Why a .40?

[The Baron]

OK, posting this here as I'm looking at this specifically from a hunter's perspective.

I'll be wandering the grounds at Dixons soon (first time ever!) and have set some funds aside, in case I see a gun there that "speaks to me". I'm thinking either a rear-sighted .62 fowler (versatility, a little better hunting range/accuracy with ball, same components as my current .62 fowler) or perhaps a .36 for fun and small game (squirrel, rabbits/hares, maybe the odd coyote or 'coon).

From my computer screen shopping, I see lots of .40's available and will likely run into a few in my journey. It got me thinking... what is the .40 good for? It's bigger than needed for small game and too small for most big game (borderline for deer and hogs and of course not even that for bear/elk/moose). My hunting here will jump from the small stuff, to potentially big whitetails (200# field dressed are not overly rare) and black bears.

I'm in no way slagging the .40 as a great shooting caliber and possible a popular bore size in the 18thC (?), but just wondering if I'm missing something and maybe should not be discounting the thought when I am shopping for my next hunting gun.

Thoughts? :hmm:

 

[BrownBear]

Only reason I can see for getting a 40 cal of my own is cuzz I don't have one. Yet. And I'm a curious sort. For whatever reason 40's are real popular with paper punchers, but I'll let them splain why.

I had the option of going 40 cal when pulling together my GRRW-CA Squirrel Rifle, but I opted for 45 caliber instead. Our minimum legal caliber for deer and that greatly influenced my choice. I use reduced loads with larger cals for small game, so no demerits for a 45 there either. But if I had opted for 40 it would have been a small game-only rifle.

 

[rich pierce]

It's what's popular. For hunting, no advantage I can see. Not legal for deer and overkill for squirrels. A .36 is good for plinking and small game. A .40 would be some better on the range than a .36 with wind but why not shoot a .45?

When I started, .50 and .45 were the most popular. Things change. Now you've got to have a .54 to kill anything and the .45 is too big for target shooting.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

There's more target shooters than hunters where I shoot at local competitions.

On larger metal targets you only get a score if it moves. That's why 40 is good. Still small enough for squirrel rifle shoots too.

Also, 40 cal swamped barrels are very slender. So on later guns, the architecture is right.

I target with 45s and hunt with 54s. However, 45s still go hunting.

45 is real popular by me for custom made guns.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Larger balls are easier to hold onto in cold weather than say a .32-36 and you can use a 3/8in ram rod. Dan.

 

[tenngun]

I had friends who had .40s although I never owned one my self. With a 25 grain charge it went after rocky, 60 after bambi It was their all around guns, and they shot near as well loaded light as heavy.

 

[WVAED]

I built a 40 about 5 years ago. I loved to shoot it. Sold it a few years back and regretted it ever since.

 

[BrownBear]

One of my pards has a nice custom 40. It's his favorite rifle by a wide margin, and he shoots it well. Problem is, he can't legally use his favorite rifle for deer up here. Local problem, but also a problem for his budget. He's been saving long and hard for a "recreation" in 45 caliber, but has a ways to go. In his words he "kinda painted himself into a corner" by picking a 40.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well I was thinking of buying a second flintlock rifle, in the white, which I would finish the stock at home as well as some of the metal. This was one of those questions that hang around for many months, as nothing really struck my fancy.

THEN I found a deal on two rifles (I could afford but one), one in .36 and one in .40 I opted for the .40 because where I live it IS legal for deer using the round ball, AND at the same time I found somebody who could supply me with custom REAL bullets for the .40 so..., no worries even on heavy deer or coyotes.

So why not buy the rifle that's fine on small game AND can slay the deer? My son may one day want to try a flintlock on deer, so why not have two flinters that can do that, AND also pop squirrels and bunnies? I've gotten head shots on small game with my .54, but once I shot wrong with it and YUCK there wasn't anything left of the squirrel but bits...

:idunno:

.40 with 30 grains of 3Fg doesn't tear up the small game a lot, and I like a head shot anyway. If not I'm out there with a .62 smoothie and #5 shot. :wink:

LD

 

[hanshi]

I remember back in the late 1950s and '60s there were .40 rifles and .36 rifles - Italian, probably - and the .40 was considered a "deer caliber", while the .36 was for everything else. .45s had started to become popular and was considered a big gun. I got a .45 and never looked back.

Fast forward some 40 years and I had a .40 scratch built rifle with a swamped GM barrel, 38" long, "B" weight. The minimum caliber in Ga. and Va. is .45.

Would I use the .40 for deer if it were legal? Yes I would; just not as a replacement for my .45s. Haven't hunted with that nice .40 even though I've had it the better part of 15 years. It's very accurate and has seen all it's use as a target, trailwalk and bumming around shooter. It's perfect, IMHO, for a turkey rifle or for varmints.

 

[BillinOregon]

My Stroh poor boy is a .40, the minimum legal for deer and antelope in Oregon. I've had mostly .54s and .58s and wanted to try a rifle that handles like a fly rod.