.32 cal. barrel length

[Dan Baker]

Looking at buying a .32 caliber percussion gun. Narrowed it down to Pedersoli Pennsylvania but unsure about carbine (28") or full length (40") barrel. Would appreciate any advice.
Thanks

 

[ron ward]

if you dig around a little in the traditional forums, you'll find that most "squirrel guns" were fairly long barrelled and that 36" was considered short. most were at least 40" long. with the bore being only .36 and in comparison to the 44-48" barrels of the larger calibers ,some reduction in barrel length could be tollerated because of the reduced charge. still, black powder is mighty slow burning and i think that a 28" barrel would be way too short. some might say that the smaller bore barrels were made that long just because the bigger bore barrels were, but i don't think that's true. the front runners of the early gun builders had things pretty well figured out.

 

[hanshi]

My only .32 is a Traditions Crockett with an , I believe, 32" barrel. Unless you specifically want, say, a 38", 42" or 44" barrel, there's no real advantage to anything much over 36", other than balance.

 

[boar]

My CVA squirrel rifle has a 25 inch barrel. Does a good job. Have killed 19 groundhog with out a miss. I call it my Joe-sneakum gun as I don't shoot long range shots. I use 20grs 3ff&RB. My .36 Seneca has a 27 inch barrel. Dilly

 

[biliff]

Other side of the equation is barrel thickness. A long barrelled .32 can get down right muzzle heavy if the barrel profile is too thick. Not sure what Pedersoli uses but if its more than 7/8" across the flats I'ld go with the shorter barrel.

 

[nkbj]

Thinking about the square inch surface area of a .32 circle versus .36 and .40 circles, I'd go short...unless it was a nice handy very slender barrel. Then I probably couldn't help myself and would go "longer" just for that nice feel that helps me be a better shooter.