40cal. rifle for deer and small game

[foxriver50]

Mostly wondering if 40. is enough for deer.  Its leagle in my state ta use, but is it just as good as a 50. or close.
Id like to build a rifle this winter but couldnt make up my mind ta do a rifle for small game or deer.  ahh :P then it came to me.
What you guys think

[n5lyc]

IF you hit it right, i am sure it will take a deer, most states say .45 as a minimum.

What is the twist on the barrel?
With a small caliber, i myself would use a conical, to get as much energy as possible into the target.

Who is it made by?
Show us some pictures. (we like pictures)
Tell us about it!.

Ian

[FrankG]

If you pick your shot , heart, lung only and keep to 50-60 yds I dont see any problem with a 40 cal.

[foxriver50]

Um.   I got ta build it first.

[roundball]

You asked for opinions and I'll give you mine...we're only talking about a tiny 92grn ball here with a tiny little frontal area which carries only a tiny little bit of energy.

An excellent caliber for targets and small game...and yes, just as deer have occasionally been killed with a .22cal bullet, a .40cal ball under exceptional circumstances have / will kill a deer....under exceptional circumstances...not normal circumstances.

IMO a .40cal is not in the same league as general purpose deer calibers...not a caliber to intentionally leave the house with expecting it to perform as a general purpose deer caliber under all the varied hunting conditions of unknown distances, imperfect lighting, bones, etc, etc.

I have one and love it...but I don't leave the house with it to go deer hunting...smallest I'll use is a .45cal/128grn ball and even then I know going in that I have strict built in restrictions and only carry it if I know I'm sitting on a specific stand overlooking a trail/ditch crossing at a close 25 yards.

My .02 cents...

[foxriver50]

Point taken.
I never even looked into what grn. the PRBs would be for 40.
I agree that wouldt be a good idea.
Gess Il just have ta have a few more guns lyin around here then

[n5lyc]

OOOPPPSSS!

i missed that part in the first post.

"Id like to build a rifle"

Ian

[bwhoffman]

I think that you would really enjoy a .40, but not for deer.
I have been shooting one for 4 years now. Very accurate.
I usually score well on paper and perform great on trail walks.
If I were to go deer tipping, I would take the .50 or something bigger perhaps.

This past weekend, on a trail walk with mixed targets of steel and sugar candy items, the steel plate hanging targets barely moved from being hit by the .40. The pard next to me with the .54,    definetely moved the steel.

For me, I would be wanting a bit more energy going into my animal, for a more qiuck and humane kill.

my $0.02

[forrest]

Mostly wondering if 40. is enough for deer.  Its leagle in my state ta use, but is it just as good as a 50. or close.
Id like to build a rifle this winter but couldnt make up my mind ta do a rifle for small game or deer.  ahh :P then it came to me.
What you guys think

        Foxriver50:
      Let me tell you a story,  I have a 50cal Flinter first two years I took a doe each bang flops head shots, 3rd year was out with my dad had a 12pt about 280-250 lbs tried, heart, lung ball apparently hit a heavy rib and deflected lost trail, I'm now trying to save for my dream Rifle A 58 Hawken full stock flinter with a 42 in 1 1/4 tapering to 1in with a slow twist.  A 58 comes in at 277 grn. but I may go for a 62 insted

[Hanshi]

I have a .40 and really like it for a number of reasons.  But I guess I'll have to be the contrary one in this discussion.  The .40 is a good all around rifle.  What most folks don't realize is that the .40 churns up about the same energy as a .41 mag revolver!  I've killed several deer with my .41 mag., all one shot kills.  I think the .40 will do fine on deer if you keep your shots, say, not over 50 - 60 yards and don't try stem to stern shots.  Also stay away from shoulder bones; I do that even with my .45!  The .40 is a great squirrel to deer rifle.

[hank-aye]

An OLD injun friend of ma Great Gdaddy (back up in Maine), said he never used nuttin biggern a .22 fer MOOSE. Asked him (I were only 9 at the time), why he didn't use sometin bigger. Said he didn't NEED anythin bigger. Asked him how he did it.
His answer was;

"Paddle out beside the Moose while him swimnin (hard ta paddle a canoe on land), stick the muzzle in his ear, pull trigger, tow moose to shore".

But... yea, If the smokeless types can use a .308 or a .22-250 (in some states), ta bring one down then it all boils down to shot placement an yer ability ta be sneaky. 

[roundball]

I have a 50cal Flinter first two years I took a doe each bang flops head shots, 3rd year was out with my dad had a 12pt about 280-250 lbs tried, heart, lung ball apparently hit a heavy rib and deflected lost trail, I'm now trying to save for my dream Rifle A 58 Hawken full stock flinter with a 42 in 1 1/4 tapering to 1in with a slow twist.  A 58 comes in at 277 grn. but I may go for a 62 insted

When I hunt small game I use small game calibers and smoothbores;
When I go big game hunting I use big game calibers and loads.


For what its worth, I've hunted PRBs out of both the .58cal and the .62cal...and in the case of the .62cal, boith out of smoothbores and a rifled .62cal.

After a few year of alternating them, I saw no performance benefit on whitetails provided by the .62cal over the .58cal, and had better velocity & trajectory out of the .58cal.

As I began trimming back a couple decades accumulation of muzzleloaders this year, and knowing that Whitetails are the largest game I'll ever be shooting I settled on only one big bore for big game...sold the .62 & .58cal Hawken rifles and had an Early Virginia built in .58cal.

PS:
One of the side benefits of having a .58cal...particularly if you like to shoot 50 shot range sessions almost every weekend...is that 9/16" marbles shoot as good as Hornadys at 25 yards, and they only cost .01 cents each.
;)

[William]

Mostly wondering if 40. is enough for deer.  Its leagle in my state ta use, but is it just as good as a 50. or close.
Id like to build a rifle this winter but couldnt make up my mind ta do a rifle for small game or deer.  ahh :P then it came to me.
What you guys think

The .40 is enough for deer at limited range, but it simply cannot match or come close to the .50 in terms of delivering energy downrange farther than 50 yards.  For small game and target shooting I think the .40 is a good choice, but for deer size critters I think it will be too limiting, plus you will not be able to hunt them with it outside of your state.  You can always hunt small game with a larger caliber, but not vice-versa.

[FrankG]

In Oregon .40 is smallest for deer, bear and antelope while .50 is smallest for elk. I wouldnt want to tick off a bear with a peashooter !!

[hank-aye]

Back on track... me that is


Ran across this page...

          <http://home.insightbb.com/~bspen/math.html>

and I also found that in each States Rules & Reg.s fer huntin, they will TELL you what you may or mayNOT use.
Examlpe, here in Utah, the deer are Muleys, an we also got Elk, Moose, And some thick hided sheep (don't go there).
so DWR (Dept. of Wildlife Resourses) Proclamation sez;

       <http://wildlife.utah.gov/guidebooks/2009_biggame/2009_biggame.pdf>

They specify what is a minimum ball/ conical wt. so by that they are inferring a min. cal. My read...
so I then go to a page like above.
Then I know and you will as well, so you can have some idea of what ya need as opposed to what ya got, what it'll do, and where ta go from there.

hankaye