.40 cal. help?

[flyingstick]

I have a 40 cal flint I hunt with that has a Green MB on it with a 1:48 twist. It's a tac driver with roundballs and takes squirells all day long but my 240 gr boolits won't go past 35 yards without tumbling. I had the mould made by Rapine. It drops boolits 7/8 of an inch long and has a hollow base. It starts at the muzzle tight, but about halfway down it seems to just loosen up. It's legal here to hunt hogs with anything up to a 40 during small game season, but I won't be shooting any hog with a 40 roundball. I've tried loads from 40-70 grains but nothing seems to stableize it. I could use some suggestions.
Thanks,
Don

[Marvin S]

Probalby will never shoot that long of a boolit with a 1in48 twist. Just to slow of a twist.

[bob208]

your twist rate is too slow for that long of a bullet. 1-48 is the right twist for a .40 round ball.

i had luck with the .38-40 bullets cast pure lead and loaded through a false muzzle i mad for my rifle. they shot well at 100 yds. powder was 45gr. 3f. with spg lube.

[mooman76]

What the others said. Also it is normal for a bullet that goes in tight to loosen up half way down. As you push the bullet down it is sizing to the barrel until it fits and then it will go easy. You might try some 40 cal bullets like bob said and see if you can get some to work reasonably well. You probably won't get great results but may get minute of hog. The shorter the bullet, the better you will get it to stablize in that configuration.

[Geraldo]

I've got the same .40 barrel and I love it with PRB. For long boolits, move up to a .45 GM in 1:18" (if you can find it) or 1:28". My .45 1:18" Renegade barrel loves 425gr boolits.

[Boz330]

I had so so luck with a 175gr 38-40 boolit out of my 40. I actually patched the base of the boolit like a gas check because the rifling on my gun was so deep. The biggest problem that I had was unpredictable flyers, maybe 1 out of 10. I don't know if I would worry too much about it on a hog especially if ranges were down around 50 to 75 yds.

Bob

[northmn]

One individual mentioned using a double ball load in a state that required a minimum bullet wieght. They do work up close. One of the painful truisms about muzzle loading firearms is that generally if you need more power you need a bigger bore. You are fighting an uphill battle trying to make a 40 suitable for larger game animals with a round ball twist and rifling. A 54 with a 220 grain round ball would likely work as well as anything, and is considered by many to be an ideal all around big game rifle. 40 cal is the maximum cut off for squirrel rifle matches.

Northmn

[Geraldo]

One of the painful truisms about muzzle loading firearms is that generally if you need more power you need a bigger bore. You are fighting an uphill battle trying to make a 40 suitable for larger game animals with a round ball twist and rifling. A 54 with a 220 grain round ball would likely work as well as anything, and is considered by many to be an ideal all around big game rifle. 40 cal is the maximum cut off for squirrel rifle matches.

Northmn

Very true. Muzzleloaders are like golf clubs, you should have a rack full of them for every purpose. Failing that, I could get by with a .40 and a .58 or .62.

[flyingstick]

Thanks for the information, I was afraid it would be in the twist rate. I do have other more suitable calibers all the way up to .58 and even a 12 ga. double but....the problem is You cannot hunt with anything larger than a 40 cal until regular gun season comes in. Alabama has a very interesting hunting season. You can hunt hogs with anything legal to take squirell with, which is up to a 40 cal and no larger. Which makes your hunting season a month and 1/2 longer if.....you can get your 40 to shoot something that will penetrate a hog. I'll keep experimenting, if I figure something out I'll pass it on,
Thanks again,
Don

[mooman76]

If you are shooting soft lead balls you might want to try WWs. It's harder and will penitrate better because it won't expand as much.

[flyingstick]

Thanks mooman, it does shoot ww rb just as good as soft lead. The gun doesn't seem to know the difference. I wonder how fast you can push a 40 RB? any idea?

[Boz330]

I get over 1700fps out of mine with a RB but it is only a 90gr ball. That looses energy in a hurry. I'd be real leery about trying that on a hog at anything over spitting distance. Give the 38-40 slug a try, at least it is 175gr, almost twice the weight and somewhat ballistically shaped.

Bob

[Hanshi]

Most .40s are easy to jack up way past 2000fps but you don't get that much return on your investment. 60 grains of 3f is my top load for the most part and 30-40 grains is my mainstay. Prb is the ONLY way to go with a .40. Need more power? Follow the advice on this thread and go to a bigger gun.

[orangezuk]

Check out this site, #1 lots of info, #2 I'v used his boolits *WOW* they worked
http://prbullet.com/index.htm

[JeffinNZ]

My 1-48 Colerain barrel shoots these 'minies' paper patched like a house on fire but anything much longer will just not stabilize in that rate of twist.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/JeffinNZ/Shooting%20stuff/DSCN1003.jpg

[curator]

Before I got better equipment I used my .40 caliber cap-lock rifle on hogs too. Soft round balls will do the job with correct shot placement. My Great-Uncle who grew up shooting muzzle loading rifles showed me how to load two balls for greater effect. Depending ou the strength of your rifle, a 2-ball load will give you the added bullet weight and still retain reasonable hunting accuracy. Mine shot both balls within 2 inches at 50 yards with 70 grains of FFFg.

[flyingstick]

Thanks for your help, I came across the Greenhill formula in my 40 cal. quest. Rifle twist are very interesting indeed. I was able to use an arrow insert to shorten up my boolits, ground it down to a point and slip a piece of hollow aluminum over it to make my hollow base. The boolit turned out to be .618 long and weighs 159 gr. I shot it today over 70 gr and it shot great...well, as mooman says "minute of hog" anyway :)