I put a .40 caliber together a couple months ago. Load development is still ongoing, but I thought I'd share some information.
First off, I did not come up with this idea myself. RB and SW over on Doug's board developed the idea of a .40 caliber smokeless barrel on a Savage action. I think my gun may be the 3rd .40 - but that's just a guess. Dave D. put the deal together with PacNor for a bunch of us to order their barrels.
I took a stock Savage 10ml2 (stainless / synthetic), removed the barrel, and replaced it with a 25" stainless / fluted barrel from PacNor. The barrel came from PacNor threaded for the Savage breech plug.
I had my gunsmith add the third pillar, install a .300 thick Callahan recoil lug, bed the action, and bead blast action and barrel to match.
I topped it with a VX-3 3x10x40 B&C in Talley LWs and headed to try it out.
This gun does not use a sabot. You take a .40 caliber 200 gr SST or 195 gr Barnes and knurl it up a couple thousandths to .402. The beauty of no sabot is that you don't have to wait for the barrel to completely cool between shots. I use W209 primers and (2) dry wonder wads over the powder for each shot.
The loads that I have tried are all single powder loads and I achieved moa or better with each powder. I did discover that H322 and Benchmark eat vent liners in about 16-25 shots. H-4895 and Varget are easier on vent liners, but may be more temp sensitive due to less pressure.
My loads for my .40 (do not use in any other smokeless muzzleloader)-
200 sst / 195 Barnes, W209 primer, and (2) dry wwads with:
H-322 54 gr =2,469 fps
Benchmark 62 gr =2,622 fps avg
H-4895 66gr = 2,661 fps avg
Varget 69 gr = 2,605 avg
This gun is plenty capable of 2,700 fps with a 195/200 gr bullet and maybe 2,800 fps.
Some pictures:
69 grain of Varget, 200 SST, W209 primer, and (2) dry wwads @ 100 yards-
First off, I did not come up with this idea myself. RB and SW over on Doug's board developed the idea of a .40 caliber smokeless barrel on a Savage action. I think my gun may be the 3rd .40 - but that's just a guess. Dave D. put the deal together with PacNor for a bunch of us to order their barrels.
I took a stock Savage 10ml2 (stainless / synthetic), removed the barrel, and replaced it with a 25" stainless / fluted barrel from PacNor. The barrel came from PacNor threaded for the Savage breech plug.
I had my gunsmith add the third pillar, install a .300 thick Callahan recoil lug, bed the action, and bead blast action and barrel to match.
I topped it with a VX-3 3x10x40 B&C in Talley LWs and headed to try it out.
This gun does not use a sabot. You take a .40 caliber 200 gr SST or 195 gr Barnes and knurl it up a couple thousandths to .402. The beauty of no sabot is that you don't have to wait for the barrel to completely cool between shots. I use W209 primers and (2) dry wonder wads over the powder for each shot.
The loads that I have tried are all single powder loads and I achieved moa or better with each powder. I did discover that H322 and Benchmark eat vent liners in about 16-25 shots. H-4895 and Varget are easier on vent liners, but may be more temp sensitive due to less pressure.
My loads for my .40 (do not use in any other smokeless muzzleloader)-
200 sst / 195 Barnes, W209 primer, and (2) dry wwads with:
H-322 54 gr =2,469 fps
Benchmark 62 gr =2,622 fps avg
H-4895 66gr = 2,661 fps avg
Varget 69 gr = 2,605 avg
This gun is plenty capable of 2,700 fps with a 195/200 gr bullet and maybe 2,800 fps.
Some pictures:
69 grain of Varget, 200 SST, W209 primer, and (2) dry wwads @ 100 yards-
mike243
