.40 Fans?

[Smokey Plainsman]

Any .40 caliber roundball fans out there? Just wondering as I have one on order and am interested in feedback on this caliber. I mainly target shoot and plink, but one day when I move back to a place with small game (not many here in Southern Nevada) I’d like to hunt squirrels and rabbits for food.

The way I read is a .40 loaded down is a good choice for smaller critters but can extend out to 100 yards or so for varmints and yotes and the like. It supposedly bucks the wind a bit better and has more momentum than the smaller .36s and .32s from what I read, and is less fiddly to load especially in cold whether compared to the smaller ones. It can also take a 3/8” ramrod while the .36 and smaller must take a skinnier, weaker rod.

It does all this while still being more economical than the larger calibers. I debated long and hard and did a ton of research as this will be my first custom muzzleloader and I wanted to get the right caliber for my specific purposes.

Am I way off here guys? Should I have gotten something bigger, or smaller? Anyone here love or hate the .40? 

PS: One day I’d also like to attend a woods walk or other muzzleloading contest. Is a .40 not enough gun for that?

-Smokey

[snapper]

Kinda late to ask if you done good now?!?!

I like .40, have 3 of them in the gun safe.  They are a good target rifle, easy to shoot for recoil.  I have never hunted with one.

They work well for a woods walk.

Your margin of error is smaller if you are cutting cards, shooting a string etc.

I think you will be happy with your new rifle

Fleener

[EC121]

I've had 5 .40s.  Still have two and a .40cal. pistol.  My favorite cal.  Legal for deer in Alabama.  Only problem I  had was in a silhouette shoot in GA.  The steel was so thick on the 100yd. woodchucks that a low hit wouldn't knock them over.  Has to try for high hits at 100.  However they said that in their flyer.  So, it is my fault for not bringing a .45.  I hit one freshly painted white chuck square on the CG, and it just stood there with a big silver dollar splatter on its belly.

[smylee grouch]

Right now I have six of them with one being a cap lock pistol. All good shooters. One with a 1-56 twist, pistol with a 1-20 I think and the rest with 1-48. I use 20 gr. in the pistol and 40-45+ in the rifles. My best groups have been .6 inch across the outside of the ragged hole at 60 yards. I use a .400 ball.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I'm jumping on the wagon here too.  I have three .40's and love 'em all.  I shoot 65 gr. FFFg GOEX and a .395" ball with .018" denim patch.  The calibre is perfect if you are a little recoil shy...there isn't enough to register.  The barrels on my rifles are Rice, Getz, and Rice, and thy are all great shooters.  For trail walks, you'll love it.  To cut a string or card, the ball must be centred on the target, no matter the calibre, so size doesn't matter in that case.  I haven't hunted yet with my .40's but would call it a magnum for small game, and a triffle too small for big game.  Good choice.

[hanshi]

I've only owned one .40 and still have it; it's a nice one, too.  It has never hunted but has done trail walks and targets.  I've never hunted where the .40 was a legal deer caliber.  It is nicely accurate and recoils about like your girlfriend's kiss.  I like the .40 but I like the .45 more.  I suppose that if you hold up your right hand and swear not to shoot at anything larger than whitetail deer, it might do for everything, more or less. 

[trailerpark]

Yep, great caliber. I have four in .40 and have taken several Tennessee deer and have shot a lot of woods walks. Two rifles shoot a .385 and the other shoot a .390 with anywhere from 35gr 3fto 70gr.

[Don Steele]

Absolutely..!!
Mike Davis built my 40 cal SMR. Rice bbl, Chambers LH large Siler lock.
I get excellent results with a.395 RB And 40 gns 3f Goex for anything out to 50 yds. At 100, I increase the powder to 60-65. Frankly, with primitive sights and my bad eyes, I don’t spend much time shooting 100 yd targets though. I believe the 40 is a bit much for Squirrels/ rabbits unless you can confidently take only head shots. I also believe it’s a bit light for Whitetail unless you have the ability and discipline to wait for a perfectly set up shot.
Just my opinion and worth what you’uns paid to get it.

[heelerau]

I have a nice .40 made by Neil Fields of Vernal. He made it for me years ago,  and its good on rabbits and kangaroos. I only use 35 grains of FFFg with a .375 ball and a 12 thou patch either spit or mink oil. If I want to shoot longer range I just double the charge. It is an early Lancaster style with a swamped collerain barrel and a round faced Jim Chambers lock.

[hanshi]

I load 40 grains of 3F as my everyday, all around load; it gets nearly 1700 fps.  For my shooting at 100 yards I also load 60 grains for over 2100 fps and great accuracy.  30 grains gives one hole accuracy at 25 yards (when I can shoot that well) and gives between 1300 fps and 1400 fps and should work for head shots on small game.

[Matthew1969]

I grew up down there, left in 98 to raise my sons in the Northern part of the state. Don't despair, the cottontails are there, just gotta find em.
   My .32 is bad on other than head shot cottontails. The .40 would be a "must head shoot" in my opinion. Good luck with yours! And good shooting. Matthew

[T*O*F]

Some 20 years ago, I had Ed Rayl make me a matched set of .40 barrels, one rifled and one smooth.  I am finally getting around to building a flint double using those barrels.  The smooth barrel will handle those head shot problems.

[StevenV]

Great caliber for competition shooting. I have two, Douglas and Green Mt. barrel. 60 grains swiss 3F, .395 to .403 ball , teflon coated pillow ticking .022. I have zero problems to 100 yds. , even shoot it to 200 yds. for our August shoot , $100.00 prize , have a few.     Steve

[David R. Pennington]

I shoot my .40 more than anything else. I use 5/16 rod. Good straight hickory. Wore out the original one and recently made a second rod. I hesitated hunting with it but find it is quite effective on whitetail with careful shot placement; but isn’t that what we do regardless of caliber? I have killed several deer with mine. It has a 44 inch swamped Green Mountain barrel and groups best with 65 grains 3f. Head shots are what you do with rifles on small game. I have killed squirrels with my .50. Ok long as you don’t want brains.

[thelongrifle]

I have four 40's.  I have cut cards,split balls and killed deer with them. I believe that you will be pleased with it.

[Mike Lyons]

Best caliber there is.

[adkmountainken]

got a half stock Ohio style due here today can't wait to join the club!!!

[alacran]

I have only one .40 in the stable. It belongs to my wife. it shoots good. It won't do anything my .45 can't do and the .45 does it better.

[bob in the woods]

I have one .40 cal flintlock rifle.  It has an "A" weight swamped  Colerain 42 in barrel.  I use it a lot for target shooting, and pests . Raccoons and coyotes seem to have a road map to my chicken house.  I had a .32 and a .36 , but like the performance of the .40 better for the above mentioned animals. It was the largest cal. I could get in the barrel I wanted, and it is very accurate with a .395 ball and 60 to 65 gr of 3 F.   I like it.

[Huntschool]

Love my .40 Getz barreled gun.  Its a tack driver when I do my part and yes, there are two loads that give exceptional accuracy as others have mentioned.

[stuart cee dub]

I'm with Alacran. I have two .40's I built both good shooters ,one flint the other percussion, but I really prefer my .45 .
I won't built another 40.
The 40 is a good to 75 yds gun .
After which point the holes get too small ,and seem to disappear on , the 100 yd standing bear target to see in my Leupold spotting scope.
If you buy swedged hornady  balls there is no discount over the .45 caliber.
IMHO the flatter trajectory isn't enough to justify the extra wind drift.
   

[Darkhorse]

I'm a big fan of the .40 caliber. I built mine about 15 years ago to hunt turkeys with as it is legal in Georgia. It has a B weight Rice barrel, Davis set triggers and a LH large siler lock. My load for 25 to 50 yards is 30 grains 3fg, .395 ball and .018 pillow ticking. I've been using some .015 material from eastern maine shooting supplies and this shoots about as accurate as the ticking.
If I do my  part it will shoot one hole groups at both 25 and 50   yards.  The 30 grain load is my squirrel load but you must make head shots or rib shots.
The 60 grain load is my turkey load. 60 grains 3fg, .395 round ball and .018 ticking. Shoots clean through a gobblers wing butts and hardly messes up any meat at all.
It is not a legal weapon for deer in my state and I would not hunt deer with it if I could. Though I have no doubt it will kill deer I prefer something larger. My .54 is my big game rifle.
When I walk out back to shoot the .40 caliber is the rifle I take.

[MuskratMike]

Love my .40 SMR built for me by Jim Kibler almost 2 years ago (I would post pictures of this fantastic rifle but everyone has got to be tire of seeing post pictures of it). Easy on powder, balls cheap to make or buy, deadly accurate. For small game you can't do better, a little light for those Nevada Mule Deer unless you limit your shots to 50 yards or less.

[bob in the woods]

I should have mentioned the fact that my already owning a .50 B weight swamp barrelled rifle had a lot to do with my choice of the .40 over a .45     A lot of target shooters here use a .54 but they load with a 60 to 80 gr powder charge.
My .40 has much higher velocity and hardly any recoil.  The velocity keeps the wind drift on par or even less than those slow .54's

[Daryl]

When using a slippery oil lube (LHV) in my .40, I found accuracy loads for both 3F GOEX and 2F GOEX.
65gr. 3F and 75gr. 2F. both powder charges produced just over 2,200fps and would put 5 shots into a
 1/2" group, centre to centre at 50 yards. With a water based lube on the patch, it did the same with only
55 to 62gr. of each.