for the users of!!

That was due to effectiveness, not amusement!
B.

 

[coloradoclyde]

On the return journey, when the expedition was dealing with troublesome tribes on the Columbia, Clark described how "Capt Lewis fired his Air gun which astonished them in Such a manner that they were orderly and
kept at a proper distance dureing the time they Continued with him." Clark is saying that the airgun was the only thing that kept the Indians at a safe distance. The Indian method of attack was to rush an enemy after the defenders fired their single-shot guns. It seems unlikely that a single-shot air rifle would have been so intimidating.

 

[Gene L]

I also read IIRC they had to screw the rifle into a tree in order to pump it up. Where the screw was kept I don't remember. I think they have that rifle at the Smithsonian or one like it.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Here ya go Gene....
https://youtu.be/2dZLeEUE940

 

[George]

Or we could talk about "why a hunter would use a smaller bore MLer on deer or black bear" as flehto suggested.

Spence

 

[coloradoclyde]

Sure....you lead.....I have no qualms using a smaller gun... :grin:

 

[BrownBear]

Folks including Spence have tried to "lead" it back onto topic several times, but were badly outnumbered by the deflections.

Jawing, geewhizzing and buttscratching are more important to some than the original topic.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Oh yeah....like you're helping..... :haha:

Small guns are a testament to both efficiency of resources and skill..... :blah:

 

[Swamp Rat]

I'll explain it best I can why the 40cal is my choice of caliber. I live in SC where we have a season that is 4 months long for muzzleloaders, so we are not under pressure to pull the trigger on a low percentage shot. Our legal muzzleloader caliber for deer is 36 cal and up, Our small game muzzle loader calibers is 40cal and smaller. Also hogs may be taken with the legal firearm during any season(All this is WMA Land Rules, Private do what ever you want).
But to get into the debate about why 40 cal. or why not. Would you shoot a deer with a 62cal? I'd presume most of all would say yes of course...At 350 yards? Most I would think say no no way. Why not? because the ability to accucuratly place that shot with terminal effect is low percentage shot. Person to person is different, by eye sight alone then throw in the accuracy of your gun and sites options, and the shooters ablity, each hunter and gun must know there limitations. Punching paper tells you how consistant you can place your shots and is where a lot of hunters start saying ok My gun has the power to shoot ???yds but me behind my gun I'm only good at ??yds. I estimate that 40cal round ball thru the lungs of a deer will kill it, would be nice if that ball would go all the way thru so to have more of a blood trail. If not just wait to hear the crash then go pick the deer up, if you don't hear the crash wait 30mins to 2hours before quietly blood trailing is all I got to say.
I'm looking into a slug for the 40 cal (for blood trails) but expect to just use the round ball, keep shots short because the eye doctor told me my eyes are normal now....Well if this is normal I feel sorry for you guys not being able to really see.