I just got back from a weekend deer hunt on a friend's ranch in west Texas. Both my host and Gunner wanted me to shoot my 40-70 Sharps as I had never taken an animal with a 40 caliber rifle. I was able to get a shot at a decent 10 point buck at 131 yards, and the 40-70 put a 385 grain round nosed paper patched bullet through and through the buck on a high shoulder shot. 69 grains of KIK 2f pushed the bullet to 1285 fps, and I was frankly surprised at how loud the sound of the bullet hitting the deer was. The deer went down RIGHT NOW, and if I had reservations about using the 40-70 or the 40-65 on game prior to this, I will tell you that the forty caliber rifles with the right bullet will definitely get the job done.
Amazing how a high shoulder shot knocks em down isn't it. It hits and or shocks the spine. Even with my tiny 300/221 and 900 fps bullets.
