Freund- 40-90 vs 44 & 45 calibers

[Sarge]

Received the book, Freund & Bro. Pioneer Gunmakers To The West, for a Christmas present. In a letter to Sharps Rifle Co., Frank orders a 8 pound octagon barrel in 40 caliber:

'We want this barrel for our new breech mechanism as the 40 caliber does much finer shooting than the 44 and 45 caliber. This is our experience and likewise that of our hunters in this section of the country."

In a subsequent letter, he writes about selling many 45 calibers but when put to the test by those who have used the 40 caliber, they complain that the ball travels too slow, shoots too much lead and requires greater elevation with less accuracy in shooting. Those complaints are not of the few, but of many, and too from hunters.

Can anyone elaborate on what their and their hunters experience was that made the 40-90 superior to the 44 and 45 calibers?

Sarge

[Don McDowell]

Having shot a 40-90 a little bit, it's got a lot of velocity with mild recoil. Not sure that the smaller diameter bullet would make up for the "smack" that a good 44 would deliver..
Some folks have called it the 7 mag of the day, and that might be as good of a description as it gets.
Cook swore by the cartridge, there's a 40-90 in the museum at Ekalaka that was used by a hide hunter.

[bobw]

40-90 SBN's are much better than given credit for. The 40-70 was not given credit as a great buffalo round. I think one needs to think about this in the perspective they had 140 years ago. They were trying their damndest to flatten trajectories and really weren't worried about clean one shot kills. The killing power advantage lays clearly with larger dia bullets of 44-50 cal with the additional expansion advantage of soft lead and still adequate penetration. The 40-90 SBN made hitting easier at LR than other cartridges, but like I say they weren't too worried about faster clean kills. It will die sooner or later but moved on to the next buffalo in the herd. We don't think that way today but we don't do stands maximizing how many we could kill either. Like I said perspective makes a difference in the values that are held and used . The 40-70 SBN was a much used round for mid-range and lighter game with a 330gr ppb ,mine holds 77 grs of Fg and shoots this weight fine but I like the 370 gr weight ppb used in the 40-90SBN std factory loads even better. Can't see how 13 grs will make much difference but it is there. If you were buying it today because you you think the 40-90 a better killer of buffalo ,I think you are wrong they weren't but they shot flatter than others BACK then no so much now and 200 yds today is considered a long shot on a buffalo with an iron sighted Sharps for a CLEAN kill. bobw

[Sarge]

Many thanks for the responses and sheds light on all angles, especially the 7mm of the day and the buffalo killing mentality.

Any knowledge or records of anyone campaigning the 40-90 sbn in long range target competition?

Sarge