What good is a 40 caliber?

[dry ball john]

:thumbsup: I agree with El Lobo, "its not good for anything"(unless you shot one) all kidding aside I have a forty that I would not trade for anything!! I use it mainly for target shooting but it holds up for small game as well as white tales in my area. BUILD IT YOU WONT BE SORRY
Cheers db

 

[hanshi]

1. They're economical
2. very accurate
3. Fun to shoot
4. Great for small game
5. Great target caliber
6. Works fine on deer, hogs, etc.
7. Can't have too many guns
8 Caliber gaps are bad
9. Mild recoil
10. And just cause

Is that enough?

 

[paulvallandigham]

Shoots flat out past 100 yds, and is good enough to take coyotes. Around here the hunting season on coyotes is 365 days a year. That should be a good enough reason to own one of these calibers. :thumbsup:

 

[Cosmoline]

Just bumping to say this thread sealed my decision to go with a .40 cal for a build this winter. May try for squirrel with it, or may just make it a fun gun.

Thanks!

 

[wvbuckbuster]

The balls are easier to hold onto in cold weather if not using a loading block and my freind talked me into having one built just like we are telling you! You will like it :thumbsup:

 

[roundball]

I have a .40cal x 32" x 15/16" GM Flint drop-in barrel in a T/C Hawken stock...an absolute tack driver.
Since switching to some full stock longrifles recently I haven't shot it in a couple years...but now that hunting season is behind me all this .40cal talk has me thinking about taking it to the range again soon...a pleasure to plink away at empty .12ga hulls, etc

 

[nkbj]

Mine are stuck in Renegades. From the sound of the latest reports about GM production reckon I'm real lucky to have found them.

 

[roundball]

From the sound of the latest reports about GM production reckon I'm real lucky to have found them.

And that's what makes me hang on to a few T/C Hawken Flintlocks although I'm not using them.
Five of them have like new barrels that are no longer made:
One .40cal GM 32" x 1:48"
One .45cal TC 32" x 1:66"
Two .54cal GM 32" smoothbores
One .62cal GM 32" smoothbore

As sure as I sell them I'll want to start using them...but they'll be gone and I won't be able to replace them.

 

[bwhoffman]

Well, I have rifles from .36 to .58, plus a few smoothbores of larger size. To me, a free rifle barrel, especially a good one, is reason enough to built another rifle, regardless of caliber.

Ding, Ding, Ding... We have a winner!

 

[nkbj]

Was supposed to go try out the .380" RB today. There just never is enough time.

 

[derek.white]

I have a stock that it would fit perfectly!! Send it to me and it will be the little brother to my 50 and 54 cal Douglas Barrels.. :thumbsup:

 

[Cosmoline]

Just finished putting the Colrain .40 on the old poor boy stock. Took a little tweaking but it fits the existing lock well enough. This is by far the smallest caliber ML'r I've dealt with. The .395" roundballs are so tiny! 100 roundballs of that size seem to weigh less than 20 rounds for the blunderbuss. I see why this was a popular caliber back before modern autos, though I can't imagine ever hunting deer with them. But they look perfectly suited for small game. Not too big for squirrel at all, I'd say.