Who Shoots .40 cal?

[Sinner]

I love seeing these beautiful rifles! I'm really liking my .40 so far. I went to my first rendezvous this weekend. It was fun. I think I want to try a slow twist barrel as well. The colerain 1:48 is shooting pretty good, though!

 

[Bruce Thom]

First time posting here! Recently decided it was high time to fulfill a child hood dream of owning a nice muzzle loader.
Found this beautiful to me rifle on Dixie gun works site and bought it.
40 caliber, and finally figured out it’s a Vincent pattern.
Has a Douglas barrel, and shoots well with .010 wonderlube patch and .395 ball.
Seem to shoot even better with a .015 wonderl lube patchand the same ball with 40 grains FFFg. First muzzle loader I have owned- had a capn ball pistol since I was 16.
Really enjoying shooting this. Open sights and late middle age eyes are tough at 50 yds, but still able to hold 1.5 to 2 in groups, which is making me happy!

 

[Eterry]

Went to the spring rifle shoot yesterday, was sighting in my 40 cal off the bench.
My camera has smudges on the low left lens... don't weld with it in your pocket.

 

[BillinOregon]

Good info. I just traded a bow for a Renegade with a .40 Green Mountain round ball barrel on it. I have always wanted to mess with this caliber.

 

[Stony Broke]

Excellent fun caliber. You guys will love the .40's !

 

[Kansas Kid]

I think you’re gonna like it Bill. That the bow you had on leverguns?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

197 grain REAL bullet and 60 grains of 3Fg...???...

THAT is a stout load for a .40, fur sur.

LD

 

[BillinOregon]

Kid, yes it was.

 

[Eterry]

197 grain REAL bullet and 60 grains of 3Fg...???...

THAT is a stout load for a .40, fur sur.

LD

I haven't ran it over my Chronograph to check velocity...a 50 cal prb with 60grs fffg is about 1550, I'm hoping the 40 is a little higher.
Im having hangfire issues, if it was firing as it should the group would've been much tighter.
As it was, it wasn't too bad.

It should ruin a hog's day.

 

[F.G. Ford]

View attachment 9277 View attachment 9278 Here are some pics of the underhammer. I'm going to try it out tomorrow. Thanks for sharing your loads with me.

Do think the barrel is long enough???
You do know, if you don't put enough powder in it, the ball will get stuck in the barrel ( not enough poop to get the ball through all that barrel )

 

[Sinner]

Do think the barrel is long enough???
You do know, if you don't put enough powder in it, the ball will get stuck in the barrel ( not enough poop to get the ball through all that barrel )

Well, at least I get a good long look at whatever I'm aiming at...

 

[Mark Herman]

I have several .40 table rifles that have either Ed Rayle barrels (1:56 ROT), Green Mountain (1:48 ROT or Legacy barrels (1:48 ROT) that are all very competitive. Also have a couple of .40 offhand rifles. Great caliber for competition or small game hunting, very accurate.
Mark

 

[BillinOregon]

Mark, this TC will have a Green Mountain barrel on it. What size round ball do you shoot in your GM .40 barrels?

 

[Mark Herman]

Bill,
I use .395 ball with .018 Teflon and 70 grains of FFFg. A typical match in our table matches consists of 3 sighter shots and 10 for record at 30 yards. I can pretty consistently cover the 13 shot group with a quarter and some space left over.
Mark

 

[Mark Herman]

As stated earlier, I have a couple of H&A type rifles that have been re barreled, Typically the triggers are not the best, some are better than others, but need help. Careful file work will help but I made a modification last year that allows the trigger to be adjustable and it made a fantastic difference in the accuracy.
Mark

 

[BillinOregon]

Thanks, Mark. The Teflon-treated patches had heretofore escaped my notice.

 

[Trusty-58]

I have a .40 caliber Lancaster style I built to hunt turkeys with about 15 years ago. She has a maple stock and a B profile .40 caliber Rice barrel. Davis set triggers and a very well tuned Large Siler lock. With 30 grains 3fg and a .015 or .018 patch she has shot a couple of supertight groups at both 25 and 50 yards. Turkey load is 60 grain 3fg.
I don't hunt deer with this rifle, for deer I use my .54 cal.
First photo, I was trying to get set up for a photo of me, my rifle and turkey, but the timer didn't give me time to get there and get set. This photo is the best of them but it still cut my head off.

Beautiful rifle you have!

 

[Mark Herman]

Very nice looking rifle. .40's are accurate, I've used one on deer several times.
Mark

 

[Rockvillerich]

I love seeing these beautiful rifles! I'm really liking my .40 so far. I went to my first rendezvous this weekend. It was fun. I think I want to try a slow twist barrel as well. The colerain 1:48 is shooting pretty good, though!

My .40's, a Ron Griffie, a H&H, and a Bobby Hoyt, are all in 1:48, and I really can't see any reason for a slow twist barrel. They handle 100 grains of FFF for hunting just fine, and down to 40 or 50 grains just messing around with loads, and they perform well, with 60 to 65 grains being the most accurate for my bore size round ball loads. Enjoy!

 

[Einsiedler]

As an FYI l, heres what a couple of my retrieveable .395 RB’s look like after pulling em outta the opposite side hide of about 80 pound +\- hogs. About as big as I care to butcher.

These were out of my old Bedford style rifle. 50 grns FFFG. .015 or so ticking patch. Sorry no deer retrieves. They passed thru.