40 cal loads?

[Snowshoe]

I took everyones advice and ordred a 40cal green mountain barrel in 1/48 twist. Anyone have a load that works good in that combo? any one shot deer with that caliber?
Shoe

 

[Swampman]

The best load for any round ball is one grain per caliber. That would be 40 grains of 3F. Since you have a 1 in 48 twist, I'm not sure.

 

[boar]

Snowshoe Don't have a 40,have 32&36 Use 40gr 3fff in 36-20gr 3fff in 32.Does good.If you check you will find that small calibers barrels are a faster twist To stabilize the ball.Most round barrels like 45 and up have twist that the ball does a half turn excample i-66 in 32-33 inch barrel,I have acustom 54-34 inch barrel,1-70 twist A custom 50-32inch barrel,1-60.You get the drift?.My 36 TC Senca has a 1-48,MY blue ridge32 has a 1-48. The Senca has killed 2 deer,40grs on one 55gr on second one RB 3fff, It won't shoot Max-balls. Took second place in two shoots with 40grs And bear grease patch.Killed a lot groundhogs with it.Douglas Barrels had a 1-48 twist. Dilly

 

[Flintandsteel]

Snowshoe,

You just have to experiment and try different loads, patch and ball combinations to find out what that barrel likes.

I had a GM .05 that would shoot great from 55g to 110g FFg.

I've had .40's that shoot great @ 45g FFFg to the one I'm shooting now that likes 65g FFFg witha .400 ball and .020 patch. All barrels are different, and you can only use what others suggest as a starting point, then work from there.

 

[AZ-Robert]

Anyone have a load that works good in that combo? any one shot deer with that caliber?

I have a .40 in 1:48 and length of 42". I'm using a .395 ball and a .015 pre-lubed patch. For target shooting out to 50 yards, 25 - 30 grains of 3f is a good load. For longer shots (75 yards +) I use 50 grains of 3f.

 

I use 50 gr. of 3Fg. in my .40 cal. I've never measured the twist so I don't know what it is. TVM's catalog gives 65 gr. of 3Fg as a max load at 2085 fps in a 42 in. barrel. Not a hunter, is that enough for deer? At 50 yds, remaining velocity would be about 1350 fps.

 

[buckhorn]

Years ago, the Mountain State ML catalogue had a loading chart for GM barrels.
For a .40 it said to use 40 to 60 gr. of 3f, .015 to .018 patching, a.395 ball for hunting and a .400 ball for target.

 

[sduve]

Just shot my .40 cal. My load for this weeks deer season is prb over 60 gr over 777 3F. It's sighted in at 50 yards. Holds a nice group. My son shot my chrony so bad with an arrow that it is finished. Am guessing velocity at 2000 fps. It's a GM barrel in my TC Renegade.

 

[harryo]

I took everyones advice and ordred a 40cal green mountain barrel in 1/48 twist. Anyone have a load that works good in that combo? any one shot deer with that caliber?
Shoe

My .40cal, 1:48" twist GM barrel will shoot a 5 shot group that can be covered with a quarter, or smaller, from 50 yds, off the bench, using a .395 ball, .016 Walmart ticking patch lubed with Stumpy's moosemilk, over 40 grns of Fffg KIK. The
1:48" twist is correct for roundballs in the smaller calibers. I have used up to 75 grns of Fffg with the groups only opening up slightly, still within 3-4", which would be more than acceptable for hunting.

I haven't used it for deer hunting because it is illegal here in Illinois. I'm not sure I would use it even if I could because the .395 ball is pretty small and I like bigger calibers for deer. However, if your barrel is as accurate as mine, I have no doubts that you can put the ball where you want it within 50 yds and I wouldn't take a shot past that.

 

I shoot 50 to 65 gr of 3F with a .400 ball and pillow ticking patch in my GM barrel. Excellent accuracy.

 

[Snowshoe]

I have been working on a load, 45GR goex 3 f .18 pillow tick patch and a hornaday .395. so far I am shooting a 2.5 group at 50yd. not bad for me, like the cal. thanks for the hep you all
shoe

 

[jimeckersley]

I took everyones advice and ordred a 40cal green mountain barrel in 1/48 twist. Anyone have a load that works good in that combo? any one shot deer with that caliber?
Shoe

My GM IBS .40 barrel is 32 inches.
cronographed
1850 fps 35gr Swiss,
1640 fps 35 gr Elephant.
1920 fps 40 gr Swiss
2000 fps 45 gr Swiss
2100 fps 50 gr Swiss

I didn't continue using Elephant as it wasn't as consistent shot to shot and produced more fouling.

I wouldn't use my .40 barrel for deer unless I found a conical that would shoot well. There are some 180 to 225 gr pistol bullets that look interesting and would probably stabilize in the 1/48 twist. You might have to size some of the 10 mm or .40 bullets to to make them seat. If you try that, stick with pure lead.

You could probably reach .44 Magnum balistics with a conical and FF powder. The .40 RB just doesn't have enough energy to suit me. It's illegal for deer in many states, including here in Colorado.

 

[jimeckersley]

One other thought on .40 conicals. Take a look at 40-65 balistics, even 40-90. I'm going to try this myself. I have a 10mm 225 gr and a 175 gr mould. This should be fun to try. I'm going to order a .40 sizer for those bullets. I'll try the 175 gr first and 65 gr of 2F. This may be a good pig load next time I go to Texas boar hunting.

 

My .40 likes 40 gr fffg with .395 ball. It is a good place to start anyway. Here in Lousyanna the .40 is not legal for big game or small game, so it hangs on my mantle most of the time. If after deer I would chose at least a .45 (I have used a .445 ball with 65 gr fffg) and a .50 is better (I use 70 gr fffg and a .490 ball).

 

[LarryB]

My son shoots a 40. 65 gr 3f, shot a 3 point buck western count. Shot behind the shoulders at 70 yards. Ball went diag through body and was found in far ham. The deer went 30 yards and layed down to die. I think the cal is on the light side and use a 54 my self. I have a 40 I use for games and love it.

 

[LarryB]

My son shoots a 40. 65 gr 3f, shot a 3 point buck western count. Shot behind the shoulders at 70 yards. Ball went diag through body and was found in far ham. The deer went 30 yards and layed down to die. I think the cal is on the light side and use a 54 my self. I have a 40 I use for games and love it.

 

[Bill/Ms.]

I usually hunt with a .54 caliber but I have killed two deer with a .40; one at 60 yds. and one at about 30 yds. Neither deer knew what hit it. Was shooting 65 grains fffg behind a .395 round ball. One deer was a head shot and dropped where it stood, the other was shot through the lungs and went about 30 yds.
Be Well, Bill