Light 38-40 Load for Hunting?

[Speedo66]

I've been shooting my 38-40 reloads out of an original 1873 Winchester at a 25 yard range, and they been pretty acurate.

I went today to a 50 yard range, and surprisingly, they were still pretty accurate, 25 shots into about a 4" group with no flyers.

Most of my hunting shots are 50 yards or less, so it's accurate enough.

The question is are they powerfull enough? They're pretty light loads, 180g round nose flat point soft lead boolits pushed by 4.5g of Trailboss.

Any thoughts?

[Dale53]

Speedo66;
It depends on the velocity and what you are hunting. You don't say if you are hunting rabbits or deer.

At any rate, that load will work for edible small game (rabbits, etc) but is NOT sufficient, in my considered opinion) for anything the size of deer. Hodgdon does not show any data for 38/40 rifle but shows that load in a handgun at less than 700 fps - that is clearly insufficient for deer.

FWIW
Dale53

[NickSS]

The 38-40 with a 180 gr bullet loaded to 12 to 1300 fps is safe in a 73 and will take deer out to 50 yards with good bullet placement. It and the 44-40 are not power houses at original BP velocities but they will kill deer if you place your shot into the lungs, hart or Neck.

[Bret4207]

The 38-40 is a marginal deer round to start with. You can kill the deer, but shot placement and range limitations are vital. A light loaded 38-40 is better as a small game load.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
I shoot 38-40's also. In my 1873 I settled on the lyman 40143 made with lintype. This gets the boolit FAT enough to fill the throat and leaves no leading at all. It weights about 160 grains with this HARD mix. My 73's throat is rather worn.
I tried 5-7 grains of Unique in .5 grain increments and found the 7 grain load to print clover leaves at 25 yards and at 50 yards it shoots a shade over 2". I consider this 7 grain load to be MAX in my 1873 and it may be TOO MUCH in others. That is why the .5 grain incriments.
I would not try to take a deer here in Illinois. I stuck an arrow in a 6 pointer last week that weighed 180 lbs.. and it was only 3 years old. Maybe a spine shot at 25 yards or less.
Now the 1892 Winny & 94 Marlin 38-40's are another story. They have the strength to handle 9-10 grains unique plus a 200 grainer... that would smack a deer out to 50 yards with some authority.
I have not tried any other powders than Unique and BP... I just never get any farther as they take care of my needs in old rifles.

[Speedo66]

Thanks to all for the good advice.

I might just load up a small amount to the higher range for my gun.

Our deer run pretty small, 125 lbs or so.

[Charley]

I've taken a few whitetails out to 75-80 yards with Lyman's 401043, ahead of a casefull (35-36 grains) of FFFg BP. Dead is dead, can't fault the bullet or load. Longest run was 20 yards or so, all hits were middle chest cavity.
Texas whitetails run small where I hunt as well, 100-125 pounds. You should have no problems if you are picky about your shots.

[WARD O]

I love to shoot the old guns too. I am sure that over the years the 38-40 has both killed and wounded lots of game. If you are willing to pass on marginal shots, I am sure that a 180 grain chunk of lead well placed into the lungs, heart, etc of any deer will do the job without the animal going too far.

Don't be afraid to use black powder - it's what that rifle was designed to use! Use soft lead boolits over a slightly compressed load of 3F or 2F and you will have lots of fun.

Ward

[FromTheWoods]

We've shot Blacktails and Muledeer with this load:

.38-40--original Winchester 1873

180 gr. .401 RNFP Oregon Trail Laser Cast
5.6 gr. Titegroup
CCI Large Pistol primer

Very dead deer.

[jlchucker]

As a grade school kid in the mid-1950's I recall that when the local one-roomers closed and those kids trudged to our school in the village, a few used old family 38-40's during deer season. As a 6th or 7th grader I never really paid attention to what models these were, but I do recall a couple of them getting more than one deer with these guns. Of course around our parts it was all woods hunting at close ranges. People used whatever was in the closet, and I never recall anyone who handloaded in our town in those days. If I had one I wouldn't feel undergunned with a 38-40 on whitetails during hunts in the woods and on the edge of swamps. The gun one uses, though, should be right for the kind of hunting one hunts in.