Get Out The Smallbores

[Urban Coyote]

My shooting buddy didn't make it through COVID back in October, he'd just turned 80. I met him shortly after I retired about 8 years ago. I was shooting muzzleloaders 2 days a week but he got me diverted to revolver shooting although I kept my fingers in blackpowder, I'm back almost full-time now.

About the time he converted me I was into shooting a few different smallbore muzzleloaders, mainly .32 and .36 flintlocks.

Last Summer I instructed a young fellow looking to take up hunting deer and elk with a muzzleloader. As a result I dove back into my .50 and .54 guns. Then it hit, the great blackpowder shortage. I'd failed to remind myself of how fast a person can go through a pound of black shooting loads suitable for deer and elk. The powder supply I thought would be easy to replace is rapidly dwindling.

Most of my shooting these days is for personal enjoyment. I haven't hunted with a muzzleloader for years, the modern ML guys have made what once were primative seasons unbearable for me, plus "I don't hike so good no more". I probably could try competition again.

I'm figuring it's time to dig out the smallbores again. They don't consume much powder or lead and they kill paper, clay pigeons along with cans as well as anything.

I might add, I bought some Pyrodex for my percussion guns in an effort to preserve my supply of black but it just ain't working for me, once you go black you'll never go back.

 

[davidmc62]

I agree with all of the above, not being a hunter I prefer target and fun plinking. I have been on the hunt for a small bore for awhile now but the money and "the right price" just aint aligned yet. Oh mannn....

 

[Grenadier1758]

I have a very accurate 36 caliber SMR that I find I am shooting a lot more than my King's musket. I'm glad that that little rifle turned up at a great time for me to add it to my collection of shooting guns.

 

[david w]

I have a very accurate 36 caliber SMR that I find I am shooting a lot more than my King's musket. I'm glad that that little rifle turned up at a great time for me to add it to my collection of shooting guns.

I HAD a very accurate .36 Bedford County rifle with a 40" barrel. I sold it a few years back because of financial problems. I am considering buying a Kibler .36 SMR to get back into squirrel hunting. I'm too old to go deer hunting any more, but I still love shooting my .62 Early Hawkens. It punches big holes in paper!

 

[Kansas Kid]

I started to mainly shoot small bores when powder hit 10 bucks a pound. Still like my large smooth bores but they are like feeding a large dog.

 

[Wildrangeringreen]

honestly anymore, unless you really look for sellers with "cheap" .22RF (I'm not that old, and I remember that stuff being under $0.01/shot lol), the small bore ML guns can now be shot cheaper than rimfire lol (especially if you use paper roll-caps for ignition when plinking). The fact that they're more fun is just icing on the cake . Roll Caps are about $0.002 (even if you double them up, that's only 0.005), 5gr of bought 4F is about $0.02, a cloth patch for a .32 can be $0.002 (paper can be 0.0002 / patch), and 45gr of lead is $0.008 (at a current live price of $1.15/lb). That's $0.035/shot, $3.50/100 shots! Common price of .22LR is $0.08/rd - $8/100 or more (often double that if you can find it) and it's far less versatile.

You can easily carry 10-20 shots worth of patching and balls and caps in a fairly small patch box, and combined with a small pocket flask, that's a lot of rabbits and such in a convenient package; grab your gun and flask and you're good to go hunting.

Another idea is that a small bore gun CAN be loaded up enough for deer, should things go bad, or you find yourself in a bad situation (and you have it with you). Maybe not ideal, or legal in most places, but it beats going hungry. Great Grandpa made a few deer go down back in the 30's with a .22, because the livestock were too valuable (worth more sold than used to feed the family, and as is to be expected - the surviving banks really didn't care that the economy was garbage); I would feel more comfortable with a .32 or .36 muzzleloader. Deer don't care if that bullet is propelled by the holy black or by smokeless, and plenty of people hunt deer with modern handguns.

That's another benefit of having small bores with faster twists, you can really download the powder with a ball to save money for targets and destruction on small game, and load it up with a bullet for larger stuff. You might just want to mark your sights for the different loads (especially if they have folding leaves or adjustment settings).

If you have a .32 or .36 revolver, you can use the same balls/bullets, just punch them through a die to size them down to the right size. McMaster-Carr sells made-to-order spacers, you specify the OD/ID and length and they make it. You would just need to form a "forcing cone" in the spacer then to size the bullet down.

I feel that we can capitalize on the rising costs of shooting and the peoples concerns about "being prepared" to really grow traditional muzzle loading through small bore guns.

I loves me some small-bore ML's!