.32 caliber rifle

[Magungo1066]

Hello all I hope all is well. A few days ago a close family friend gifted me a beautiful .32 longrifle out of the blue. He is aging and said he is having trouble holding it up and would rather see it used. Such a meaningful gift from a wonderful family friend. Anyway, I have zero experience with any caliber smaller than .50 in a flintlock rifle. Any tips for these small bores? I already ordered some .310 balls and some pillow ticking. I was having trouble fitting a standard cleaning patch down the bore. Do people usually use smaller/thinner ones for the tiny calibers? Thanks! The squirrels will be in trouble soon.

 

[Grimord]

A .32 flint lock is very economical to shoot. Just be sure to use real black powder for best ignition. Some say the small bores tend to foul more but that has not been the case for me. I have percussion and flint rifles in .32 along with a pistol and have not experienced fouling any more than in bigger bores. I like to use a tight ball and well lubed thin patch in my .32's. Accuracy is usually minute of squirrels head out to about 50 yards if the wind is not blowing much. You won't need much powder to get good accuracy. I can shoot dime sized groups at 25 yards using only 10-15 grains of 3f. For hunting, I generally load with 22 grains of 3f to give me additional range should the need arise.

 

[Sidney Smith]

My .32 likes the thinner Thompson Center lubed patches rather than pillow ticking. I cast my own balls with a. 311 double cavity Lee mold. I use 25 grains of 3fg. I know this gun is more accurate than I am, but I can hit a 50 cent piece size target at 50 yards pretty regularly, and that's right about the Suze of a squirrels walnut.

 

[Absoroka]

I use a .315 ball with pillow ticking that is well lubed. Very accurate out to 50+ yards.

 

[Magungo1066]

I have been using mink oil from Track for patch lube but I am wondering if that will gob up a lot in such a tight bore. I am going to play around.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Choose a very safe ramrod. Hickory that small can be dangerous. I recommend Delrin. Kinda flexy and whippy but won't break and injure you.

 

[BoomStick]

You'll need some range time to find what your gun likes best, but my 32 with a 42 inch barrel likes a .310 ball, .018 patch and 25 get of 3F. As Rifleman1776 says, the ramrod on a 32 is pretty thin. I use a 5/16 stainless rod at the range, and a delrin rod under the barrel for field use. It's whippy, but if you grab it (as you would a hickory rod) 8-10 inches above the muzzle it's not bad, and completely unbreakable. For cleaning I cut 3-inch square patches into 4, or use a 1 1/4 round cleaning patch.

 

[Grimord]

My flint .32 with 42" radius groove 1:48" barrel likes a larger ball. I use Hornady .320 buck shot in a .010 mink oil lubed patch for hunting, and windshield washer fluid at the range. 22-25 grains of 3f is my load for squirrel hunting. No squirrel is safe out to 50 or so yards if I have a rest and the lighting is good. My eyes, on the other hand are another problem, so maybe the squirrels are safer than I thought. My ram rod is fiberglass. Stiffer than delrin. I wax the ram rod and use a muzzle protector to protect the rifling at the muzzle.

 

[Yewbender]

Magungo, no .32 but my smallest rifle is .36 and no issues with 20+ shots with TOTW mink tallow and Frontiers Bear Paws anti-rust and patch lube with bear oil. Thats without wipe’n between shots.

 

[Kansas Jake]

Just one caution. Don’t use a bigger patch designed for larger caliber. They can bunch up around a jag and be hard to load or get stuck. I like something about 3/4” square or in diameter.

I find spit patch works well unless you are loading for hunting and the gun will remain loaded longer.

 

[Col. Batguano]

Choose a very safe ramrod. Hickory that small can be dangerous. I recommend Delrin. Kinda flexy and whippy but won't break and injure you.

That's a very good point! I would stay with a stainless steel range rod as much as I could. Maybe make yourself a brass one and blacken it? Or, the delrin as Rifleman1776 suggested for your field rod. There are also wooden rods with metal cores I've seen discussed here from time to time. I'm not sure if they make them all the way down in size to fit a .32 though.

 

[hanshi]

I've shot both the .32 and .36 a LOT. I no longer use mink oil because I no longer hunt. My favorite lube is Hoppes BP Patch Lube because I shoot tight loads. The load is a .311" ball I cast from a Lee mold. I lube the patches so they are wet but not drippy. The patches are heavy canvas, .024", and I never have to swab the bore during shooting. The tiny bore has no more fouling than larger calibers. In the past with both the .32 & .36 30 grains of Goex gives extreme accuracy of one hole groups at at least 44 yards. But nowadays I shoot 20 grains of 3F Goex in the .36 and 20 grains of 3F Swiss in the .32. With more shooting even better loads?? may be found for both. The .36 has a 3/4" straight barrel but the .32 has a Rice radius groove swamped barrel. The .36 is only 6 lbs & 4 oz and the .32 comes in at 6 lbs & 10 oz.

 

[Magungo1066]

Thanks all! I am excited to work up a load. It will be fun to away and only use a sliver of powder.