What to do with a 40 caliber?

[Skychief]

I have a friend wanting to give me a 40 caliber barrel to make a rifle with.   Why should I want/need a .40 for???

[babills]

IMHO it's an awesome caliber, great for target shooting, small and medium game hunting. at least up to and including deer. Its very economical to shoot easy on lead and powder. Its not so small you have to buy special size ramrods and such you can still use 3/8. Very little recoil, if thats a concern. I could go on and on.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have two .40 cal rifles and like shooting them a lot.  I can't see why you wouldn't want one!  The first is a Peter Berry A .40 x 42" by Getz and weighs 6# 11.36 oz. emplty.  The second is a Kuntz B .40 x 44" by Rice and weighs 8 1/2 #.
I haven't used a parallel barrel in a new build for many years.

[billd]

If you don't see any use for it I can recommend a great place to send it to.   

Bill

[b bogart]

Skychief I don't think you should want or need it! Now on the other hand it sounds like a sweet deal to me.
Send that doggone thing to me for disposal

[Roger Fisher]

Plenty of .40s around these parts used in match shooting.  With lead and powder going the way they are a .40 is a good choice.

You do give up some, when shooting the knockdowns, and on a windy day at the longer ranges.  and of course in the primative stuff, splittng the ball, cutting the string, cut the feather etc. etc......

[Daryl]

Roger, I've managed to split as many cards with the .40 cal. rifle as any other, even the .32 - but do admit the .69 is a LOT easier.

I really like shooting the .40 long barreled 1/2 stock - now my favourite rifle for trails and will be taking it for a week (or more) gopher shooting - leaving in 2 days.

[Don Getz]

My favorite target rifle has a 13/16" straight 40 cal. barrel on it.    Hangs real good, and won a lot of stuff with it, back when I was still shooting.    I even won some bench matches with it, great shooter.............Don

[northmn]

When I did a little soul searching for getting parts for another project whcih I may start next winter I chose a swamped 40.  Loaded on the light side they do no more damage to small game than a 32 and as stated are cheap to shoot.  My decision was based on the fact that I have enough deer rifles, may want to start target shooting again and am getting older and not as immune to recoil as I used to be.

DP

[Daryl]

DP- Taylor's "B" weight swamped in 44" is the best holding rifle I've experienced to date, in .40 cal.  The other .40 cal. longrifle he has, has a 42", "A" weight swamped bl. and is a bit too light for really good offhand work.

[northmn]

Mine is an A Colerain barrel in the 38" configuration.  Probably will be a little light but at the speed I am turning out rifles now it may be about right for the age I will be when its finished.  Probably make them a little faster after retirement.  I do have a straight 42" 13/16 40 that I take out a bit and enjoy shooting.  When I shot in matches (5 shots on bulleyes at different ranges) I did pretty well with the rifle, but do admit that for the ranges up to 100 yards I preferred a little heavier caliber like 45 and up.  Still did not do too bad with it.  Some of the whiners would complain if you shot a different rifle at longer ranges, so I would use the 40 at longer ranges.  You know the type.  "If I shot as much as you, or I had your equipment etc I could do as well as you do".  They didn't and couldn't. It was a really nice rifle for the "primitive" luck match one shot stuff.  I remember a shoot off on playing cards where I split one and another individual using a 32 also split one.  We were the only two that split the cards.  The shoot off was on dots at 25 yards and the winner was the closest to the dot.  They did this to keep things going on the range.  Shooting in matches is a trade off between weight of the gun, caliber and fatigue.  What works best for a couple of events may wear you down and be a handicap over the whole course.   Sometimes the smaller calibers assist in eliminating the fatigue issue.

DP

[Darkhorse]

Mine is a 38" B profile swamped I had LC Rice make for me several years ago when he was still in the buisness. It has shot into 3" at 100 yds from the bench in sunny conditions with a new bright front sight. I say this because now that the front sight has been darkened I'm sure it could do a little better. It loses nothing in accuracy at any range up to 100 yards.
The primary uses I see for the caliber is target shooting, fun shooting, small game and turkeys. In fact turkey hunting is what I specifically built the rifle for. It would probably be good for antelope at a water hole.
Let it be said; I like to fish with light tackle. I do NOT believe in light tackle hunting weapons. For all my big game hunting I use .54's and if I lived in great white north my calibers would be larger still.  To each his own.

[Dphariss]

Free barrel and a good excuse to build a gun what more could you want?
You should read Taylor's post a few times then grab the barrel.

Some of the best shots I ever made was with a 40 hunting squirrels.
I have a pair of 40 caliber barrels right now for a swivel breech.
They are 44" A weight swamps and trimmed a little will make a very manageable 40" +- barreled swivel.

Dan

[hanshi]

I have a .40 with a 38" swamped barrel and flint lock.  It is ideal for coyote, smaller hogs and everything smaller.  It is also good for deer where legal.  Some may like/dislike/love/hate the .40 as a deer rifle; but this doesn't alter the fact that it is the preferred deer caliber for many hunters.

[northmn]

I do not know about preferring it as a deer rilfe, but I have sat and waited for a squirrel or two during deer season with my 40.  Not all deer are 200+ pound bucks and a 40 is fine for yearlings.  The 40 really is a very pleasant rifle to shoot even with the heavier loads.  Kind of like one for squirrels in the event a coyote would show up, but I also do use the little 25.

DP

[Darkhorse]

2 reasons I went with the .40 for the turkey rifle.
1. I just always wanted a .40 caliber flintlock.
2. In case a hog with an attitude shows up I'd rather be holding onto a .40 than a .25 or .32. ( we do have the hogs down here)