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How long you been building? Ive only been at it four years myself.
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Everyone seems to be wowed by my mediocre talent. There are men here who are better at it than me. And surely, we are all upstarts compared to our long departed 18th century gunmaking masters. A good bit of my own metal parts I do make myself though
tungstentony
32 Cal
I'm fairly ignorant being new to muzzle loading but I have a question:
I use .375" round ball in my 1851 navy 36 very effectively. I use .490 round ball with .010 patch in my hawkin 50. I would love to use .375 round ball without a patch in a 36 caliber rifle for small game. Is this a realistic expectation?
I use .375" round ball in my 1851 navy 36 very effectively. I use .490 round ball with .010 patch in my hawkin 50. I would love to use .375 round ball without a patch in a 36 caliber rifle for small game. Is this a realistic expectation?
No, because in your revolver the ball is oversized so that when fired it is forced by swaging onto the grooves within your revolver barrel, thus imparting the spin for accuracy.
With the rifle, the ball is undersized, and the patch takes up the gap between the ball and the rifling in the bore, which then allows the ball to spin from the rifling. So for the rifle you'd need a .350 ball and a .010 patch.
LD
I've used mine to shoot goats,foxes,crows,and rabbits. I started off using maxi balls but soon went to PRB. I found the maxi balls on goats had plenty of penetration but not enough expansion. They tended to run up to 50m after a good chest shot. My rifle likes to be run hard,I believe my PRB loads are over 2000fps. They kill very well.
Attachments
Very good, straight and forward answer, LD.
After squirrel hunting with a .32 a lot over the last year, I have often thought that a .36 might be the better choice. But for only two reasons.
The first one being that the little.32 round ball can be a bit small to deal with in the woods. This is especially true with cold hands and/or if one has any kind of arthritis. However, I have also found that by using a loading block, this is an enormous help. Easy to load it up while sitting at home at a table.
The second reason is the diameter of the ram rod. I would think that if one had a rifle with a long barrel, that a .36 caliber ram rod would be more sturdy.
Other than those two reasons, I really like the little.32 for squirrels and rabbits but I would not discount a .36 in the least.
The first one being that the little.32 round ball can be a bit small to deal with in the woods. This is especially true with cold hands and/or if one has any kind of arthritis. However, I have also found that by using a loading block, this is an enormous help. Easy to load it up while sitting at home at a table.
The second reason is the diameter of the ram rod. I would think that if one had a rifle with a long barrel, that a .36 caliber ram rod would be more sturdy.
Other than those two reasons, I really like the little.32 for squirrels and rabbits but I would not discount a .36 in the least.
Brokennock
Cannon
10 years later, the op gets his answers.......
Yes, sure is an old thread. I noticed the age of the thread right away. But since another new comer to muzzleloaders asked a question and rejuvenated the thread, figured it be worth while to try to help anyway.
I just wish I knew about this site back in 2013. I probably would have a lot more muzzleloaders by now. But again, I’d probably be divorced from doing so.
smoothshooter
50 Cal.
Might be cheaper to get a whole new gun, maybe a semi-custom.
My ignorance is showing, I come from the world of unmentionables where .50 is unheard of for hunting and is thought of more as an anti-vehicle round in military circles. Is PRB and BP that drastically underpowered?
I'm not experienced with .36, but it is larger than 00 buckshot which is generally regarded as effective up to 40 yards. As I said , I'm not experienced with shooting large game with a muzzleloader, the one shot I took with a .50 was high ( I assume, couldn't see the front sight at dusk). The deer I have taken were with .30 caliber unmentionables, and blew through ribs and organs, and put the other side. If it were legal for me to hunt deer with .36 PRB (.45 is the minimum legal here) I think I would feel confident enough with a hot load at a close range like that.
My .36 likes 35 grn. 3F Swiss, .350 swagged RB and .018 ticking lubed with TOTW Mink oil. Like Ed, I like my .32 cap locks, but the 36 gives me a bit more range. All my shooting is for the end result of hunting. But yeah, if a yote came within 50 yards, and a clear shot, id try and let the air out of his lungs.
That post was from 2013.Here's the rebuild story. Was a great project that shows what one can do to a production rifle.
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/pedersoli-frontier-rebuild-underway.98605/
Rock Home Isle
58 Cal.
The patience of some people
