lets here some .40 cal pet loads!

[adkmountainken]

i have a custom .40 flinter due tomorrow with a rice swamped barrel and Siler lock. 44 inch barrel.  planning on starting at 35 grains 3F Goex with a mink oil patch, hand cast .395 round ball and a .018 patch.  would love to hear what everyone is running through their .40

[Bob McBride]

Good starting place. That’s about where I started. I ended up at 50g/3f .390/.022. .395/.20 was similar shooting, harder loading, but cleaner. They shoot flat and accurate, IME. Bear grease or Mink tallow.

[MuskratMike]

Mine has a 46-inch swamped barrel. It is the only rifle I have that I have two loads for (1 for hunting 1 for targets).
For targets: .395 Hornady round ball, 40 grains of Goex 3F, Goex 4F for priming, .015 pillow ticking patch with either 100% pure Neatsfoot oil, or Mink oil/grease.
For Hunting: .395 Hornady round ball, 60 grains of Goex 3F. Goex 4F for priming, .015 pillow ticking patch with Neatsfoot or Mink. This gives me 1720 F.P.S. on this load and very accurate (almost as much as the 40 grain load).
This is in a flintlock with a Chambers Late Ketland lock.

[canadianml1]

I'll be watching this thread with great interest as my 40 is getting whiskered at this moment. All I have to do is brass black the barrel and some parts, oil and wax the stock and then off to the range! I plan to start with .389 cast RB with .018 patch, Mink oil lube and 40 grains of Goex. I need to experience just how easy/difficult it is to push that combo down 46 inches of barrel.  If all is easy then I will try the .395 swaged balls. (muzzle prep ??)

[okawbow]

When I hunt squirrels with my original barrel .40 cal, I use the Daniel Boone load. .390 round ball in the palm of my hand, just enough 2 F powder to cover the ball. This load will still bring the squirrels down from the tree tops, but won’t tear them up too bad. I use a .017” denim patch with bear oil lube. Barrel twist is 1-48”. Minute of squirrel head accurate.

[Daryl]

The .40 I had, delivered many 1/2" 5-shot groups at 50 yards for me, using a water based lube, WWWF + a tich of Neetsfoot oil, about 2 ounces per quart
of Winter Windshield Washer Fluid using 55 to 65gr. GEOX3F & 2F.  If using LHValley or Mr. Flintlock lube, I had to add another 10gr. of powder due likely to the
 slippery nature of those lubes.  I used 10 ounce denim at .0225" thickness with .398" RB's as well as .400" RB's. I also used railroad mattress ticking we measured
at .0235" compressed, but it was very soft material and loaded about the same as the thinner denim. Both washed twice, once with soap, once without as a better rinse.
I did not have a hunting-lube load for that rifle - Goodioen barrel with 48" twist.
Most guy using .40's for accuracy work, as in plank or chunk shooting, use 60 to 75gr. 3F & they are shooting 60yards only.

[Hungry Horse]

 Once again, without the twist rate, all the great advice is just smoke. I bought a .40 cal. Barrel off of this forum that was a beautifully made barrel. But, it wasn’t the traditional 1in48” twist rate, it was 1in60” so all the sage advice didn’t do diddily squat when we actually started shooting.

  Hungry Horse

[Daryl]

Slower twist, more powder is all. The more powder, the tighter the combination to prevent as much blow-by as possible.
 My point was simply starting at 40gr. of powder may be a waste of powder, IF accuracy at 50yards and beyond is required.

[hanshi]

My .40 has a 38" tube.  Standard day to day load is .390" ball & canvas patch lubed with either Hoppes or mink oil over 40 grns of 3F.  For 100 yards I increase the charge to 60 grns.  Switching to 30 grns of 3F makes a nice squirrel load.

[Tony N]

.395 ball over 45 gr of 3F .20 patch cut at muzzle

~Tony

[curly]

I've just built a nice 40 cal poorboy and tried it out a couple of days ago. Shot 50yds., 4" groups, benched, using a .390 ball and .018 patch. I tried to use Tracks mink oil, but went back to Ballistol and water 6:1 for lube. Works great!!

[Daryl]

curly, with the track's mink oil, I found saturated patches worked as well or better than water based lubes.  The 50th shot loaded easier than the 1st one
with no wiping at an time.  That was in my .32 bl. with a .320" ball and .022" patch. A bare ball would not slide down the bore, yet even with the patch, they
were loaded with the 5/16" rod after being started with a short starter. They could be started with just a choked-up rod, but it was easier and faster with
the starter.
I melted the mink oil then poured it over the pre-cut patches, squeezed the excess out. Yes - it is messy. For hunting, pre-lubed patched balls in a loading block
is used.
The rifle now has a .36 Rice barrel on it & with .350" balls, loading is very easy, with either mink oil or a water based lube.
Loading blocks need to be finished like a rifle stock, or they will absorb the lube from the patches due to the open grain from drilling.

The .36 loading block holds 14 shots.
My .69's block holds 4. Used to be 4, but one broke out.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I have three .40's with Getz, Rice, and Colerain barrels:  twists I don't remember.  I shoot .395" balls cast from a Lyman single cavity mould, .018" cotton denim patches lubed with everything from spit to Lehigh Valley Lube, to homemade concoctions, and use 65 gr. FFFg GOEX in all of them.  They are pleasant to shoot, superbly accurate, and never need cleaning 'til the shootin's done.  Over the course of a day's trail walk though, my rod seats about 1/4" higher at the end of the day...the chamber area where-in the powder lays is diminished little by little by fouling as this area doesn't benefit from the cleaning nature of the tight patch and ball.  40 gr. of powder will suffice if all that you are shooting is 20 yards or so, but past that, the rifle benefits from a healthier charge.

[Eric Krewson]

I have 2 .40s, the one with straight sided square rifled GM barrel shoots anything well and I mean anything. I shot 30g of 3F out of it for plinking and squirrels and tested 60gr in case I should take it deer hunting. I have shot .390, .395 and .40 balls out of it, all shot well, I will stick with the .390s for ease of loading.

My other .40 is swamped, not sure of the barrel make, it may be a Burton. It has the only sights I can see of all my rifles, the rear sight is way down the barrel. It is a a percussion gun, incredibly accurate with a 30g/ .390 ball squirrel load and will be my go to gun for squirrel hunting this year.

[wolf]

my southern rifle likes .395 ball, .blue jean denim patch with beeswax and olive oil and 55gr. of goex 3F 1 hole groups is the norm at 50yds but sometimes looser when everything ain't right,,,,,,,,,,,,

[bob in the woods]

Hi Taylor. I have the same breach issue with my .40 in terms of a fouling build up in that area after a lot of shooting. My touch hole is about a 1/4 in off the breach face which is a good thing in this rifle.
This is the only rifle I currently have which benefits from a breach scraper attachment for the ram rod.
My .54's and up don't seem to have the same problem. 

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

My vents scoot right across the face of the breech plug Bob, and I don't have ignition troubles as the day goes on...just the rod bottoming higher a little by little.  I don't own a breech face scraper, but understand the concept.
Developing your own 'pet' load:  set up a target you can see well at 50 yards, and bench shoot your rifle with different loads until you find the one that your rifle loves.  Then learn to shoot that load at ALL of the ranges you will encounter.  Learning, knowing, becoming familiar with your rifle is what will make you a good marksman.  My .40's like 65 gr. 3Fg GOEX, .018" - .020" denim patch, lubed with anything good (spit, Lehigh Valley, Mr. Flintlock, Neatsfoot oil, Mink oil, water/oil solution - like Ballistol.  Soak the patch to the point of dripping.  Deadly accurate.

[heelerau]

I use 35 grains of Goex FFFg, with a .390 ball and thick patch with either spit or mink oil, shoots really well. 44inch swamped Collerain barrel.  It is the load the rifle maker who supplied the rifle with  a couple of moulds found it shot really well with. 

[Daryl]

Hi Taylor. I have the same breach issue with my .40 in terms of a fouling build up in that area after a lot of shooting. My touch hole is about a 1/4 in off the breach face which is a good thing in this rifle.
This is the only rifle I currently have which benefits from a breach scraper attachment for the ram rod.
My .54's and up don't seem to have the same problem.

Further to what Taylor said, we also remove the barrels for cleaning, which in itself cleans the breech face completely clear of fouling, thus a scraper is not needed.

[Darkhorse]

My main load for 25  yard accuracy is 30 grains 3fg a .018 pillow ticking patch lubed with Lehigh Valley or Mr. Flintlocks Lube and a .395 round ball. For 50 yards I might go up to 40 grains of 3fg, everything else remains the same.
Lately I have been shooting .015 pillow ticking patch material from Eastern Maine shooting supplys. Seems to be just as accurate and much easier to load.
This rifle was built to hunt turkeys with. My turkey load is a .395 round ball, .018 pillow ticking patch and 60 grains of 3fg. Lubed with Canola oil. Canola oil is subject to creating a lot of fouling but the first shot is always dead center and it can be left loaded for extended periods of time.
Everything is subject to change as I'm always experimenting with different components and techniques.
As with Daryl and Taylor I also remove my barrels for a complete cleaning.