Recomendations, squirrel rifle.

[berickson]

i have had a pedersoli 38 pennsylvania flinter for years. it's actually a 36 with a thick patch. i find it quite accurate but the lock is a little small (but elegant). i think they use a larger lock (& therefore larger flint) on the new ones. i'll be replacing it soon with a true 36 cal that is being shipped as we speak.
right now my main squirrel gun is a 28 gauge trade gun that i load with #6 shot. our squirrels eat pine nuts up here and don't taste as good as the ones that eat acorns etc. in other parts of the great white north.

 

stacks, welcome to the forum! I used to live not far from ya, up near Russellville. After 3 years in NW, Wyoming I came back to near Rolla. Gotta love the Ozarks!...(but they ain't the Rockies).

Anyway, go for it! I use a "poor boy" in 36, flint and it's my favorite rifle.

Vic

 

[flintlockmdj]

Stacks, A pow-boy by description is a very plain rifle with only the absolute necessary parts. That would be lock, stock, barrel, trigger, triggerguard, underlugs, sights, two upper ramrod thimbles, ramrod and the necessary bolts screws and pins to hold everything together. A butplate, toe plate, sideplate, entry thimble, and nose cap are not at all necessary to make a shootable gun and can be added later if you so desire.

For squirrel hunting I would go with a good double set trigger as an aide to accuracy. Also I would drill a hole, the same size as the pins used to hold the thimbles in, about 1/2 inch back from the muzzle and glue in a toothpick or a sliver of the stock that has been rounded off to fit the hole. This will keep the stock from splitting down the grain of the wood and can be finished with the rest of the stock and not show.

I don't profess to know it all but if I can be of any help let me know. :winking:

 

[cowpoke1955]

HI Mike,
I have a .45 cal. Blue Ridge flinter and a friend of mine has a .36 cal. Hatfield. When laid side by side my Blue Ridge (Frontier) was nothing more than a poor boy Hatfield. Except for more brass, a maple stock and Hatfield stamped on the barrel, they were indentical. The part that made my friend sick was he paid twice as much for his Hatfield. A fancy gun doesn't shoot any better.

 

[jimeckersley]

Your question was about a .32 flinter but you may want to at least consider another direction. The .40 caliber when loaded down makes a mighty fine small game rifle, does little damage and is very accurate. The balls are easier to deal with, especially with cold fingers. You can load it up and use it for larger critters too. You might even be able to make a drop in barrel for a rifle you already own.

 

As I have pointed out before, check your local game laws before using larger caliber rifles on small game--some restrict their use. For example, here in La the .40 is an outlaw caliber--not legal in either small or large game seasons! It is also overkill on squirrels, but each to his own, as my old Pa used to say....My very accurate .40 hangs on the mantle most of the time, although I could use it for targets. To me the .32 is the ideal squirrel rifle--the equivalent of the .22LR to .22Mag depending on loads. The .36 is Ok and better for larger small game, but I sold mine off and do not miss it. The .38 is touted by some but has limited availability. When you get into the .40s you approach deer rifles and overkill for squirrels...

 

[berickson]

white bear: that's interesting re the tooth pick at the front of poor boys . i have a trade rifle so i may do it there.
m.r.: i totally agree with your statements re 36 & small to "large" small game. also comparing to a 22 mag is correct IMHO up to 100 yards, which is pretty much at my level of comfort.
i had a 32 and found wind moved it around. i also chase jack rabbits with my 36 and it gets windy on the prairies.
but for squirrels? as you say ...32 is better (IMHO).. and you can also shoot a 32 buckshot which makes it very inexpensive to shoot.

 

For those of us fortunate enough to live in Missouri, we aren't restricted on what calibers we can use on small game. The only restrictions are during deer and turkey season. If you are a landowner hunting on your own land even then there are no restrictions.

Vic

 

[DrTimboone]

Doug, I have never heard of using a dowel (toothpick) to reinforce the forestock near the muzzle. That sounds like a really clever idea. I have been a little worried about my fowler not having a nose cap to help protect this vulnerable area from splitting.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Several of my guns do not have nose caps and have never split. They're at least thirty years old and well used.

 

[fho]

WV Hillbilly:

The twist is 1 turn in 48. Ed said that the twist was better than a faster twist as a good loads were not as hard to get. With a faster twist (1 in 36) the loads had to be very exact not so with the slower twist.

I have just started to shoot it and am using #3 buckshot (.250). I think that Ed reams his 25's to .256 bore dia. I was using .019 thick patching material with I think mutton tallow or maybe bear grease, not sure. The slower twist will take a little more powder that a faster twist.

Olie

 

[fho]

WV Hillbilly;

I think that Ed rifling is even lands and grooves with round bottom rifling. This is what I call a hole in a hole (bore dia.is one hole and the groove dia. is the other hole). The barrel is a 3/4 x 40 inch long barrel. 42 inch long barrels are too long.

I am just working up a load so cann't say just how much powder to use.

I don't remember the cost of the barrel but I think around $120-130. Ed also makes a 30 caliber barrel (1turn in 48) 3/4 x 42 that should be a good shooter. I have one for my next project. I am going to use .300 buck shot in it when I get it done.

Olie

 

I'm not familiar with the term "Poor-boy", I've only built a kit gun, .50 CVA Hawken, how can a guy go about this endeavor?

Stacks, ya already have a rifle for tree rats. Use yer .50 Hawkens and bark them lil' varmints. No blood and they fall to the ground dead as if ya shot their heads off. :thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

I agree with Cooner, stacks. Use that .50. just reduce your load to about 30 grains, and sight it for 25 yds. Then shoot it at shorter distances to learn where to hold at various ranges, and to learn to estimate those close ranges. Barking means what it sounds. You shoot the tree limb under the squirrels head, so that a strip of bark it kicked up and smacks the squirrel under the chin, killing it by concussion, and knocking it out of the tree. As long as you make sure of your back ground and keep the powder charge low, you don't have to worry about your ball traveling half a mile and coming down on someone's head.

 

[CrackStock]

Nah, the ole trooper needs some new toys!

I like .36 cal rifles or 20 gauge flintlock smoothbores. I know that you mentioned not being interesed in scatterguns, but ML smoothbores are a whole new game and allow you to hunt anything. You might consider them.

As to poor boys, these are very plain guns designed and intended for maximum accuracy with minimum cost. They are perfect for the no frills hunter/shooter.

One of our fellow members has a good site:[url] http://www.midiowa.com/toadhallrifleshop/southern_album.htm[/url]

I like simple guns, but I always go for a buttplate. I just cannot go for the plain wood.

CS

PS, As of today, I also have 21 years. :hatsoff:

 

[kopfjaeger]

I have two flintlock squirrel rifles a .32 and a .40 caliber. Both are full stock, iron furniture, with 42 inch barrels. I love hunting with both of them. Hunting with modern guns lost its zeal with me about twenty-three years ago.

Now I only hunt with flintlocks and traditional archery.

In Pennsylvania you can use any caliber for small game, but the round ball has to be .44 to hunt big game.

 

[GWM]

Pennsylvania does have a caliber restriction for small game hunting. Page 21 of the hunting digest. " Muzzleloading rifles & handguns .40caliber or less."

 

[Billnpatti]

Take a look at this:
http://www.sittingfoxmuzzleloaders...oy Rifle/Southern Mountain Poor Boy Rifle.htm

If the whole url doesn't show up, just go to www.sittingfoxmuzzleloaders.com and look at their southern mountain poorboy rifle kits

 

[Dean2]

Sitting Fox makes some nice looking stuff at very reasonable prices. They even look pretty PC in the pictures. Are they as correct up close and are they as well built on the finished ones as they appear to be? Also, any experience with their Siler flints, I am thinking I may get a finished left hand from them.

 

[kopfjaeger]

Pennsylvania does have a caliber restriction for small game hunting. Page 21 of the hunting digest. " Muzzleloading rifles & handguns .40caliber or less."

GWM, Thanks for letting me know about .40 caliber or less for small game. I'll have to look it up.