BLACK POWDER
A handloaded .40-65 cartridge, loaded with a short Brooks bullet.
TODAY’S .40-CALIBER CARTRIDGES
Variants of yesteryear's .40-65 Winchester enjoying a 'new life' in black powder rifle competitions. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT
T
hese days the old .4065 Winchester is really enjoying a “new life” as a cartridge for single-shot rifles used in black powder cartridge rifle (BPCR) competition. One place to see such rifles in action is on the black powder silhouette ranges, where targets are placed between 200 and 500 meters. That’s where the .40-65 really seems to enjoy itself and you can find them in number, right along with the guns in .4570 caliber, as well as other .40s. The .40-65 Winchester began as a cartridge for the Model 1886 repeater. Back then it used a 260-grain bullet over 65 grains of black powder fuel and it was regarded as a fine hunting cartridge for medium-sized game such as deer and black bear. Today it is commonly loaded with bullets weighing 400 grains or slightly more,
with those bullets protruding from the case in a length that would never function through the action of the old ’86, and used in the single-shot rifles. Those single-shots can and do include the 1885 High Wall, the ’74 Sharps, and rebuilt rolling block rifles. We really should start any conversation about .40-caliber rifles with the old .38-40 Winchester. That shoots a bullet of .401-inch diameter, so maybe it should have been called the .40-40. The cowboy action shooters have taken a real liking to the .38-40, which means that a whole lot of repro rifles and revolvers, including some third-generation Colts, are available in this caliber again. Someday we might take a closer look at the .38-40 and talk about loads for it, but for now let’s concentrate on the longer .40-caliber cartridges.
WE’LL BEGIN WITH a cartridge that isn’t too much longer than the .38-40, the little .40-50 Sharps Bottleneck. I know
a couple of silhouette shooters who use the .40-50s loaded with rather heavy bullets sticking out of those short 1 11/16-inch cases. This combination makes for some very comfortable shooting, which makes concentration for the shot easier to maintain. The same can be said about the .40-50 Sharps Straight, which was introduced sometime later but it did not actually replace the .40-50 BN. Today’s versions of the .40-50s use barrels with a groove diameter of .408 inch, whereas in the old days they had groove diameters of .403 to .406, so any loading comments I might have about these and other .40s now will refer to the larger size. Brass for the .40-50 BN can be made from .45-70 cases, while the best cases to use for the .40-50 SS are the old .30-40 Krag. Formed brass for these two calibers can be found at Buffalo Arms Company, but check to see if it is in stock. New rifles are available for the .40-50 americanshootingjournal.com 97
