.45 cal, Too big for squirell

[Slamfire]

I am thinking of getting a long rifle for hunting small game and target shooting. Is a .45 too big for squirell, or should I get a .36 or .32? I have a .50 hawkin that I have taken many deer with in the last 18 years. I have taken one squirell with this rifle, but feel it is realy too big!

The most important question was never asked!

How big are the squirrels in your area. You might need the fifty!

There have now been two pages of replies that basically state that you can do what you want to do.

you can justify buying a small bore if you really want too, but remember; you can buy a lot of .50 round balls for the cost of a new .36!

and after practicing on those little bitty rodent heads all fall just imagine how big a deer will look over those hawkin sights!

We don't have attack squirrels in my neighborhood, too many squirrel hunters to let 'em grow that big. I can make a couple of .36 rbs outa one o' them .50s. And a pound of powder lasts a full season, too! :rotf:

 

[bwhoffman]

BOOM! Headshot!

Hit 'em in the head, that way you dont spoil the meat!

Brett

 

[Hoyt]

Oooooo! Ya'll talking about a .40 are giving me goose bumps! Here in Tennessee you can indeed use a .40 to deer hunt with, and I have been leaning in that direction. I'm eyeing a Dixie Cub in 40 cal, and Dixie Gunworks has them on special through the end of the month! I would realy like to try my hand at building a kit, but just don't have the free time to work on one at this point in my life.
What the heck, I may have to sell one of my modern rifles to buy a new black powder rifle! :hmm:
The good thinkg about living next door to the gun works, is that I can go over and shoulder almost any of the guns they sell, and this little gun fits me to a T.

I would go with the 40.

 

[Slake]

we could go on with this for awhile too, eh?

 

[HomeinDixie]

Well, it's a done deal now,I sold my Marlin 17 Mach 2 and I bought a Traditions Crockett in .32 today! Boy I guess that is about the extreme spread in squrill rifles! The first thing I did when I got it home, was to make a hickory ramrod for it. This little rifle seems very well made, I hope it shoots as good as some of the others that have been posted on the forums. The next thing I have done is cut down some .223 rounds, sordered loops on the backs and now have a set of powder measures. Just can't wait to get out to the range and see what she'll do.

 

[Wolfbane]

Well in any case I hope you have fun :hatsoff: I need to head to the range with my .45. It has a fast twist so conicals are in order, but I still need to spend a lot of time with it before i will be able to shoot it at all well.

 

[Roy]

Have fun!

 

[flintlockmdj]

Lets see when the fronteersman wanted deer for supper whatever caliber rifle he had was a deer rifle. If he wanted squirrel it was a squirrel rifle. I said that to say this. If you can only have one rifle (heaven forbid) then use it for whatever you want to hunt, nothing beats shot placement no matter what the target. If I could only have one rifle it would definately be a .45 but here in Georgia a .45 will kill anything that is indigenous to the state.

 

[Toomuch_36]

BOOM! Headshot!

Hit 'em in the head, that way you dont spoil the meat!

Brett

Only problem is,.......NO BRAINS FOR TANNIN' THE HIDE!!! :rotf:
Need to bark 'em. :thumbsup:

Toomuch
...........
Shoot Flint

 

[Toomuch_36]

Then for giggles, throw a .58 into the mix ( I just built a .45 Dickert for my dad's father's day gift and I've got a .58 laying beside it... WOW :bow: ! What a calibre!

I normally shoot a 36 cal.--.355 ball, and my trade gun throws a .648 ball.

Talk about gigantic :blah: :rotf:

Toomuch
............
Shoot Flint

 

[TN.Frank]

Yep, the 40cal is just about the perfect caliber if small to middle size game and an "eatin' size" deer is on the list. By "eatin' size" I mean a deer like a nice doe or legal spike, not some monster 12 point that dresses out in the 250lb range. I'll probably take my 40cal out for deer this fall and my 75cal smoothbore too.
A nice 20ga smoothbore would fill the bill nicely too and you can still used a patched round ball for deer out to 50 yrds or so.