32 caliber T/C Cherokees?

[410-er]

Bought mine about 15yrs ago online for $300.That 1:20 twist is great for light powder charges.Mine likes a .010 red pillow,a .310 RB,and 20grs of FFFg.Killed squirrels out to 40yds.
ATT00012 by t410er, on Flickr
DSCF2166 by t410er, on Flickr
Pictures 342 by t410er, on Flickr

 

[don hepler]

Looks like you have a Cherokee and a Seneca.

I have a 32 Cherokee and a 36 Seneca.

Nice little rifles.

 

[ZUG]

I may have an opportunity to own one of these. Earlier one with double set triggers.

If you've owned one, please tell me about it. Loads, accuracy, etc.

Anybody know the going rate for 32 caliber Cherokees? :hmm:

Thanks much, Skychief

My brother purchased one new in the 80's and he was very disappointed with it. It was a lousy shooter no mater what he tried he could not get it to shoot accurately. My brother is an experienced BP shooter of many years. He even sent it back to the company and they said there was nothing wrong with it. He ended up selling it

 

[don hepler]

Those little 32 bores can be a pain, due to fowling. My 32 has a pitted bore, so I use Black MZ powder, which has almost no fowling.

Fowling is not to big of a problem, in certain size bores and in deeper rifled bores. But...TC's can be a problem, due to shallow rifling. But if you have a small bore, the problem becomes worse.

 

[Captjoel]

Congrat's Skychief on your new acquisition!

I once owned a 45 T\C Cherokee that had a factory peep sight on it.

I made the mistake of letting my sister shoot it and....well, it no longer resides here in my stable.

I have spent a lot of time in search for another and have found a nice Seneca in 45 and one in 36 that I picked up. They are both nice rifles and a hoot to shoot.

This last Sept. at a gun show down state, I did find a very nice 32 caliber Navy Arms "Country Boy" rifle with a mule ear percussion lock.
It was in nearly new condition and shoots GREAT!

That purchase has quelled my quest for a Cherokee.

 

[deandeib]

Just came from some range time with my 32 Cherokee. My measurement looks closer to 1:36 twist, but there could be some error in my measurement. After reducing the charge of 3F from 32g to 21g today, I saw a huge improvement in accuracy. First three at 50 yd came in at 5/8". And, fixed my problem with hammer blowback with a new nipple after recommendations from some forum members. Thanks guys.

 

[Grimord]

I believe the .32 Cherokees were made with a 1:30" twist rate for better accuracy and the ability to shoot conicals.

 

[deandeib]

Yeah, everything I've read so far says 1:30 is correct for this rifle.

 

[deandeib]

Seems that the 50 yd 3 shot 5/8" group I mentioned in post #26 was a fluke. Since then I've tried every patch/ball/charge combo I could think of and still not grouping. Anybody have any insight on 32 Cherokee accuracy other than what's already been stated in this thread?

 

[Jim K]

Seems that the 50 yd 3 shot 5/8" group I mentioned in post #26 was a fluke. Since then I've tried every patch/ball/charge combo I could think of and still not grouping. Anybody have any insight on 32 Cherokee accuracy other than what's already been stated in this thread?

I bought one this summer. I’ve shot 13 squirrels with it this fall and I’m having a ball with it. That being said, I’m still playing around with the load. I’ve shot 15-35 gns and .310&.315 balls with different patch thicknesses. I’m still messing around but keep going back to .315 balls and .010 patch and 20 gns of powder. But not completely satisfied with accuracy. Especially over 25 yds. Jim

 

[deandeib]

I bought one this summer. I’ve shot 13 squirrels with it this fall and I’m having a ball with it. That being said, I’m still playing around with the load. I’ve shot 15-35 gns and .310&.315 balls with different patch thicknesses. I’m still messing around but keep going back to .315 balls and .010 patch and 20 gns of powder. But not completely satisfied with accuracy. Especially over 25 yds. Jim

Jim, what kind of groups are you getting at 50 yd? I'm seeing 6-8" no matter what combo of PRB I've tried. Tomorrow I'm switching to 103g T/C maxi ball and 70g Buffalo Bullet Ball-et.

 

[hunter thompson]

NICE lil guns.shoot as good as you can hold.I have both cherokee and seneca,,the bbls interchange 13/16 and the 32 and 36 were every shot fouling being so small...so i use triple 7 and helped the fouling out some because i like to shoot around 5 balls then wipe out good with moose milk and if it starts to get sticky loading from 1-4 shots ..i spit patch to give-er some.... extra help for the next ball loading.JUST a lil more finicky but what aint?

 

[Jim K]

Jim, what kind of groups are you getting at 50 yd? I'm seeing 6-8" no matter what combo of PRB I've tried. Tomorrow I'm switching to 103g T/C maxi ball and 70g Buffalo Bullet Ball-et.

I haven’t shot further than 40 yds. It’s not good at that distance. It seems once I shoot past 30, it goes south quickly. I’ll be interested in how the maxi ball shoots.

 

[Bassdog1]

Be careful with those maxi ball and buffalo bullet loads keep powder charge on the light side. Many of these little guns have cracks in the stocks due to heavy charges and heavy projectiles. I shoot a 32 Cherokee and 32 Seneca almost exclusively and have had almost no problems with accuracy or fouling issues that others speak of. Both guns shoot 15 Grains of 3F Goex with a .010 patch and a .315 swaged ball very well. At the range I use Hoppes BP lube and just dampen the patch, while hunting I use Tracks Mink Oil and see no difference in accuracy. I sight in at 30 yards and all of my TC small caliber guns will clover leaf as many shots as I care to shoot. When I move to 50 yards my group opens up to about an inch and a half. I use a dot of liquid paper on the front sight to help my failing vision line up the sights better. These are generally very accurate little guns and I am sure you will get it dialed in.

 

[deandeib]

Thanks Bassdog for the feedback. Man, I sure hope so. I am aware of the crack stock issue and that's the last thing I want to see in this beautiful little rifle. But, I do want it to be useful at least out to 50 yds. I'd take an inch and a half but 5, 6, 7 inches, no. I put a little white dot in my front sight as well. I use T/C Natural Lube Bore Butter sparingly and getting what seems to me to be quite a bit of fouling, even with small charges of 3F Goex. Planning on 21g or 27g today with the bullets. I'll let you know what happens. Heading out in about an hour.

Dean

 

[hanshi]

Bore Butter is very lousy patch lube, IMHO. Hoppes and mink oil are all I ever use.

 

[deandeib]

Hmmm. Lousy in that it's not a good lubricant or something to do with fouling, accuracy, other? I'm very interested in following up with this to see if this may be some of my problem with accuracy and fowling. Thanks hanshi

Dean

 

[deandeib]

Finally found a fairly accurate load for my 32 Cherokee. I tried 103g T/C maxi balls with 21 then 27 g 3F with Wonder Lube on the bullets. Both grouped at less than 2" at 50 yd with almost identical POI. Still working in getting PRB to shoot that good but not done trying. Also tried 70g Buffalo Bullet Co ball-et which were no where near grouping. Might go up and down slightly in powder before throwing in the towel on those projectiles. Anybody else see any results with these maxi's or the ball-et in a 32 Cherokee,

 

[hanshi]

My problem with Bore Butter, many years ago, was as a patch lube for round ball. It would leave a gunky mess in the bore making it nearly impossible to reload without wiping the bore. I broke a couple of ramrods trying to get a second prb down the hatch. I later found that a tighter prb fit allowed unlimited shooting with no need to wipe. Just polish the crown where it goes into the bore so patches won't cut or stick when short starting. As an example I load my .45 with either a .440" or .445" ball and a .024" canvas patch. Such a load pushes the fouling from the previous shot down on the powder so there's never more than the fouling of one shot. Hoppes makes prb seating effortless and TOW mink oil almost as easy. This quick crown modification may even help with (I do detest it) bore butter.

 

[deandeib]

Aha, I got it. Makes sense and thanks for the explanation. Great information from real experience. I do get a lot of gunk after even one shot and using several patches after every shot until coming our even reasonably clean. I can't wait to try the Hoppes from Bassdog 1 and I've already ordered some TOW mink oil. Thanks hanshi.

Dean