Post by hillbill on Jun 26, 2021 22:15:14 GMT -5
To start, 40 caliber smokeless guns have been around for years, Steve White has one that's been around for close to 20 years?
Doc White of White Rifles tried to sell me on a .40 caliber smoker in the early 90s, he said "shoots flatter with less recoil"
Back then I thought I would be better served with a .45 so I bought one.
Guys from Doug's board built a few 392-400 bore guns a few years back and full formed the 195 Barnes and 200 SST as well as a few other mono bullets, a few 400-408 bores were likely built too?
So, we that are doing the .40 stuff don't claim to be the first by a long shot, what we are doing is exploring a new world of powders and bullets that were not available until Kyle introduced his line of .402 bullets.
A few years back when Kyle asked me what I thought of the idea I told him if he would make the bullets I would build a gun or two and help with R&D and see where it goes.
Until he started making bullets I had no interest at all in a dedicated .40 cal gun, why spend the money on a barrel when I could shoot the 195 Barnes and 200 SST from a sabot in my .45 accurately?
So where this has landed me since April of 2018 is 3- .40 caliber guns, a Rock Creek barreled CVA Apex, the 700 based bolt action gun I call Bolt, and the big gun I refer to as 1760, all serve a different purpose.
I initially started this journey over 3 years ago with a gun I called Anesthesia, a 13.2 twist Rock Creek barreled 700 that shot pretty well but was a little too heavy for a tote around rig and too light for really long range work, I built the Apex from the same batch of barrels as Anesteshia and Kyles big gun to take care of the light hunting stuff, My Boy and Wife have claimed it so I had to build another light gun, it's the one I call Bolt, likely my favorite out of all my .40s.
Kyle had Hankins build him a monster .40 and he currently shoots the 350 Aeromax very accurately as many at the various shoots have witnessed.
Both of us and several others have fired several thousand bullets down range trying to find load combinations that work well in various builds for different purposes.
This is the sole purpose of this forum, to collect and separate .40 caliber info from all the .45 stuff, it gets confusing and hopefully this will be a big help?
So why all the fuss about the .40 caliber? most say they can do anything with their .45 that a .40 can do? Maybe? Maybe not?
For those that have moved in the direction of the .40 we see an advantage or two but there are also disadvantages so those of you thinking about the .40 be forewarned, it ain't easy.
Advantage vs Disadvantage .40 vs .45
There are obvious advantages to the higher BC bullets the .40 brings to the table weight for weight vs the .45 along with lighter recoil if one chooses to use those lighter bullets OR if you use a bullet of the same weight you gain a big advantage in BC with the .40.
If a guy wants to shoot say a 300 grain bullet from both calibers the .40 has a pretty large BC advantage over the .45 with recoil being even.
Many states don't allow a .40? some don't allow a .45? but many more do allow the .45 vs the .40
Advantage goes to the .45
Tried and true info is abundant for the .45 and its just easy to get to shoot well, the .40 on the other hand has little published info and sometimes is a pain in the butt!
Advantage goes again to the .45
Accuracy:
is one inherently more accurate than the other? not that I can tell?
I have seen both calibers shoot super small groups out to 400 yards, I have also seen some pretty small groups @ 1000 from both.
So why the 40?
An example:
I liked the idea initially of shooting a 275 weight range bullet from by break action gun (custom barrel) at 2800 or so and not have it knock my head off but still carry a really good BC, here in Tn .40s are legal so off I went down the .40 break action road.
The .40 Apex turned out really well, it's a great hunting rig, very accurate and the recoil is not bad in a not too heavy package, it's a deer stomper!
I have built several .40 bolt guns, all have shot very well but believe me I have shot a lot of bullets and powder trying to get them to shoot well.
You can go to Pittmanbullets.com as see the advertised BC of both lines of .45 and .40 caliber bullets, I won't list them here, maybe someone else will, it would be a good comparison weight - weight.
If you look at both weights being equal the .40 has a pretty large BC advantage, to me this is the big draw to the .40.
This separate .40 caliber thread will be an ongoing discussion about the findings of the .40 caliber shooters, there are several of us out there and it's time we have a place to collect info and discuss the obstacles and successes of these shooters so those of you interested can make informed decisions if you decide to join us.
The loads we list will NOT BE RECOMMENDED LOADS, keep this in mind, it's sole purpose is to gather information in one spot so those interested can get a good overview of what is happening in the .40 caliber world.
MY ADVICE IS THIS, IF YOU SEE A LOAD THAT INTEREST'S YOU PM THE GENT THAT POSTED IT AND TOGETHER DECIDE IF IT MIGHT WORK FOR YOU IN YOUR BUILD, NEVER ASSUME JUST BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SHOT BY SOMEONE ELSE IT WILL BE SAFE IN YOUR GUN!
