Anyone shoot a .32 ??

[Micah Clark]

I just finished a 32 in a 44 inch Rice barrel 1-48 Chambers lock. I have been shooting 30 grains of 3F with a .20 oiled patch and a .310 ball. It will shoot one ragged hole at 25 yards and the last time out I shot at least 30 times and never cleaned it. I love it. In contrast I build a Colrain 50 cal flinter and I have to swab that thing every third shot. Yes I have tried many loads. Go figure.

Thank you very helpful. That's my setup too . Chambers Siler Lock, 1:48 and a 42 or 44 inch barrel, can't recall for sure off hand.

 

[Grimord]

Try 15 grains of 3f for a light load. In my Pennsylvania gun with 41" barrel, I get one hole groups at 25 yds, and about 3/4 groups at 35. After that the ball drops really fast. This is my go to squirrel load.

 

[bones92]

I have a Pedersoli Frontier in .32 I've shot some .310" with about 30gr FFFg, but don't recall the patch thickness.

I bought a bunch of Hornady .315" buck shot, as I got a good deal on it. But I haven't had a chance to shoot it, yet. Guessing a .010" patch might be sufficient.

 

[Zonie]

Based on a couple of Pedersoli rifles in an old Dixie catalog, they use either a .005 or .007 deep groove rifling in their .32's so, a .010 thick patch might work quite well.

Usually, I advise people to use a thicker patch than a .010" but that is because many barrels rifled for shooting round balls have .010 or deeper rifling grooves.

The patch must be thicker than the grooves if it is to seal things up properly.

 

[garra]

I have a 32 made in the 1850's, the bore is .337 with the lands sitting at .366 according the casting I did. I ended up shooting a .323 ball with .015 patch. Heavy lil' darling, checks in at 11#

 

[hanshi]

Mac, the Rice RB barrels have .016' deep rifling. It takes a thick patch to fill those grooves and that's why I went to a patch measuring from .022" to .024". Happily, this thicker patch worked just fine in my other square cut bores as well as my two Rice RB barrels. A thick patch makes for a snug load but not at all too tight for a wooden rifle rod. I was rewarded with higher velocity and gilt edge accuracy.

 

[John V.]

Today for the first time ever with my M/L club. I shot a fellow members custom built (by him) .32 flint with a GM barrel. Man that round is small compared to my .50 cal. I asked him if he had to swab the barrel more with a small caliber VS a larger caliber? He indicated he always swabs regardless. What do you all say? Does one have to swab more with a smaller caliber like a .32 or .36 or even .40?

 

[BrownBear]

I asked him if he had to swab the barrel more with a small caliber VS a larger caliber? He indicated he always swabs regardless. What do you all say? Does one have to swab more with a smaller caliber like a .32 or .36 or even .40?

Probably depends a lot on climate, patch/ball fit, lube and swabbing methods.

I kept working at it and after switching to a grease lube (TOW's mink tallow), I went from swabbing every couple of shots in my 30 and 32 cals to swabbing every 10 shots.

Shot #10 loads just as easy and is just as accurate, so I could certainly go further. I do it every 10 shots as a routine. My loading blocks in those calibers hold 10 shots, so I just swab after I've emptied a block and am moving on to the next.

We get lots of shooting in years with high #'s of snowshoe hare- 30 or 40 shots in a morning if you want to pack and dress so many hares. And of course if you can hit that many! :grin: Swabbing between shots so many times in a day would take all the fun out of it for me, so I went on a serious hunt for load combos that did away with sucking on cleaning patches all the time.

Match accuracy? I doubt I'm getting it, and I don't care. I'm shooting minute of rabbit head as far as I can see to shoot, so that's plenty good.

If you're a range shooter, swab away. But if you're a hunter getting lots of shots, I bet you start improving your own load, too.

 

[biliff]

What do you all say? Does one have to swab more with a smaller caliber like a .32 or .36 or even .40?

Punching paper or trail walks, I use spit for lube. Don't have to swab at all for any caliber shooting 25+ shots.

Hunting is a different animal, use olive oil for lube there, but since big game hunting is a one shot deal, swabbing is irrelevant. Small game with a .32 involves maybe 5 or 6 shots over a morning and I will swab every third shot or so.

 

[hanshi]

Interesting topic. At the range I lube with Hoppes #9 Plus BP lube, but in the deer woods I lube with Mink Oil from TOW. If I continue shooting with mink oil swabbing becomes necessary every few shots but not every shot. At the range I almost never swab and accuracy never changes.

In my experience a tight load will not foul nearly as much as a looser one because each loading pushes down the previous shots fouling. For this reason, my .36, .32 and .40 keep loading and shooting easily especially when I use Hoppes.

IMHO small bores DO NOT foul any worse or more often than large bores; at least that has been my experience. I would also think a .005" larger ball would also help. I use patching that measures from .022" to .024" in all guns.

 

[mooman76]

I have to swab more or accuracy goes down hill quick after 3 shots. Others say they don't so it really depends on allot of other factors and your load technique. You just gotta try and see.

 

[hanshi]

If you don't want to swab after 3 or 4 shots, use a tight load and a good liquid lube. Then each time you seat a prb it will push fouling down to the breech; this leaves you with only one shots worth of fouling each time. I do use mink oil in the deer woods in case I don't fire the rifle.

 

[Dane]

Just like any other caliber.... a snug load, and a good liquid lube, and you can shoot all day without a cleaning patch.

 

[hanshi]

:thumbsup:

 

[40calFlintlock]

After a long experimental trial period, I've developed the perfect load using .032 blue jean material with Crisco, 35gr fffg powder for the charge, ffffg powder in the pan, and a swaged .315 round ball. It is a tight fit, but looking at the collected patches, there is no blow-by from the charge.

With this load, with my rifle benched, shooting at 25yds, I can cover 3 shots with a dime.

My flintlock was built by Randy Buchanan. It has a 42" X 7/8" barrel and is lightening fast.

 

[rushlake1]

I have a new .32 cal rifle with a Rice 1:48 twist and a 42 inch barrel.

Anyone shoot this same barrel ?

!

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Nephew just built Jim Kiblers squirrel rifle kit..
it has a 44" rice rr rifling in 32 cal.I believe its a 1-48 twist?

20 th. pre oiled patch.. 30 gr. 3f goex..

go with a thicker patch and see what falls.
He was swabbing between shots due to crud ring near breach area.

I have 2 .32 cal. rifles one 25" bbl 1-30 twist another 42" bbl 1-40 twist both flat bottom rifling.. both require swabbing to clover leaf.
both zeroed in at 40 yards with 30 gr. 3f Goex.
40 yrds is my max for head shots(aging eyes)

 

[Jamie from Alberta]

I have a Pedersoli Frontier in .32 I've shot some .310" with about 30gr FFFg, but don't recall the patch thickness.

I bought a bunch of Hornady .315" buck shot, as I got a good deal on it. But I haven't had a chance to shoot it, yet. Guessing a .010" patch might be sufficient.

I have the same one. Same load too minus the Hornady rb,I use cast Lee .310