Killing a deer with my .40

[Eric Krewson]

I have killed a deer with every muzzloader I own except for my .40s, I have two of them, one Tn. rifle I built and a genuine Bogle rifle a great friend gave me. Although not a vintage Bogle rifle it was made by my friend Joe Bogle, a 5th great grandson to the first Joseph Bogle gunmaker in about 1810 and is a dead ringer for the original.

My Bogle rifle;



My Tn. rifle;



Although my friend has killed a pile of deer with a patched round ball out of his .40, I have always felt the .40 ball is just a little light for deer. Of course, any ball in the right spot is lethal. My experience with small diameter patched balls is the deer dies but runs a way before they do, I like short blood trails.

My Tn. rifle has a Green Mountain barrel with a 1 in 48 twist, the Bogle rifle has a 1 in 70 twist. One of Joe's friends has the same barrel on his gun that I have and shoots a 38/40 conical pistol bullet with great accuracy and plenty deer killing power. The same load in my rifle produces 5" groups at 50 yards and not what I want for deer hunting. These bullets weigh 180 gr, a .40 ball weighs around 90 gr.

I have tried several other conical styles in my rifle but didn't get great results. Joe let me borrow the mold for the 38/40 bullets, I cast a bunch of them yesterday.

I have seen the incredible long-range accuracy on you tube by Idaho Lewis using paper patched bullets so that is what I am trying next. After a little research on how to make paper patched bullets, I have made a few; I will give them a try when the next cool front moves through; it is 90 degrees and muggy here now.

[JW_Halverson]

Things I think work in favor of the shooter: 1) bullet placement, nuff said 2) enough energy to pass through and enough to get the projectile to "upset" and expand 3) a deer that doesn't know you are there and is unpressured.

My standard load for my .50's has been 70 grains FFg and a patched roundball. That's really an underpowered load according to many folks that are supposed to be very knowledgeable. I dunno if they are the sort of folks that are making 200 yard shots, but that ain't me. A majority of the deer I have shot have been at 40 yards or less. I got one at 8 yards, Pappy's "sweet spot" for arrowing them!

I'm not a great shot, so I've worked at getting close, being patient, and shootin' when their head is down. None have run far and I consider that a blessing since I really suck at tracking!

Eric, I have a feeling you have enough woodswalker experience in you to be a bit ghostly in the woods, so I know you can catch a deer unawares. I think your .40 ball with a moderately stiff load will certainly pay the freight. After all, .40 and even .36 were common calibers for the longhunters in the Middle Ground.