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40 cal powder charge

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WVAED

40 Cal.
Joined
Nov 29, 2011
Messages
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I am in the process of building my first 40 cal. I am primarily going to be using this rifle for squirel hunting, maybe turkey and will probably take it deer hunting. I know i am going to have to work up my own load, but just wondering what others used for such hunting applications. Thanks
 
edmelott said:
40 cal. I am primarily going to be using this rifle for squirel hunting, maybe turkey and will probably take it deer hunting.
As an aside, my personal opinion is that a .40cal is too small to be considered as a "deer caliber".

But aside from that, I have a .40cal Lancaster that I started shooting with "the caliber" as the powder charge...(40grns Goex 3F / .018" patch / .395" ball)...and use it as my main weekend range gun.
With the sights filed for that load, I also use the same load for the occasional squirrel hunt.

09191140calSquirrelTarget.jpg

112511Christenedthe40calLancaster.jpg
 
My .40 has a 1:66" twist and has always handled a wide range of charges with good accuracy. A .40 is a fine, "flat shooting" caliber. I have mine sighted in at 50 yards. Shooting 65-70 grains 3F Goex it prints only 3" low at 100 yards. Without changing the sights, I can back off on the charge for squirrel hunting and accuracy is excellent. My standard squirrel load has been 30 gr. 3F Goex, .395" ball, .012"-.015" patch. That's good for head shots out to farther than I can see them, at least 40 yards. I've tried 35 gr. and 40 gr. and can not really tell any difference in accuracy with them.

fortytarget.jpg


Turkeys aren't legal with a rifle, here, but a .40 would be absolutely perfect for them. I've always been a bit unsure of a .40 for deer, so have never used it for them.

Spence
 
My nephew and his youngest boy both shoot 40 calibers with douglas barrels. They use 40 grain FF or 35 FFF for target. And 60 grain FF for Ohio whitetail deer . A fourty is effective on deer at reasonable ranges but not for long ranges.
 
After shooting for load testing and chronographing the loads, I settled on 40 grns Goex 3F. Velocity is close to 1700fps with an sd of 5. This is my load for everything I want to hunt with a .40. 60 grns gave close to 1900 fps and was the second best load and is accurate out to 100 yards. If I were to hunt deer with a .40 that would be the load I'd use.
PICT0507-2.jpg


This target is actually better than I can shoot but gives an idea of what the 60 grn load can do.
 
this is my load for my 40 and the target from the first range session http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showpost.php?post/906233/

I did move up to 60gr powder and took a nice doe that winter,range was short though and I waited past several doe for the perfect shot

you'll like your 40,I love "'ole smokey" and have spent many pleasurable days afield with her
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I feel the 40 is a little too small for effective deer hunting. It can be use, but if you do ya got to pick your shots and keep the range pretty close. Better to use a large caliber with a little more margine for error when deer hunting.

I have a Green Mountain 40 cal barrel on one of my TC Hawken rifles and it like 40 grains of 3F with a Hornady round ball.
 
40 cal.gm dropin..1-48 twist perc.

35 gr Graph's FFF
35 gr Goex FFF
50 gr Goex FF

35 gr Swiss FFF.
.395 hc rb
.020 ticking
.024 40 cotton duct patch.

wrong move woody this afternoon...35 yards drt. 35 gr Graph's FFF
IMG_24571.jpg
 
I recently benched my wife's .40 to work up a load. For what ever reason, it wasn't doing well with the old load of 40 gr. Goex 3Fg. I switched to Swiss 3Fg and things improved. Our best grouping came with a 25 gr. charge.
I am not in favor of the littel .40 for deer hunting.
 
edmelott said:
I am in the process of building my first 40 cal. I am primarily going to be using this rifle for squirel hunting, maybe turkey and will probably take it deer hunting. I know i am going to have to work up my own load, but just wondering what others used for such hunting applications. Thanks

Both of my .40's work their best with 50 grs. of ffg., though at 100 yds. I can shoot a little flatter with 60 grs. For squirrels these loads are a bit too hot unless you can guarantee a head shot. Some on here like the .40 for deer, but I've seen a couple walk away after being hit solid in vital areas with roundballs. It does do very well with conicals. I used .41 mag cast pistol bullets (172 gr.) swaged through a section of barrel that matched the barrel on the rifle. With 60 grs. it makes a nice hole and will drop a deer.
 
KanawhaRanger said:
edmelott said:
I am in the process of building my first 40 cal. I am primarily going to be using this rifle for squirel hunting, maybe turkey and will probably take it deer hunting. I know i am going to have to work up my own load, but just wondering what others used for such hunting applications. Thanks

Both of my .40's work their best with 50 grs. of ffg., though at 100 yds. I can shoot a little flatter with 60 grs. For squirrels these loads are a bit too hot unless you can guarantee a head shot. Some on here like the .40 for deer, but I've seen a couple walk away after being hit solid in vital areas with roundballs. It does do very well with conicals. I used .41 mag cast pistol bullets (172 gr.) swaged through a section of barrel that matched the barrel on the rifle. With 60 grs. it makes a nice hole and will drop a deer.

Is that a GM barrel with 48" twist?
 
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