40-65 advice for a newbie

[saz]

Here is the situation. I have finally talked my Dad into taking Grandpa's 1895 Marlin outta the mothballs and do something with it. It is a 40-65 and has been checked out by a gunsmith and he says it is fine to shoot. Dont worry, this rifle has seen its better days, but when you cycle the action it feels like it is on buttered bearings. Anyways, I shoot a lot of muzzleloaders and have lots of 2f and 3f Goex on hand, but I have never loaded any bp cartriges. I am going to slug the barrel to figure out what size of bullet to use, but need a little of help on where to start- how heavy, what molds have worked for others in the past etc. The goal is to plink with it for a while, and hunt with it a few times.

I never knew my grandpa, he passed away in 77 (I was 3 months old) and in a funny way this would be a small way of doing something for him. Dad said that rifle had claimed MANY whitetails and a few elk in its day and I would like to return it to its former duties. I have some brass already, but like I said I have never loaded bp cartirdges. Any advice would be greatly appretiated. I have lots of time to research and figure things out, due to me being in afganistan again. This is one thing I want to get a jump on as soon as I get home. Thank you.

Jimmy

[fourarmed]

saz, the original bullet weight for the .40-65 was about 260 grains, so that is where I would start. You will definitely want to slug the bore so that you know what diameter bullet is needed. There is lots of information available about loading cartridges with BP, so I won't say anything more than make sure the powder charge fills the case to the base of the bullet and a little more, so that the bullet compresses the charge. Good luck and good hunting - here and there.

[Boz330]

Jimmy,
First off thanks for your service.
The 40s from the 1800s are typically .403 to.406 and the new replica stuff is typically .408, so slug that barrel. As Fourarmed pointed out the twist rate on those rifles favors a 240 to 260gr boolit. You will want big lube grooves to carry lots of lube for the BP. Basically you want to fill up the case to the base of the boolit and a little compression. Doing that you can't over load it with 2F or 3F. More or less compression is just one of the things you can do to improve accuracy, along with different primers, powder, OAL to a point, neck tension, and different lubes. Follow this section and search the back posts and you will find evrything you ever wanted to know.
The 40-65 is a perfect deer rifle with BP loads. I have taken several with my Highwall and am building a Roller in that caliber just for deer hunting.
Good luck and keep your head down!:drinks:

Bob

[missionary5155]

Greetings Trooper Saz
Stay low and and come home in one piece.
Mike in Peru Armor 71-74

[Jon K]

saz,

Just happen to have a Marlin 1881 40-60(same as 1895 40-65)

Slug the barrel and chamber to see what you have, there can be a big difference from one to another. Try to size boolit to fit your gun. If you can get close a soft 30:1 boolit will bump up.

The original boolit was the Lyman 403169. It will cast in the 240-260 range. Mine (new 1/2009) drops 246.9 gr(30:1)@.406. I lapped this mould to .408. My barrel is .402 bore/.4105 groove.

Now for the load....Swiss 1 1/2F 60gr(about .100 compression)/.060 Walters veggie wad/Rem 9 1/2 primer =1510 fps and shoots great!! I shot it out to 200m with great accuracy.

Wipe or blow tube after about 5 shots, it will foul and affect accuracy, but I can't say how long you can go without wiping or blowing........never kept track, I noticed it for sure though.

Have Fun Shooting,
Jon

[leadman]

If you aren't set on using black powder you can use Accurate Arms 5744.

I have a replica Remington Rolling Block so my loads are somewhat different than what you might want to use.

One of my loads is with a Cast Performance 265 gr. cast gas-checked boolit. These are sized to .410" so may be too large for your bore.