Why .40 cal?

[tenngun]

.40’s are accurate, easy to load and cheap to shoot.

And a very popular ‘do everything’ gun in the old days. Kill Bambi and Thumper or Rocky equally well
It was a size seen pretty common in the old days

 

[1971fx]

.40 caliber pedersoli scout

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Most states think a 50 cal is a 50 cal and have outlawed them, so your lucky.
Our state says no deer under 45 cal or I would have built my rifle in 40 not 45.

 

[brazosland]

.40’s are accurate, easy to load and cheap to shoot.

This. Plus they kill really well. No rules in Texas on caliber. My .40’s are second only in my inventory to .62’s (rifled and smooth).

I’ve killed deer and hogs with the .40 out to 60 yards and that ball moving at nearly 1800fps does the job amazingly well. Do I like the margin I get from bigger bores? Yes. But the .40 just works.

Plus, I can practice more with the .40 all year long which makes me even better with it hunting.

Would a 200 pound man want to take a .40 ball to the chest? Think about it. Then it’s more than good enough for deer etc.

 

[Red Owl]

From my research as a new flint lock owner, I am realizing that a ton of the rifles are chambered in .40 and I see a lot of smoothbores in this caliber as well. I own a .54 because I am hoping to take it deer hunting and in NYS, I believe you aren't allowed to hunt deer with anything less than a .50.

So I am wondering what is the reason I see so many extremely nice guns in .40 caliber. Am I missing something? Do they shoot better? are they for target shooting?

The caliber to my untrained eye, seems too large for small game and too small for large game.

Let me know in the responses how wrong I am! Haha.

The common feel is the 40 is very accurate. Some of this may depend on the barrel. 1" 15/16", etc.

 

[R Ellis]

Most states think a 50 cal is a 50 cal and have outlawed them, so your lucky.
Our state says no deer under 45 cal or I would have built my rifle in 40 not 45.

You could be wrong about 50 cal being outlawed I dont know of any state that has done this can you give some examples please You could be talking about the 50bmg not muzzleloaders

 

[springfield art]

From my research as a new flint lock owner, I am realizing that a ton of the rifles are chambered in .40 and I see a lot of smoothbores in this caliber as well. I own a .54 because I am hoping to take it deer hunting and in NYS, I believe you aren't allowed to hunt deer with anything less than a .50.

So I am wondering what is the reason I see so many extremely nice guns in .40 caliber. Am I missing something? Do they shoot better? are they for target shooting?

The caliber to my untrained eye, seems too large for small game and too small for large game.

Let me know in the responses how wrong I am! Haha.

Accuracy!

 

[mkabe]

oops. Sorry for the double post.
I can't find the delete button...

When I want to delete my post I just erase everything and type “edited out” and post that. At least change it.
Your double post is no big deal.

 

[pacanis]

When I want to delete my post I just erase everything and type “edited out” and post that. At least change it.
Your double post is no big deal.

I was on an old 'puter rockin' Win7.
I was having touchpad problems

I'm on other ZenForo forums and if you notice quick enough you can delete a post.
But on this one you can Ignore a whole forum.
So I guess everything equals out

 

[smoothshooter]

From my research as a new flint lock owner, I am realizing that a ton of the rifles are chambered in .40 and I see a lot of smoothbores in this caliber as well. I own a .54 because I am hoping to take it deer hunting and in NYS, I believe you aren't allowed to hunt deer with anything less than a .50.

So I am wondering what is the reason I see so many extremely nice guns in .40 caliber. Am I missing something? Do they shoot better? are they for target shooting?

The caliber to my untrained eye, seems too large for small game and too small for large game.

Let me know in the responses how wrong I am! Haha.

I have never seen a smoothbore .40.
I know there are a few out there, but they are not common at all.

 

[Redturd Reloader]

Well, I don't own a 40 call though I hope to some day - maybe my next rifle. I found it interesting that Jim Bridger owned a 40 cal Hawken. He probably owned other rifles as well. This particular rifle was given to him by a friend when he was about 50 years old. It is currently on display in Pinedale, WY at the Museum of the Mountain Man.

 

[TC Tommy]

I have Hawken in 40cal. 1" across the flats, 31" long. Wwwwell it's not an original Hawken.
It's a Thompson Center Hawken, Cleland Match Rifle.
Hey, with a name like TC Tommy, what'd you expect.
It's a real shooter when I do my part.

 

[Snydly]

In Wy the .40 is minimum for deer and antelope. 50 for bigger game.

 

[mkabe]

I was on an old 'puter rockin' Win7.
I was having touchpad problems

I'm on other ZenForo forums and if you notice quick enough you can delete a post.
But on this one you can Ignore a whole forum.
So I guess everything equals out

Oh my gosh, Win. 7! I didn’t think much would even run on Win. 7 anymore. I had to move to Win. 10 because I couldn’t get my email anymore as I recall. Now that is an older system.
You are “rockin” if you can still do that.

 

[pacanis]

@mkabe Me, too!
I thought for sure it would be an hour downloading updates, but once it booted up it was just fine. And so was Live Mail.

The odd thing was, The other ZenForo I am on, which always hangs up, worked perfect. And I was no longer getting pop ups on news channels like in Win 10.
My guess is Win 7 isn't supported anymore and pop ups and such are geared to present day browsers. So they could no longer bog down my surfing

I'm glad I hung onto it. I'm not one for surfing with my phone.

 

[pwbsmokey]

From my research as a new flint lock owner, I am realizing that a ton of the rifles are chambered in .40 and I see a lot of smoothbores in this caliber as well. I own a .54 because I am hoping to take it deer hunting and in NYS, I believe you aren't allowed to hunt deer with anything less than a .50.

So I am wondering what is the reason I see so many extremely nice guns in .40 caliber. Am I missing something? Do they shoot better? are they for target shooting?

The caliber to my untrained eye, seems too large for small game and too small for large game.

Let me know in the responses how wrong I am! Haha.

New York minimum is .44

 

[nhmoose]

My .40 has been used on SQ's to deer here in NH. All legal game. Some of us don't live in NY or where they are not legal. Live Free or Die

 

[smokepolehall]

I happen to like the .40, its been a tree rat slayer, a rabbit killer, n tick toters don't stand a chance. My State says choot'em

 

[Tom A Hawk]

I added a practical application aspect when I made my .40 Tennessee. I made it with an interchangeable .50 barrel. To switch calibers all I have to do is pull the keys, the tang screw and the lock screw. The same ramrod serves both.

 

[tnlonghunter]

In MD, .40 is the minimum for deer. So, theoretically (legally) you can kill anything (except bear, I suppose) that is rifle-huntable with the one gun. I'll say it is nice to be able to go out and not be limited to one species.

But, load small charges and take headshots one small game. Load bigger charges, be sneaky/picky about your distance and kill deer. That said, I wouldn't pick a .40 as my primary for either, but it's a fun caliber to shoot.