Mowery .36 Squirrel Rifle

[ramblin man]

I bought six muzzleloaders from a man today. This Mowery was in the mix. In almost 35 years of shooting and smithing this is only the third one thats come in my shop. This is a Mowery .36 Squirrel Rifle produced by Mowery Gun Works in Onley, Texas in the 1970's. This is an Ethan Allen design, marketed in the mid 1800's by Allen and Thurber. It has a 28", 13/16 oct., cut rifled, 1 in 66 twist barrel. The lock is internal and the entire gun has only 5 moving parts. The hardware is browned, and the stock curly maple. Unusual to find one and this one is in excellent condition The only bad words I ever heard about the Mowery rifles was that on the brass reciever models the u shaped main spring rested on the reciever and tended to weaken quickly. They are supposed to be shooters, we will see. Thought you might want a look at this one.

 

[asbrown]

:grin: Nice lookin rifle. I have a Mowery .45 in brass and your right about the mainspring. Mine is weak and needs to be retempered. Also I've had to reinforce the base ofd the reciever where the spring rests with a brass plate. You should be very happy with the way it shoots. Mine is a tack driver. If not for the inconsistant ignition (weak spring) I'd compete with it. Oddly it seems overbored because I use a .451 ball with pillow ticking or a .454 with .010 patch. Both shoot great with 70gr. 3f. Congrats on your purchase. Let me know if youd be interested in buying mine. :thumbsup:

 

[ramblin man]

Deer Creek Products has replacement main springs that are temered harder. The problem with the spring resting on the brass reciever isnt going away, but seems like you have that covered. Thanks for looking! RamblinMan

 

[earl jernigan]

My best shootin buddy has that same gun in .32 calibur. He is on his third spring, having the same problems discussed above. The chamber is of very good design as it will not fowl by repeated shooting, like sum small caliburs will. After we did the last spring change we fired over 100 shots without swabing. It likes 20 grains of Goex FFF, spit lubed cotton t-shirt patch, and .310 balls. That load will carry out 100 yards, but ya have to mind the wind will drift that lite ball.

HOSS

 

[ramblin man]

Shot this one this morning. It shoots MOA a 50 yds off a bench with .350 RB .010 patch and 40 gr fffg Triple Seven. And what you said about the wind at 100 yds! Really nicely made and shoots good. Sure is fun!! RamblinMan

 

[ryoung14]

A guy I worked with had one; don't know the caliber. He claimed it was gain-twist rifled.

 

[dave weier]

I have a brass framed one that I've owned for 35 years and it shoots fantastically. It's also the most well balanced rifle I've ever had.

 

[ramblin man]

Dont know if Mowery used a gain twist or not. The info I can find says the barrels are '1 in 66 cut rifled each groove cut individually using as many as 20 passes'. I can find no info on how deep the rifling is, but from years of dropping little lights into muzzleloader barrels, they are as deep as any I've ever seen. RamblinMan

 

[F.G. Ford]

I've had three Mowrey rifles.
All were steel framed actions. One was a .45 cal. kit rifle, just like the pictured here.
This Mowrey was one of the finest shooting guns that I have ever had.
When I purchased it, it was in kit form, which I later completed.
Foolishly, I parted with all of them.
Good luck with yours!
Best regards
Old Ford

 

[Sinner]

Nice rifle! I've always admired the looks of the mowery rifle, but have not seen one in person yet. Congrats on a great find! Enjoy! :hatsoff:

 

[D Sanders]

I own one in a .54 cal. Great shooter, just too hard to clean. Mine doesn't have a gain twist. I think 1 in 70 inches if my memory is correct. :hmm:

HH 60

 

[heck]

Having been born in Olney, I toured the Mowery factory back in the mid-70's. Always had a soft spot for Mowery's. Lost my first Mowery, a .45 carbine, on a divorce. Currently have two Mowerys, a .50 caliber rifle and a .58 Texas carbine, both are brass frames.

 

[kenhulme]

Loved the one I had in .45 too. A real tack-driver. And the company was great to work with too. Lost mine in a divorce too. Sure wish I had it. Today I'd want the .32 or .36 though...

 

[Rifleman1776]

Thanks for showing that. They were interesting curiosities in the 70s. For reasons I don't remember I wouldn't sell them in my shop and never owned one.

 

[D Sanders]

As stated in a previous post, I own a Mowery in a .54 CAL. I see others know of this firearm being manufactured in Olney Texas. Mine is manufactured in Waldron Indiana. I bought mine brand new in 1992. When did they change locations or was there more than one plant? And when did they stop production of this fine muzzle loader? :idunno:

HH 60