.45 cal squirrel hunting

[luieb45]

I only have a .45 cal rifle.I was thinking about taking it squirrel hunting. Would this work? I tried a powder charge of about 35-40 grains and it shot accurately at about 20 yards.
Would a .45 cal damage a squirrel too much?

 

[musketman]

Sure it will work, aim for the head since most people do not eat the head meat.

Also keep the charge down on the lower end of the scale in case you hit the body, this will keep meat damage to a minimum.

The last method is a hunting technique called barking, this is achieved by you shooting the branch out from under the squirrel and causing it to fall to its death.

 

[jbwilliams3]

I shoot squirrels w/ my .45. I’ll use even less than the load you listed, sometimes, something like 25 grs.

If you’re using 3f, I would definitely say 40 grains is too much powder if you’re shooting a squirrel at thirty yards (and you happen to hit other than directly in the head). That is, if you intend to get a meal out of it.

 

[Dave K]

If you can shoot the can accurately, it should be no problem at all. Use a rest and aim for the head. If you are good enough to bark a squirrel, then you are able to use a more humane method and aim for the head. JMHO, your's may vary.

 

[luieb45]

I only use pyrodex because there is no place within 100 miles that sells real blackpowder.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Try reducing your load down to 22 grains of 3Fg. The size of the ball is going to be destructive, so take head shots, unless you like to boil the heads for soups. The lighter load will be close to subsonic, making it less noisy, so that it disturbs the squirrels less, leaving other squirrels in the tree available to you to shoot.

 

[luieb45]

why does it have to be 22 grains exactly? Why not 25 or 20?

 

[Vaino]

In my .45 I've used 30 grs 3f for over 30 yrs. and it's proven to be extremely accurate. 99.9% of the squirrels taken were head hits...I never body hit squirrels, even when I was using a .22. Nice thing about aiming for the head....dead or miss......Fred

 

[paulvallandigham]

It doesn't. In fact, depending on the temperature, and humidity you may have to add or subtract a grain or two of powder to keep your zero. That is, if you are shooting small targets. Most shooters can not hold that close shooting off-hand, so it doesn't matter. But if you are shooting from a rest, it does make a difference.

Next time you are near Friendship, or one of the big BP shooting venues, visit the target line, and pay attention to the notebooks the shooters maintain on every shot they take. When they are not shooting, ask them to show you their books, and ask what, and why they keep certain information in them all the time, and consult their books before every shoot.

No, I don't keep book on my shots. That would spoil the fun I have shooting, and make it serious work. But I know several serious target shooters( who can shoot my pants off all day long!) who do keep those detailed records, and who do shoot remarkable groups with their rifles.

At one time we had a MLing Accuracy thread on this forum, but Claude closed it. Too many members were picking fights with the target shooters, about all the detailed stuff they do, instead of just " Using an undersized ball and a thicker patch" in their rifles. The Thread became a battle ground, rather than a place where serious information could be presented and discussed.

Since Claude closed that Thread, these topics creep into the threads under " General Muzzleloading", ML Hunting, and sometimes under the Smoothbore, Flintlock, and Percussion threads.

I only mention these things to widen the understanding of younger shooters, who do not yet understand the full capabilities of their guns, and Black Powder. The powder charges I have mentioned are simply loads that work for a number of shooters using those caliber rifles, and shooting round balls.

Note that I did not make references to loads shooting FFg powder. This was by design, as the whole purpose of reducing powder charges for short range target shooting, is to save money. To get the same velocities using 2Fg powder you would have to increase these charges by 10-15%, which would use MORE powder. Since the cost of a pound of powder is the same, whether you buy 3Fg or 2Fg, you are burning up more money using 2Fg powder for light loads. Why would you do that???

Make no mistake about the power of these "light loads". They are perfectly adequate for shooting squirrels, rabbits and other small game at short ranges. Its the weight of the .45, .50, .54, &.58 ball that is going to destroy enough tissue on these thin skinned animals to kill them instantly with any kind of hit in the head, neck, or upper body. :hatsoff:

 

[roundball]

why does it have to be 22 grains exactly? Why not 25 or 20?

If its anything like past replies to questions similar to yours, its his theory based upon some WWII battleship 16" gun barrel volume formula...

 

[roundball]

I only have a .45 cal rifle.I was thinking about taking it squirrel hunting. Would this work? I tried a powder charge of about 35-40 grains and it shot accurately at about 20 yards.
Would a .45 cal damage a squirrel too much?

My opinion and experiences only...the .45cal is fine for squirrels...but actually, most any caliber is fine for squirrels...I've also shot them with 325grn .62cal cast balls.

By the same token most any powder charge will work fine. I've shot them with 30grns Goex 3F in my .45cal Flintlock, thinking that I needed to throttle back the powder charge...and it is neat to use little light charges...but absolutely not necessary at all.

Head shots are fine if you can get them and obviously powder charge is not an issue there;

Center body shots destroy no edible meat, but depending on how you skin them can cause the skin to pull apart in the middle...but powder charge is still really not an issue in that region as a pass-through is a pass-through;

Finally, truth be known, the largest and simplest meaty part of a squirrel that a lot of people bother with is just the hind quarters in which case you can shoot the squirrel anywhere forward of that area...and again, powder charge is not an issue at all as everything forward is discarded;

So, light powder charges might be appealing from the point of view of lower recoil, less noise, better economy, etc...but the bottom line is you could use your deer hunting load and be none the worse off as far as the squirrel is concerned...

 

[Vaino]

If'n you don't end up w/ 6 squirrel parts per squirrel, in my hunting circle, that's the sign of a poor shot and besides, gut shot squirrels take lousy pics. :grin: ....Fred

 

[luieb45]

My squirrel load is actually more accurate than my deer load at close range.

 

[longcruise]

I only have a .45 cal rifle.I was thinking about taking it squirrel hunting. Would this work? I tried a powder charge of about 35-40 grains and it shot accurately at about 20 yards.
Would a .45 cal damage a squirrel too much?

You can use any load that shoots accurately enough in any caliber including the 4 and 6 bore guns. Like was said, you gotta hit em in the head! Even a very light charge in your .45 will wreck small game with a body hit.

 

[Stumpkiller]

why does it have to be 22 grains exactly? Why not 25 or 20?

If its anything like past replies to questions similar to yours, its his theory based upon some WWII battleship 16" gun barrel volume formula...

:haha:

We toss around powder weights like we knew them, when in fact, most are based on volume measurements we just assume to be accurate.

In my .54 Renegade I have a squirrel load of 42 gr FFg. That's because a spent .45 Colt case holds 42 gr of FFg (by actual measurement on an RCBS scale), and that's what I use as a measure. :wink:

Hits point-of-aim at 25 yards to my sights set for 1-1/2" high at 50 yards with my 84 gr deer hunting load ( which is from a bone measure that I also weighed out to determine).

I weighed all of the "given" calibrations on all of my measures and NONE of them throw either FFg or FFFg to the listed quantities. I have one (made in italy) that is off 25%!!!

My two T/C measures were 95% accurate with FFg. Luckily, it's not all that critical with black powder.

 

[jethro224]

I've killed squirrels with 20 grains in a .32 up to 70 grains in a .50 caliber.

Take the others advice and shoot 'em in the head. Even the little .32 wrecks a lotta squirrel otherwise.
I barked one with my .50 once. Won't do that again. Bark flew. Squirrel fell. Squirrel ran off into the brush draggin' his insides behind him. Had to track him down and finish him off. :barf:
If you decide to try barking 'em, aim under the head, don't aim under the body. :2

 

[kherring]

I tried that once myself with my .50 cal flint Lancaster. I skinned the side of the tree cutting a nice furrow. The bark flew and the squirrel exploded like a grenade went off under him. Wont try that again.

 

LuieB,

Here's an old pic from last year. Head shots shouldnt be a problem, if you know your rifle. In the west, at elevation, the squirrels are rather small. you can body shoot them and just take the hind legs, where all the meat is -- no gutting, quick and easy meat gathering. But if they be bigger, and meatier, then do this:

65 gr.3F, .440 RB at about 30 yds.

:v

 

[PGTMG]

I only have a .45 cal rifle.I was thinking about taking it squirrel hunting. Would this work?

Yes indeed they don't wear vests :grin:

 

[Trench]

I only have a .45 cal rifle.I was thinking about taking it squirrel hunting. Would this work? I tried a powder charge of about 35-40 grains and it shot accurately at about 20 yards.
Would a .45 cal damage a squirrel too much?

Sounds like you developed a great squirrel load for that .433 ball. As long as you have a load that shoots dead on at 20-25 yards you should be good to go to take head shots on those squirrels. Being able to shoot a squirrel head-sized target at 25 yards off-hand is great practice for those larger animals later in the season.