.32 and .36 ??

[Todd Rickard]

You fellows who shoot .32 and .36 caliber guns. What do you think of them and what are the pros and cons of the mini calibers?
I'm thinking of building a rifle from a parts kit and have always wanted to own a small bore rifle.
What are the limitations of these rifles?

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hello Fusil!
I have had a .36 cal for most of my 40 yrs. of black powder shooting.Love it, wouldn't part with it.
When you think of cartridge rifles in .32 to .35 cal. you think medium to large bore, not so with muzzleloading.
When you look at a .32 to .35 bullet you have substantial sectional density, with the elongated bullet.
Not so with a round ball.
A .32 or .36 muzzleloader is cheap to shoot, less powder, less lead, less recoil, somewhat less report, less meat destruction, less penetration, but also less energy, limiting long distance shooting, all desireable for small game hunting, short distance target shooting.
But most of all, introduces the demand to have more than one rifle. Which is the overall plan of it all...RIGHT!
.50,.54,.58,.60,.75 are all great, but a little overkill for squirrels, rabbits, gophers and the like.
I really hope this helps you in your decision to get more guns.
Best Regards
Old Ford

 

[MSW]

Fusil-

I am given to understand that the ballistics of the .36 are roughly similar to those of a rimfire .22LR.

Pretty good for squirrel and other small critters, but highly problematic for anything bigger.

They are sustantially less costly to shoot, and if you keep the targets in the thirty yard range, you'll have a great time.

good luck

msw

 

[Gemoke]

I`ve had my 36 for 10 years now and love it. I keep
my shooting under 50yds and use it for small game. I have done some target shooting at 100 yds with it and it works just fine on paper targets.And the round balls are cheap. you can buy them from Hornaday in 5lbs boxs. Build one you`ll love it.

 

[Birddog6]

I have owned 4 32's, 3 36's, 2 38's and 6 40 cals. The 40 cal is definately Top Dog in all ways........ Next would be the .36 for me, but the 40 will shoot flatter for distance & less wind variance & more Umph at the 100 target. You can shoot it right at 2000 fps if desired, or down to 15 grains of powder if ya want, great for game as small as a squirrel & up to groundhogs & coyotes at 100 yard max. Exceptional caliber. The 38 in a Goodoien barrel is great also & I have 2 of them & another one to build.

All are really cheap to shoot & some 3F Swiss in Awesome in all of them !! :thumbsup:

PS: And before somone throws in the B.S. about meat damage........ :grin: ...... there is no dif in a squirrel Head Shot be it a 40 cal or a 32 cal. as dead is dead........

 

[DanChamberlain]

I would like to suggest that the .36 in a long rifle is in no way comparable to the .22lr ballistically. The only comparison might be bullet velocity. Striking power is significantly greater and the rifle is applicable for much larger game than small game.

The calculator can tell you things, that just do not add up in the field.

Where allowable, turkey are easily within its limits. Javalina as well. I've take a red fox with a .36 cap and ball revolver at 10 yards and had full penetration through the chest.

The .36 is probably the smallest bore I would use to consider anything larger than a fat coon, but the .36 will easily take large coyote within its intended range limitations.

Keep in mind, a good .36 is darn accurate! Beer bottle cap groups at 30 yards are normal.

Dan

 

[boar]

When I didn't have a 32 the 36 was shoot alot, after I got 32 Squirrel CVA, It don't get out much any more. I use 20grs in 32 and 40grs in 36. I found the 32 would kill the groundhogs and squirrels just as good as 36. Dilly

 

[Gemoke]

birddog6 your are right about the 40 I had one and much to my regret I sold it, they are great small caliber guns

 

[Slamfire]

If you get one with a fast twist, and can load it down to 10 or 12 grains of powder, it'll match a .22 LR for energy, load it up to 20 or 25 grains and you'll exceed the .22 WMR. :v

 

[Rifleball36]

I have a .32 cal. ,.36 cal. and just finished a .40cal. I have had the .32and .36 for abouit 25 years. The .36 is the one I like best. It is a flint and shoots better thsn I can see to shoot. I have found in my small cal. guns they foul bad, so you have to wipe between each shot. They are cheep to shoot, no recoil. I think that the .40 cal. will be a accurate gun. It has a 1" x 32" GM barrel with Lyman peep sights on it for old eyes. Haven't shot it yet. Got to cast some balls and shoot it when the weather gets a little better. :winking:

 

[jethro224]

I have a .32 Crockett and it's all kindsa fun! I use 20 grains of 3f and would agree that it shoots every bit as hard as a .22mag if not a little bit more whammy on the receiving end. Really knocks the stuffin' out of a squirrels head! :thumbsup:
I have not shot any critters other than big fox squirrels but would shoot a coyote at 30 yards if I got the chance. The gun shoots good enough to put one in his ear at that range and I don't doubt that he would drop.
Someone else here on the Forum recently took a small/medium hog with a .32, I don't recall who it was.
Just got a .32 Green Mt. barrel fit to a GPR but haven't shot it yet. If it groups as good as the Crockett, it'll be my new favorite squirrel gun!
Get ya a smallbore rifle. You won't be sorry. If all you're after is squirrels, I'd say the .32 will be perfect. If you want to shoot a lot of coyotes and groundhogs I'd probly get a .36 or .40 cal.
If you got the .32 for squirrels and THEN decided to hunt lots of coyotes etc. then you'd have another reason that you'd HAVE TO buy ANOTHER rifle... :hmm:

 

[MikeChapin]

I have a .36 that I built about 30 years ago. I originally built it to hunt turkey with but never got around to doing that with it. It has a 44" Sharon barrel and was my only flinter for years. I used it a lot in competion and took several aggregates with it. I still use it for any small game.

I wanted a lightweight .32 flinter so last year I built one. It has a Green Mountain 36" 3/4" across the flats. At 25 and 50 yards it is very accurate. I have yet to work up a decent 100 yard load for it but it will keep all on paper at 100 yards even without a decent load.

I don't have problems with fouling in either rifles. I know a lot of people mention fouling problems on their .32s. You may keep that in mind when deciding. Also a 5/16" ramrod just barely fits into a .32 barrel. I ended up using a quarter inch ramin rod with .25 brass for the rifle's ramrod. I use a 1/4" steel rod for a range rod so that's not a problem at the range but for hunting the rifles rod seems a littl flimsy.

 

[Todd Rickard]

Thanks guys! These comments will help me make the decsion. I'm sure I'm convinced to build a kit, and it might as well be in a tiny bore, as I have always wanted one. It's just a matter of when. :thumbsup:
I hadn't given the .40 much thought, but it might be a good choice for me. I know folks hunt hogs with the .40, does anyone hunt deer with it? Seems like there was a min. cal. rule in our hunting regs that stated .40 as min. for deer. I don't see minimums in our regs anymore.
I'm thinking coastal blacktail for myself, rather than our big interior mulies.

 

[cowpoke1955]

I know that several states have a .40 cal. min. I think a .40 would do OK on a black tail, if within the limitations. I feel real comfortable with my .45 cal. Blue Ridge, but never tried a .40.

 

[PaulN/KS]

I know a fella who shoots a .40.very accurate but at the woodswalk clanger targets that small ball don't always ring loud enough for score... :hmm: Now,my .54,never a doubt,if I hit at least...

 

[Heidi 1672]

Just my opinion of course, But I think that .32 cal muzzleloaders are absolutely the most fun of all to shoot. And this is especially so when you get one of those tack drivers that consistently put the ball on the money. Once you have worked up the load that it likes, the accuracy can be awesome. Also I have heard and read here where some people think that the .32 is just a peashooter, but anyone who has really used one knows that by developing loads you can have a rifle that can mimic anything from a .22 short to a .22 magnum and maybe even a little more. I like them.

 

[tg]

"
I hadn't given the .40 much thought, but it might be a good choice for me. I know folks hunt hogs with the .40, does anyone hunt deer with it?"

I use to hunt Oregon Blacktails with a .40 quite often untill I got the smoothbore bug, I have always felt it was best as a sub 50 yd. gun.

The Blacktail in this pic fell to a .395 ball with 60 gr of 3f

 

[cowpoke1955]

California and Alabama both have a .40 cal. min. After seeing TG's pic, I can see why they include the .40's. Great job TG :thumbsup: !