slobbering over .40's

[hanshi]

The .40 is legal for deer here in Maine but I've never hunted deer with mine. For smaller game and varmints I much prefer my .36, and my .45 for deer. But with that being the case, the .40 is still a delightful caliber. It WILL (where legal) do okay for deer and smaller game; and it's near perfect for varmints. The .40 rifle I shoot is rather plain but still quite nice. But the .40 is far from being my favorite caliber.

 

[Robby]

.40 is not legal here, the "G" know more about muzzlaoders than I do I guess.

Like one officer said, 'I'm not gonna look down the muzzle!'. I've been tempted, but Hunting is relaxing to me and I don't want to be looking over my shoulder, or feel like I should.
Robby

 

[user 34300]

I have been moveing to 40 for my target guns. I now have several pistols and rifles in 40. I also own a bunch of calibers larger and smaller.

For target shooting I like 40 best. Why? Any smaller and loading gets fiddley for my old hands. Any larger and you get more recoil and use more powder.

The forty is way underpowered for deer IMHO. Will it kill deer? Sure. Will a 22 LR kill deer? Yep. IT does not make it ethical? Nope. A .390" ball is only 85 grains. That puts it in the same boat as a 32-20 but with a crappy ballistic coefficient. 32-20 is no deer cartridge. Get a 50 or larger for deer. Nothing will sour a guy on hunting faster than wounding a big beautiful buck and losing it.

 

[Tn poor boy]

I called tvm changed my 36 cal to a 40cal i got thanking i might want to kill something bigger than small game

 

[Rudyard]

40 bore at 76 to the pound is not 40 cal slip of the pen ime sure. I started with 40 cal one in 48 ' Delcur barrel from old Kit Ravenshear . But found a short kerchief linen patched picket bullet the most accurate over 1&1/2 drams of powder since UK ranges started at 100 yards mostly .Wasn't a true Picket had hollow base & cylindrical but Ide trim about half way down ,Had it on a cattle station in Qld but lost due to govt idiots. Jager flint had a dragon sideplate stock of Beech had bears stamped in its breach .maybe it will turn up .hence I mention it . The 495 or dead 400 is very good for smooth bore matchlocks .
Rudyard

 

[olskool]

The .40 is legal for deer here in Maine but I've never hunted deer with mine. For smaller game and varmints I much prefer my .36, and my .45 for deer. But with that being the case, the .40 is still a delightful caliber. It WILL (where legal) do okay for deer and smaller game; and it's near perfect for varmints. The .40 rifle I shoot is rather plain but still quite nice. But the .40 is far from being my favorite caliber.

hanshi that is a good looking gun, what is it? who made it?

 

[nkbj]

Please share the specs on that mold if you don’t mind.

It's a Lyman .375 round ball mold that has a cylinder added with an adjustable length base plug.

 

[Col. Batguano]

A 40 is a nice available caliber for store-bought RB's, and a nice caliber to handle. I built a 38 (also commercially available widely) as a compromise between a 36 and a 40, because I already owned both, and I love small calibers. They're perfect for introducing new shooters to ML'ers.

 

[MikeC]

I also own a .40 I use it primarily as a target rifle. I much prefer the.36 for small game and .45 for deer.

 

[Robby]

I have been moveing to 40 for my target guns. I now have several pistols and rifles in 40. I also own a bunch of calibers larger and smaller.

For target shooting I like 40 best. Why? Any smaller and loading gets fiddley for my old hands. Any larger and you get more recoil and use more powder.

The forty is way underpowered for deer IMHO. Will it kill deer? Sure. Will a 22 LR kill deer? Yep. IT does not make it ethical? Nope. A .390" ball is only 85 grains. That puts it in the same boat as a 32-20 but with a crappy ballistic coefficient. 32-20 is no deer cartridge. Get a 50 or larger for deer. Nothing will sour a guy on hunting faster than wounding a big beautiful buck and losing it.

A .40 is plenty capable of taking any deer. Like any hunting tool and hunter for that matter, it and they have limitations and are no less ethical than the man that whittles out a bow from a tree and hunts with it. If you need more horse power and technology in you hunting gear then by all means acquire them, but don't belittle and besmirch as 'unethical' the man that chooses not to.
Robby

 

[Rudy Thompson]

The paper patched bullets , are they lubed and if so with what lube?
Thanks Rudy

 

[Spikebuck]

I had a .40 for a while and it was a joy to shoot! However, it was just the "wrong" caliber for me as I have larger calibers I use for big game and I cannot use it for small game while an open deer season is on in my state because it is a legal arm for deer, and if you are carrying a legal arm and ammo, they you're hunting deer in the eyes of the Warden, so you'd better have a deer license with you. So I sold that and used my .62 smooth rifle with shot (so not legal ammo for deer, which makes that OK). I just finished building a .36....I think a .32 would be better for squirrel/rabbit from a damage standpoint (I owned both of those calibers before), but the .36 gives me a little more versatility as in the coyote as game category.

 

[user 34300]

A .40 is plenty capable of taking any deer. Like any hunting tool and hunter for that matter, it and they have limitations and are no less ethical than the man that whittles out a bow from a tree and hunts with it. If you need more horse power and technology in you hunting gear then by all means acquire them, but don't belittle and besmirch as 'unethical' the man that chooses not to.
Robby

States have a minimum draw weight and minimum broadhead diameter. So, no you can not legally whittle a stick string it and hunt deer with it. The bow needs not meet a minimum lethality standard as does a firearm.

 

[Robby]

I have killed untold number of deer with bows I have literally whittled out of a tree. Just because some government worker arbitrarily picks an number for a bow, a muzzleloader, or the even the type of ammo you 'may' use does not diminish the lethality of such weapons in competent hands. But good little sheep never ask why, they just obey.
Robby

 

[BruceS]

States have a minimum draw weight and minimum broadhead diameter. So, no you can not legally whittle a stick string it and hunt deer with it. The bow needs not meet a minimum lethality standard as does a firearm.

Kentucky regulations for deer with bow states there is no minimum draw weight, 7/8” broadheads minimum and no chemically treated broadheads. There are no restrictions on muzzleloading rifles. Muzzleloading shotguns are 10 ga max with single projectile. I could use a .32 or smaller but I stick to .45 cal or bigger.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Sounds like a grape shot loaded howitzer could be legal in KY. That's been done before according to Buckstix.

 

[Zonie]

Folks:

Let's quit talking about bow hunting. This is a muzzleloading forum so muzzleloaders are what we should be talking about.

 

[Tn poor boy]

I agree

 

[Cherrybow]

The .40 is legal for deer here in Maine but I've never hunted deer with mine. For smaller game and varmints I much prefer my .36, and my .45 for deer. But with that being the case, the .40 is still a delightful caliber. It WILL (where legal) do okay for deer and smaller game; and it's near perfect for varmints. The .40 rifle I shoot is rather plain but still quite nice. But the .40 is far from being my favorite caliber.

Hanshi, is that a TVM Lancaster?

 

[jlatz]

I have liked and used .40 flint and percussion rifles for years. In 1967 I picked up a Dixie flint .40 that worked well. In the early 1990s I had a custom Vincent style .40 made. It was and is a nice target rifle. Using that rifle at Friendship on the 100 yard line once there was a heavy cross wind. There were two targets, one for record and one for practice. I fired at the practice target and the wind blew the ball clipping the record target. Seeing that through the spotting scope I used Ky. windage to get a 37 out of 50 with four in scoring. The first shot did clip the record target. Oh well.