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Thread: .40 S&W Usability for Hunting??

  1. #21
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    Texas by God's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Cash View Post
    180 -200 grain solid flat point cast 16:1 or a bit softer at 1000 fps muzzle. Good for 50 yards. Point of shoulder shot break the neck and/or shoulders.
    Sort of a 38-40 twin. It will kill deer at close range just fine.

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  2. #22
    Boolit Buddy Sam Casey's Avatar
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    Get a nice 41 mag.

  3. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Casey View Post
    Get a nice 41 mag.
    Sam,

    I have other weapons I can hunt with, I just wanted to see the feasibility of using my .40S&W!

    Chris



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  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy Sam Casey's Avatar
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    Understood. No offense intended. In all honesty I have never used a handgun for deer. Most of my hunting done in west requiring longer shots. Old school 270 Win, 264mag, etc. If you can deliver the bullet, I am sure a 40 will work. Good hunting.

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Casey View Post
    Understood. No offense intended. In all honesty I have never used a handgun for deer. Most of my hunting done in west requiring longer shots. Old school 270 Win, 264mag, etc. If you can deliver the bullet, I am sure a 40 will work. Good hunting.
    No offense taken!

    I'm working with limited funds, so can't really go out and buy a new gun. (Being young and married with 2 rugrats makes funds scarce for things that go bang)

    I'd really like to go buy a Glock 20 or Glock (40?) MOS for handgun hunting. A buddy has a Gen4 G20 and I fell in love with 10mm shooting it.
    Chris



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  6. #26
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    A bit longer barrel will only give you 20-40 fps or so more. Probably less than shot-to-shot variation and barrel-to-barrel variation. A new barrel might be faster than you stock one, or not.

    I don't see much point, unless you already own some Longshot in buying some to get about 100 feet more. A hundred isn't much. Getting a thousand feet with a 180 is easy with a good choice of powders.

    You don't say what generation your 23 is, but if it's a gen 2 I would be careful of the chamber support. Gen 3's give better support. So do most aftermarkets. But why spend the money if you don't have to?

    Good luck either way!


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  7. #27
    Boolit Grand Master Outpost75's Avatar
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    The 10mm or .40 S&W in a Ruger Blackhawk convertible revolver is a serious hunting gun. I suppose a .38-40 cylinder would also be a useful add-on, but I sold my .38-40s and just use the .40 S&W now most of the time. Use 5 grains of Bullseye across the board with 180-224 grain bullets in .40 S&W for the Ruger revolver. Absolute Stone Killer! Have seen no need for higher velocity using the 10mm case.

    Velocity is 900+ fps in .40 S&W revolver with the heavier 220-225 grain bullets in 5" barrel with 5 grains of Bullseye. Approximates .45 ACP +P, which I consider quite enough! K.I.S.S. principle.

    Attachment 228539Attachment 228540

    Attachment 228541Attachment 228542

    As FYI, gun used to be .357/9mm convertible, Now is .40 S&W and 10mm convertible. You gain more velocity for the added expansion ratio of the cylinder length and 5" barre than you losew through the cylinder gap. So unless you want to punish yourself with recoil the .40 does it.

    I have a wildcat 10x25R made from necked down .44 Russian brass in shortered .38-40 dies, which has about 8% more powder capacity than the 10mm, but I've been using 5 grains of Bullseye in that one too, and also fooling with black powder because I am a dinosaur...

    Attachment 228543

    If you want to build one of these, John Taylor has my reamers.
    Last edited by Outpost75; 10-09-2018 at 11:29 PM.
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  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Catshooter View Post
    A bit longer barrel will only give you 20-40 fps or so more. Probably less than shot-to-shot variation and barrel-to-barrel variation. A new barrel might be faster than you stock one, or not.

    I don't see much point, unless you already own some Longshot in buying some to get about 100 feet more. A hundred isn't much. Getting a thousand feet with a 180 is easy with a good choice of powders.

    You don't say what generation your 23 is, but if it's a gen 2 I would be careful of the chamber support. Gen 3's give better support. So do most aftermarkets. But why spend the money if you don't have to?

    Good luck either way!


    Cat
    I agree, a longer barrel is not needed. But reloading for an extra 100-150 fps with a proven hunting bullet seems worth it to me.

  9. #29
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    I have defended myself against charging game with the 40s&w it worked but I wouldn’t chose it. It was a G23 as well.
    Last edited by Plate plinker; 10-10-2018 at 08:21 PM.

  10. #30
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    Sorry guys, I thought I put it up in an earlier comment!

    I have a Gen 4 G23.

    So basically, it doesn’t make sense to get a longer barrel, but I should load a little hotter to get an extra 100-150 FPS and use a proven pistol hunting bullet?



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  11. #31
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    I took a deer 2 years ago with a keltec sub2k at 50yds chambered in 40 s&w. Dropped just as good as a 30 30 would have

  12. #32
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    Also a hunter-safety instructor, I agree 101% with this -- well written, and well said!
    geo



    Quote Originally Posted by contender1 View Post
    "Deer have been killed with a .22. I have a friend who killed one with a .380. Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should."

    Quoted for importance.

    I'm a Hunter Safety Instructor. As part of my classes,, I teach Ethics. To be an ethical hunter,, one should strive for a clean, quick kill. I shoot a .40 cal in a revolver in competition. I also own a few 10mm guns,, all in revolvers. I also have a semi-auto in .40 cal. I also handgun hunt almost exclusively. As such,, I match the caliber, gun, AND ammo to the animal I'm planning on hunting. Animals can present difficult shots, and they can be harder to kill.
    So,, I ask people in my classes,,, if you are hunting,,, say whitetail deer,,, and you are not SURE you have the best gun, caliber & ammo to do a clean, quick kill,,, what will you do if a monster, record book buck walks out on you? ESPECIALLY if the angle, distance or whatever is marginal,,, will you be able to NOT shoot because of the limitations you may have?
    I follow that with a simple comment. Make sure you have enough gun to allow for human mistakes.

    Yes,, deer, bear & all kinds of critters have been killed with guns or calibers not NORMALLY used. There was a case of a well known outdoorsman who was guiding some folks fishing in Ak. that had to kill a grizzly with his 9mm handgun. Even he said it was a poor decision to be carrying that gun & caliber that time. He had become complacent towards bear encounters. He was also an experienced shooter. But even he said it wouldn't happen again,, that he'd always carry a better choice after that one very close encounter that COULD have been very bad.

  13. #33
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    I wouldn't try to eak more performance out of a .40 with handloads - the factory loads are pretty much running on nitrous and trying to launch their valves through the hood already. Why heap on top of a load formula that's already got a reputation as a gun-breaker?

    Your choices are basically duty loads that are going to stop after a foot or so of penetration, or some kind of truncated cone/LFN/WFN than will give you a straight-line through-and-through. Both are equally valid notions for killing deer, and as has already been said, the latter versions aren't far off what was coming out of Colts and Winchesters 130 years ago. Not rocket surgery. Treat it like an archery shot (sub-30 yards) and you should be fine if you can routinely hit a soup can at that range.
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  14. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Outpost75 View Post
    The 10mm or .40 S&W in a Ruger Blackhawk convertible revolver is a serious hunting gun. I suppose a .38-40 cylinder would also be a useful add-on, but I sold my .38-40s and just use the .40 S&W now most of the time. Use 5 grains of Bullseye across the board with 180-224 grain bullets in .40 S&W for the Ruger revolver. Absolute Stone Killer! Have seen no need for higher velocity using the 10mm case.

    Velocity is 900+ fps in .40 S&W revolver with the heavier 220-225 grain bullets in 5" barrel with 5 grains of Bullseye. Approximates .45 ACP +P, which I consider quite enough! K.I.S.S. principle.

    Attachment 228539Attachment 228540

    Attachment 228541Attachment 228542

    As FYI, gun used to be .357/9mm convertible, Now is .40 S&W and 10mm convertible. You gain more velocity for the added expansion ratio of the cylinder length and 5" barre than you losew through the cylinder gap. So unless you want to punish yourself with recoil the .40 does it.

    I have a wildcat 10x25R made from necked down .44 Russian brass in shortered .38-40 dies, which has about 8% more powder capacity than the 10mm, but I've been using 5 grains of Bullseye in that one too, and also fooling with black powder because I am a dinosaur...

    Attachment 228543

    If you want to build one of these, John Taylor has my reamers.
    I would love to have a Blackhawk in .40 S&W, I'm already set up to cast and load for it.
    Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.

  15. #35
    Boolit Master bigboredad's Avatar
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    You could always trade your 23 for a 29 that way you can still have a carry gun and if you want a longer barrel you can put it in. The ten is great as you can load light ammo for defense and the hotter stuff for hunting. Either caliber I think you'd be better off shooting a wfn 200gr. Bullet. Have fun in your decision

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  16. #36
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    You can buy 200gr WFN from MBW and from a Gen4 Glock 23 with KKM barrel I can run the at 1150 fps, it's got a wide meplat and should hit pretty hard and it's a great sized package. From a longer barrel it will do better, the guy saying the .40 is already running hot from the factory knows nothing, you can easily run a 180gr JHP to 1300 fps from a Glock 35. As a matter of fact, with a G35 you can usually get within 50-70 fps of a Glock 20 using full tilt 10mm or (similar with G23 vs G29), it's almost like there's no need for 10mm.

    200gr HST and 200gr WFN from Montana Bullet Works
    Last edited by Ruger45Bisley; 02-25-2020 at 12:39 AM.

  17. #37
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    357 mag been gettin it done for a lotta years. The 40 can and do most things the 357 does and with a ton less muzzle blast. Deer are just not that hard to kill humanly if proper hunting values are used. Just like any firearm hunting ... proper shot placement EVERY TIME and in range matched to the cartridge puts meat in the freezer all the time and without needing to chase down wounded game.

  18. #38
    Boolit Grand Master popper's Avatar
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    Before I got into the BO my hog gun was XDm40. 165gr cast FN ~950 fps (just min PF) went all the way through (back to front) of a 150# boar (25 yds), broke front shoulder. 40sw will do the job, my field carry sidearm. Only problem is short sight radius. 25-30 yds is probably max distance. About 1/3 to 1/2 PF of 308W. PF=grains*fps/1000.
    A few yrs ago I was in an elevated box blind, hog hunting with 308W. Buddy radio'd me a doe was under it. I looked out the window and she was big for Tx. Head was about level with the floor. Leaned out the window and watched until she walked off. Could have taken a good shoulder/spine shot with the 40sw if I were a deer hunter. Funny, neither the radio or my getting up and leaning out noise spooked her.
    Last edited by popper; 02-27-2020 at 05:41 PM.
    Whatever!

  19. #39
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    A good load with a 180gr XTP will work just fine as long as the shot is good and doesn't have to go through a shoulder.

    Funny how people have no contention about self-defense against 300lb humans with a 9mm or even a .380, but talk about a deer with half the weight and fat and suddenly a hot .40 S&W is mediocre or unethical.
    "Luck don't live out here. Wolves don't kill the unlucky deer; they kill the weak ones..." Jeremy Renner in Wind River

  20. #40
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    Hahaha. SO TRUE!!!

    I bought a G24 last year when Glock announced the discontinuation of the gen3 Gun’s. (They never extended the generations past 3 on this model)
    I wanted a dedicated long barrel in 357 Sig for hunting.

    I have a G35 I use for competition and didn’t wanna mess with it.
    I have shot the orig barrels few times and it will best many factory 10mm ballistics. I would have ZERO contentions in its use as a short range deer gun where legal!! I have shot Carbine 40’s that equal some heavier 10mm numbers too!!!

    My lil 357 dig is shooting 125’s wall past 1500 FPS from the 6” barrel! Deadly on Coyotes!!

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