Flintlock .40 squirrel hunters

[.36Rooster]

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.

 

[olskool]

a lite charge of 30gr. will all but tear a squirrel in half. i shoot them with mine but do head shots.

 

[hanshi]

I've owned a nice .40 for a long time but never hunted with it. A bit large for squirrel? Yes, but that doesn't rule it out. My small tree critters have always been dropped with a .32 or .36, and they excel on small game. With a .40 all shots need to be at the head/neck area even with very light loads. Mid-body hits might be okay, you'll just have to see. Test the loads at 25 yards, that's the average range for shots in the squirrel woods. If, say, 15 grns is accurate then go for it. 30 grains is very accurate at that distance in my rifle but the velocity average is 1370 fps, which is a bit much.

 

[sawyer04]

Shot 40 caliber for squirrels for over 50 years. Head shot,

 

[CMHouchins]

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to acquiring a 32 or 36 for squirrel and rabbit...... hadn’t considered 40......

 

[Bassdog1]

I have shot squirrel the last few years with 32, 36 and 40 and head shots with all three are your best bet. Find a charge that gives you good accuracy out to 35 yards and practice a lot. I use a 15 grain charge in a 32 and 25 in a 36 and 40 and all are very good squirrel guns with the 32 being my personal favorite. I have higher power charges for all three that are also accurate at further ranges but since squirrels are my favorite game I stick with the light ones.

 

[.36Rooster]

I dont know guys. I guess the problem is I want a .40 cal flintlock but will NEED a squirrel gun. Lol. Maybe my best bet for when I switch over from percussion will be a .36 and a .40 can just come later. Well, damn.

 

[CMHouchins]

I’m still in a quandary between 32 and 36

 

[.36Rooster]

I’m still in a quandary between 32 and 36

I have killed a lot of squirrels with a .36 caliber pistol and am working on correcting some guys ill workmanship on a .36 percussion rifle. Neither of which are relevant on a thread for flintlocks. Lol. I will tell you this much though, if you choose a .36 flintlock with a fast twist of rifling, you can get good accuracy with ultralight powder charges and not destroy meat on ribcage shots. Very comparible to a .22 The slower the twist of your rifling, the hotter the load to get good groups though. So be careful about that.

 

[CMHouchins]

Good to know thank you

 

[gonpce]

Been using a 32 for years. Love it

 

[BP Addict]

I had been looking for a 40 for a while. Most if not all barrel makers have a 1-48 twist for that caliber.

 

[jfahlingsr]

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.

My son, best friend and I all hunted squirrels with .40s. Took head shots and were very successful (& had more fun than a man should have following a feist and reloading and priming running from tree to tree). 30 grains would print at 25 yda, deer load was 70. I've built several .36s lately but my son wants a 46" John/ Elisha Bull and wants it in 40.

 

[olskool]

my 40 SMR the squirrel was grazed across the back with a 30gr. charge. dead center he would have been torn up. but get the 40 you will love it!

 

[.36Rooster]

That is a beautiful gun. Reminds me of hunting red squirrels with a .22 mag I liked. I could make it work, but I was never really happy, and I passed up a lot of shots with it and Eventually traded the gun for a .22 lr. The mag was just barely too hot.

I suspect settling on the .40 would put me into the same ballpark. If it was legal for deer in south dakota it would make a lot of sense because I could do both with one rifle.

 

[.36Rooster]

I may just get a .32 or .36 build and save the .40 idea for a couple years later.

 

[hanshi]

For many years the .32 was my go-to squirrel getter. Then I got a .36 flint SMR and found 20 grns of 3F made a great combo. Anything larger requires head shots unless you like hamburger. But regardless of caliber head shots make the most sense.

 

[martin9]

I've gotten excellent 20-30 yard accuracy with 15 grains of 3f in several 40s. The best was a Green mountain with 2 colerains following closely. all 3 were 1-48. From reading similar questions I think a lot of folks never even try that light a charge. I used my .45 a couple mornings this year and killed 4 squirrels. This barrel stacks em' all the way out to 40 yards with only 20 grains of 3f. 1 head shot and 3 body shots...very little damage. Speed causes damage not the diameter of the bullet.

I build my own guns and am a constant tinkerer. I've got loads for all my guns that run a wide gambit. For example in my .62 Jaeger I have a 40 grains of 3f charge that requires a thin overshot card and a .020 patch. Prints one big hole at 50 yards. 1-66" twist barrel. My main hunting load is 100 grains of 2f with a mink oil lubed .023 thick ticking patch. I also play with bigger charges just for fun ringing gongs...up to 160 grains of 2F.

My point with all this is if you want a .40 get a .40, shoot and experiment til it gives you the performance you want

 

[Loyalist Dave]

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

Do you shoot 30 squirrels a year with modern guns?

The limit here is 6..., and the possession limit is 12, so that would be "limiting out" five days, and having to eat 6 of them prior to going out again.
OR, 30 to 40 days of hunting in my are and getting one squirrel each time..., but next year likely no squirrels as none left to breed...

We rarely even SEE 6 squirrels in a full day of squirrel hunting, and a good day is more than a brace, where I live.

I've had ONE day where I was able to see and shoot 6 squirrels, and that was with a SxS caplock shotgun.

So yes I have a .40. Yes I hunt squirrel with them, as well as with my trade gun.

Oh Well, I don't fit your criteria.... guess you'll need to ask somebody else.

LD

 

[.36Rooster]

I do shoot that many a year. 30-40, which I actually consider a little low.

When I was a teenager, and had the luxury and privilege to live in the hickory/walnut riverbottoms along the patoka river, it was more like 50-70. My senior year of high school, I brought in a box of 59 squirrel tails. And had so much meat saved up in the freezer, that we cooked several pounds in a crock pot, until meat fell off the bone, pulled and separated it, and then put it back in with barbecue sauce and made a mean batch of pulled-squirrel barbecue.
I'd say those days are long gone. Lol. I don't have that kind of time.

But I never considered a Saturday morning in August/sept successful unless I had my limit. And thank god I was a deer hunter. Might have wiped out the squirrels if I didn't pick up my bow and leave them alone from oct-to dec.

All were fox squirrels with the occasional gray, as those were rare in the area. Open sights too.