.40 rifle scoop ... ?

[RobD]

got one coming and though i've had .32, .36, .45, .50, .54, .58 and .62 flint long guns, never a .40!  well i'm glad i took care of that now!  

i'm figuring on getting both a .390 and .395 mould (lee, for sure) and i've got good patch strips in .010, .012, .015 and .018 to trial.

any other scoop on this bore size flinter?

[prairie dog]

I have a .40 in the works too.  Never had anything smaller than a .50 before.
I have a Lee 390 mold and a box of 395 balls.  Them tree squirrels and bunny jumpers better watch out!

[ross]

I have 3. The pistol is a doulas barreled with lots of run our, it don't shoot. the two rifles shoot very well with .400 balls and .012 ticking. the little 40 can also be a screamer, not just a squirrel popper. Have fun. Ross

[RobD]

I have 3. The pistol is a doulas barreled with lots of run our, it don't shoot. the two rifles shoot very well with .400 balls and .012 ticking. the little 40 can also be a screamer, not just a squirrel popper. Have fun. Ross

thanx.  how is fouling control for ya, and what powder are you using?  (for me it'll be swiss 3f).

[ross]

Fouling is like all my others, it's part and parcel with this game. I use goex fff, .012 ticking, spit or rig(WW II Rust Inhibiting Grease). My starting load for targets is 30 gr. and 60 gr will really make it talk. My one .40 I'm going to give it a go at 200 yds, since it has schuetzen sights.
The pistol needs a .389 ball. Seems all our barrel makers only standardize to themselves. Ross

[Ohio Joe]

Rob, I built myself a .40 cal many years ago. I had Ed Rayl make me a custom barrel (7/8" x 36", 1 in 72 twist, .012 depth groves, round bottom rifling) and this bugger shoots (and I kid you not - 1fg, 2fg, and 3fg Goex) all three equally well and accurate. .018 spit patch w/ .395 ball)...  The guys at the Range I was shooting with could not believe I was able to load eleven in a row using 1fg without swabbing between shots. Granted, I was only shooting 40 grains at a time out of it, but it performed accurately.

I've shot upwards of 70 grains of 3fg out of it, and it still marks accurately... So my forty is what I call an all around rifle I can shoot any powder or load from 40 to 70 grains and get pretty much the same results every time I pull the trigger.

Now that's just my forty and what I wanted to build at the time.

I've never known a person with a .40 that didn't like it.  

[RobD]

good scoop, thank you ross and joe!

the little popper should be at me the end of the coming week, i'll post off some pictures for sure, but these pix from the current owner are a preview ...

[rollingb]

Prettyyyyyyy!  :hey-hey

[Ohio Joe]

Nice! I like it Rob...

Very Nice!

[Hanshi]

You got yourself a beautiful .40.  Mine shoots like a champ with 60 grains of Goex 3F or JBP 3F.  40 grains gives over 1700 fps and great accuracy.  I'm using a .390" ball and .022" ticking patch.  I lube with Hoppes at the range and never have to swab; hunting lube is mink oil.  I'm thinking of getting a Lee .395" mold.

[dbo1966]

Here's my .40.  Rayle barrel.  Killed 2 deer using .390 rb, spit patch, 60gr of Goes 3f.

For 1 hole plinking and squirrel I drop down to 40gr.

Folks can argue one way or the other bout the .40, but for my purposes there ain't nothing better.

Btw, with this Rayle barrel I've shot 12 consecutive shots without wiping. I probably could have gotten 20.  Fouling, in my experience, has not been a problem but after 12 I wasn't getting the cloverleafs I was gettin.