Gm54-120

40cal bore is the minimum here for deer and turkey is shotgun only. Small calibers dont have much use other than recreation. A PRB squirrel rifle would be the only exception.

I dont have a 40 and i have or had several of the others already. If there was a 40x357 sabot i would already own one for sure. There are a bunch of 358 rifle bullets that should work if the right sabot existed. Ive never had much luck getting them to shoot in a 45x357.

Ever since Pittman, Parker and Fury have started offering the higher BC/weight 40s, a sabotless 40 and even the 45cal with sabots is far more interesting. It fills a gap between a 45cal and the monster Swinglock 416s. Higher BC than most sabotless 45cals without the need to jump all the way up to full forming a 416.

The old 405Win was a great caliber for deer or elk and its fairly easy to duplicate those ballistics in a ML using BH209. Swap out to a conical and its very similar to a old 40-70 or 40-90. Western lists the old 40-65 WCF at 31gr by weight for a 410gr and 1290fps.

Grouse45

.451 in 1/18 is not a good choice for versatility. But it’s fine for sabotless. 1/20 shines with all bullets.

hunters_life

Not with all of them Grouse45. My smokeless barrel is 1:20 and there are a few bullets it won't shoot worth a spit in the wind.

longbowelk

I got a Pedersoli Missouri River Hawken last year. I shot it a few times with some 440 gr minies. I'm hoping to get back to working up a load. I'd be interested in your load development. Thanks, Alan