Flintlock .40 squirrel hunters

[.36Rooster]

Dave do you have any pictures of a ribcage shot with your .40?

At this point I'm pretty leery about what happens to the meat on the backbone when you resort to the occasional rib shot, which I occasionally do. When you have a runner pinned, and only have an instant, sometimes that is required. God forbid you damage the back meat.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Just looking to gather information from a few of you flintlock guys:

Am really considering a .40 flintlock as a squirrel rifle in the next year or so, but I have some reserve about this midsized caliber for squirrels.

How many of you guys have done some serious squirrel hunting with one. (30 to 40 squirrels a year).

What were your results? I'm hearing a lot about headshots only, or does just fine with a square broadside shot in middle of ribs, etc.

Just looking to hear a few of you guy's talk about it, who are EXPERIENCED with it.

Also, has any one of you guys im seeking out managed to work out a 10-15 grain load with good squirrel-level accuracy, with say a 1:48 twist barrel? Perhaps with a 1:60 ish even?

Just looking to gather information from real experience. Not just somebody who "killed a couple with a .40 once" and it "did just fine."

Thanks.

I love my little .40 calibre flintlock, I'm having another one made...a Natchez Poor Boy, from TVM. Should have it by about July or August.

If I load the .40 calibre with a conical bullet, it’s legal for deer/antelope sized game In my state. Though I usually use a .50 or .54 calibre for any big game.

For small game, squirrels and rabbits, I actually use heavy denim patching material and use a .375 calibre RB, with 20 grains of 3fffg powder. The gun is very accurate out to 50 yards, my eyes are not what they used to be...so for small game that’s mostly my limit.

At 20 to 25 yards it's either a single ragged hole or shots touching. Any fliers would be my fault.

At 50 yards groups open to cloverleaf patterns...I'm not adverse to taking the occasional 60 yarder.

Squirrel hunts are good around my area, I take them out of heavy cottonwood groves along river bottoms. We don’t have dense squirrel populations, but good hunt-able numbers. Rabbits are more numerous, and given a full day, I can usually take a limit under good conditions. With most shots being 20 to 40 yards, hunting the sage brush plains, draws, coulees and ravines.

As stated above, I love this sweet little calibre so much, that I'm ordering another from TVM.

This sweet little calibre just shines...

 

[.36Rooster]

I love my little .40 calibre flintlock, I'm having another one made...a Natchez Poor Boy, from TVM. Should have it by about July or August.

If I load the .40 calibre with a conical bullet, it’s legal for deer/antelope sized game In my state. Though I usually use a .50 or .54 calibre for any big game.

For small game, squirrels and rabbits, I actually use heavy denim patching material and use a .375 calibre RB, with 20 grains of 3fffg powder. The gun is very accurate out to 50 yards, my eyes are not what they used to be...so for small game that’s mostly my limit.

At 20 to 25 yards it's either a single ragged hole or shots touching. Any fliers would be my fault.

At 50 yards groups open to cloverleaf patterns...I'm not adverse to taking the occasional 60 yarder.

Squirrel hunts are good around my area, I take them out of heavy cottonwood groves along river bottoms. We don’t have dense squirrel populations, but good hunt-able numbers. Rabbits are more numerous, and given a full day, I can usually take a limit under good conditions. With most shots being 20 to 40 yards, hunting the sage brush plains, draws, coulees and ravines.

As stated above, I love this sweet little calibre so much, that I'm ordering another from TVM.

This sweet little calibre just shines...

I want the caliber. Lol. Can't hide that part. But I do NEED a squirrel rifle. How have your rib cage shots been with your .40, rock home isle?

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Realize that when I use my .40 calibre fir small game I'm reducing the ball size to a .375 RB onto top of a mere 20 grains of powder. With that reduction, the load really doesn't generate too much energy, though it is still significantly greater than the diminutive .22 LR. It‘ll make a good sized hole, if you hit the back it will do significant damage.

I would say that if you are really concerned about tissue damage from body shots to small game, you might want to consider the tiny .32 calibre and again a light load. Though even the .32 is more on a par with the .22 Magnum than it is with the .22 LR.

 

[Art Caputo]

My squirrel hunting serves as my favorite means of practicing accurate shooting whether off-hand or rested. I like my 40 cal for few reasons. Firstly, I fumble too much loading PLRB’s smaller then .40 cal.....just me. Secondly, I only take head shots at not much further then 30 yards, and my particular .40 cal SMR has proven to be exceptionally accurate/flat shooting. Lastly, the late season when I do the majority of my squirrel hunting overlaps with the coyote season which I will frequently double up on, and hunt at dawn....a prime time. I can stretch my 40gr/load-.40cal out to longer distances for this work.

 

[Tn poor boy]

I love my little .40 calibre flintlock, I'm having another one made...a Natchez Poor Boy, from TVM. Should have it by about July or August.

If I load the .40 calibre with a conical bullet, it’s legal for deer/antelope sized game In my state. Though I usually use a .50 or .54 calibre for any big game.

For small game, squirrels and rabbits, I actually use heavy denim patching material and use a .375 calibre RB, with 20 grains of 3fffg powder. The gun is very accurate out to 50 yards, my eyes are not what they used to be...so for small game that’s mostly my limit.

At 20 to 25 yards it's either a single ragged hole or shots touching. Any fliers would be my fault.

At 50 yards groups open to cloverleaf patterns...I'm not adverse to taking the occasional 60 yarder.

Squirrel hunts are good around my area, I take them out of heavy cottonwood groves along river bottoms. We don’t have dense squirrel populations, but good hunt-able numbers. Rabbits are more numerous, and given a full day, I can usually take a limit under good conditions. With most shots being 20 to 40 yards, hunting the sage brush plains, draws, coulees and ravines.

As stated above, I love this sweet little calibre so much, that I'm ordering another from TVM.

This sweet little calibre just shines...

When did you order yours 40 tvm i order in oct now they say might be October before I get it

 

[hanshi]

In my native Georgia there were plenty of both fox and gray squirrels in the area where I lived. But just in general, squirrel hunting isn't very popular like it used to be. It hasn't been that far back that a friend and I went squirrel hunting in one of my favorite "deer woods". In short order that morning we got 15 grays between us. Doubt they'd even been hunted in many years.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

When did you order yours 40 tvm i order in oct now they say might be October before I get it

Late December...

 

[tnlonghunter]

I want the caliber. Lol. Can't hide that part. But I do NEED a squirrel rifle. How have your rib cage shots been with your .40, rock home isle?

I'm not the highly experienced flintlock squirrel killer you're asking for, but the last squirrel I shot with my .40 was a rib cage shot at about 30 yards or so. The charge was a little hot - 45g of 3fff. That was because i was loaded for deer at that range - a .40 is the minimum for deer in MD, so I can kill either with that one rifle during the right season. I wouldn't load that hot for juat squirrel. But it basically tore the thing into two pieces.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

When did you order yours 40 tvm i order in oct now they say might be October before I get it

I asked about the estimated completion time period at the time of ordering.