Why .40 cal?

[Brian Robeson]

From my research as a new flint lock owner, I am realizing that a ton of the rifles are chambered in .40 and I see a lot of smoothbores in this caliber as well. I own a .54 because I am hoping to take it deer hunting and in NYS, I believe you aren't allowed to hunt deer with anything less than a .50.

So I am wondering what is the reason I see so many extremely nice guns in .40 caliber. Am I missing something? Do they shoot better? are they for target shooting?

The caliber to my untrained eye, seems too large for small game and too small for large game.

Let me know in the responses how wrong I am! Haha.

 

[rchas]

.40 is renowned for being an accurate caliber, and as I think Townsend Whelen said only accurate rifles are interesting.

As for hunting, the National Park Service has an old publication on line about rifle making in the southern mountains. It quotes a gunsmith as saying .35 caliber was a squirrel rifle, .40 was a turkey gun, .45 was a deer rifle, an .50 was a bear gun. I think it's fine on midsize game, and many will say you can take a deer with a heavy load within 50 yards or so. I would just rather use a larger caliber.

 

[pacanis]

PA's minimum for lg game is 45 and maximum for sm game is 40. It seems they encourage the owning of multiple ML's. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

My buddy builds guns and I want to say his BR ML's are 32 cal. Maybe it's the oversize barrels, but the bores look really small.

I'm interested if there's a reason for the 40 myself. I've been sniffing around at getting a 32 or 36 for sm game, but it seems 40 is pretty popular. I just hate to get a 40 when I have a 45.

 

[pacanis]

PA's minimum for lg game is 45 and maximum for sm game is 40. It seems they encourage the owning of multiple ML's. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

My buddy builds guns and I want to say his BR ML's are 32 cal. Maybe it's the oversize barrels, but the bores look really small.

I'm interested if there's a reason for the 40 myself. I've been sniffing around at getting a 32 or 36 for sm game, but it seems 40 is pretty popular. I just hate to get a 40 when I have a 45.

 

[pacanis]

oops. Sorry for the double post.
I can't find the delete button...

 

[FishDFly]

It won't ruin the day.

 

[FishDFly]

If they didn't make different rifle calibers the folks here would have one less thing to argue about.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I made a .40 because I didn't have one there was a gap in the line up between .36 and .50. It is a delightful caliber. Easy on powder and ball, plenty of power for medium size game and the accuracy is very satisfying.

The white thing that disappears down range is a 8 oz water bottle.

 

[pacanis]

I just got off the phone with a buddy about some other stuff, so I asked him about the .40. Then I found out the muzzleloaders he has built are pretty much one of each caliber up to 50.

He said the .40 is perfect. He said anytime you went to a match, 60% of the shooters across the different disciplines would be shooting forties. It used to be .58's late sixties early seventies, but then guys started being more aware of recoil and how well they could get the .40 to shoot. He said it was like guys using 6mm PPC for centerfire BR today.

His opinion anyway.

 

[Bnewberry]

.40 is a good squirrel caliber for those who find a .32 ball hard to hold onto with cold fingers!

 

[R Ellis]

I just like to have a rifle in as many calibers as possible just for fun I dont have a 40 but it is on my bucket list I also plan to make a 22 muzzleloader one day

 

[SciAggie]

Folks that shoot unmentionables often have a rifle for large game and rifle for small game and plinking. ML shooters are the same.
People who hunt deer and larger game generally shoot anything from .45s up to .62/.72 caliber.
Small game rifles are generally from .32/.36/.40
I'm on the hunt for a .40 myself because it will be small enough for small game like squiirels and whatnot - yet also handle coyotes/turkey/bobcats.

 

[Flintleather]

.40’s are accurate, easy to load and cheap to shoot.

 

[Uncle Miltie]

Well I had this .400 rb mould and nothing to use it with....

 

[2 shots]

I believe you aren't allowed to hunt deer with anything less than a .50.

hi, just f.y.i. .44 is minimum for big game in n.y.

 

[Thomas.bill92]

.40 is the smallest caliber you can shoot a deer with here in VA, but its also small enough that you can shoot the snot out of it without breaking the powder and lead bank! Lead consumption is not a linear trend as caliber goes up.

 

[64Springer]

Why buy a .40?

Because the math works.

But only for a .40

 

[hanshi]

I could never find a specific use for the .40 but I like the caliber. I had a very nice one for years but the bore sustained damage and the gilt-edged accuracy took a small hit but a hit none the less. It had a rather heavy swamped barrel so I sent it off to Bobby Hoyt to be bored out to .45.

The .40 is legal for deer in my state but I never could make myself use it for that. I had a .32 & .36 so small game was already covered. The .40 does seem to hang somewhere in that area of large varmints such as coyotes and game such as turkeys. It is no more accurate than any other caliber but can produce blistering velocities for those who like that sort of thing. Well loaded it gives a satisfying "crack" but has virtually no felt recoil. I want another one for some reason even if it remains just a range puppy.

 

[SciAggie]

@hanshi ”range puppy”. I like that.

 

[nchawkeye]

I have a .40 because I started with a .45 and the dang bears got thick on our farms in eastern NC...So, I made a .54...Now, I'm not the smartest fellow on here but I did realize that a 3/8 ramrod won't go down a .36 caliber bore...So, I built a .40, no complaints...

As far as squirrels it don't matter the caliber as us professionals take head shots only...