Small bore questions

[bigted]

Contemplating building a TOW SMR in small bore but have never even shot anything below 45 cal.

Have read that 32's and 36's are kinda finicky in the fouling dept. Are they needy in the patching dept between shots?

My suspected needs for this rifle will be small game, lotza targets and tin cans as well as the most dangerous targets ... the mean and hungry shotgun birdy's (clay pucks). I feel the need for shooting soft accurate fun in the 0-50 yards with small charges to get the most shots per pound and the most ball's per pound.

Guess what my main query is just how much of a pain is a 32 to 40 gonna be?

My 62 shooting patched ball's can go till I get tired of shooting
My 50's and 54's go around 8 to 10 shots before needing to swab them out.
My 58's seem to do very well with minies but prb's are bout like the 50 and 54's.

I find this to be very acceptable so question again ... how different will a small bore be?

 

[Grimord]

I have several .32's and .36's in percussion and flint. Only one of the guns (my GGGGrandfathers .35 caliber perc gun) requires swabbing after every second shot due to a rough bore. All the others generally can go 8-10 shots before I need to swab the bore as seating the ball gets hard with the small diameter ram rod. If you use the right size ball and patch with a good lube you should not have issues loading the small bore guns.

 

[mooman76]

It seems that some people have issues with small calibers and some do not. Don't know why but I am one of those that have small calibers and I have issues with fowling. I would surmise it is mostly due to lube used. Generally I have to swab every 3rd shot of my accuracy goes south quick. Either way I wouldn't let it get in the way of me getting a small caliber and I just consider it a minor issue. Some people swab after each shot anyway.

 

[rchas]

I had a .32 with square bottom rifling that would need swabbing out every 2 or 3 shots. I currently have a
.36 with round bottom rifling that can go 12 or more shots. It's a sample size of two, so make your own conclusions. I do think a lighter, more liquid lube is better on the target range as your basically swabbing the bore with each shot. I only use grease based lubes for hunting.

 

[bigted]

Cool. Great answers. Thanks.

Can the 40's take a .375 ball or a .380 ? I have a bunch of these that fit my 36 cal revolvers.

 

[mooman76]

May not be as accurate, but with a tick patch it could get you by until you get a more correct size.

 

[Grenadier1758]

Cool. Great answers. Thanks.

Can the 40's take a .375 ball or a .380 ? I have a bunch of these that fit my 36 cal revolvers.

The 0.380 would work. Use a thick patch of 0.020" to take up the extra space. At least that will get you a rifle to shoot and you will have to shoot it to decide if it is accurate enough for what you want.

 

[PIGGLOVER]

I'm just getting started with muzzleloaders and put together a crockett kit in 32 for my daughter and I purchased a 36 cal flintlock from a forum member here. We typically shoot 15-20 shots each when we shoot and don't swab either rifle between shots. I do think the 36 is easier to load and clean but that may be more about barrel finish than bore size. Just that little bit bigger ball sure seems a lot easier to fiddle with to me though. We use olive oil lube for the 32 and I use 3:1 lard beeswax lube for the 36. We have tried both in each rifle and could tell no differance.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Have read that 32's and 36's are kinda finicky in the fouling dept. Are they needy in the patching dept between shots?

Don't worry, you'll love it and they're easy to wipe if necessary.

 

[Winchester97]

I shoot a .32 crocket,a .36 smr Rice barrel and a .40 with Green mountain barrel. I can always shoot 30+ shots without swabbing in all 3 with 35g fffg and olive oil lubed patch. If I go up near 50gr. In the .40cal it fouls out within 6-8 shots. I also had a .32 traditions deerhunter that had to be swabbed every few shots or you would get a stuck ball. so I think its a question of bore smoothness/quality, and efficient powder charges.

 

[Zutt-man]

My .40 was built by Garner. It likes .39 balls with real thin patching, but I find 12-15 shots in it needs a cleaning

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I have a Pedersoli Blue Ridge .32 calibre percussion. That gun needs to be swabbed after every other shot.

I have a Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle .32 calibre flintlock. I can shoot this gun all day and never have to swab the bore.

I have no idea why the difference...

 

[hanshi]

I had a Crockett for many years and it never needed swabbing until I got home and cleaned it. I have two flintlock SMR, a .32 and a .36. I use mainly two lubes; Hoppes #9 BP Lube and TOW mink oil. I normally shoot an afternoon and never have to swab regardless the number of shots. The last shot of the day loads as easily as when the rifle was clean. Lube can matter. I polished the rifle crowns which enables me to use .024" canvas patches (actually I use it in all but two rifles). The "tight" loads clean the bore each time a prb is seated so there's never more than the fouling of one shot. My .32 has a Rice radius grove bore .016" deep; the .36 has square rifling .012". Polishing the crown is the first step. I load with the wood under barrel rod so it doesn't take much force at all.

 

[Stony Broke]

I've been at it for a lot of years, and as far as I'm concerned the .40 is the best small game and plinker you coul get. I have shot many matches with one I've got and I don't need to swab the bore at all throughout the match. I just wait until I get home and clean it as normal and I never have any problems loading it or with accuracy. The last match I shot it in, the targets had a possible of 50...and I managed to shoot two 50's and two 49's (my fault I threw one off a bit, not the rifle's).

 

[Col. Batguano]

I had a bunch of .375 and 380 balls I routinely shot in my 40. I just patched them with thicker patching. Accuracy was ok, but just ok. The 380's I shot all up, as, accuracy was better. I still had a bunch of 375's left. So to solve for that I built a 38 cal rifle. It has RB rifling and doesn't shoot particularly well. I think SB rifling would be more accurate.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I found a Lee .390 ball mold at Dixie so I bought it. I don't have a 40 caliber rifle but now I have a reason to get one. I'm looking at a Kibler Southern Mountain kit as next winters project. The reason I want the 40 instead of a 45 is that the 40 he offers has a 48" twist while the 45 has a 72". From what I've seen the 48 twist will be more accurate with small charges of powder and we are getting back into the days when powder and ball have to be conserved since they are getting hard to come by.

 

[smoothshooter]

It seems that some people have issues with small calibers and some do not. Don't know why but I am one of those that have small calibers and I have issues with fowling. I would surmise it is mostly due to lube used. Generally I have to swab every 3rd shot of my accuracy goes south quick. Either way I wouldn't let it get in the way of me getting a small caliber and I just consider it a minor issue. Some people swab after each shot anyway.

Try thicker patch and smaller ball.
Thick patch carries more lube.

 

[Professor flintlock]

I have shot .40 cal. for years at the moment I have 4 of them. I've found .395 or.400 ball works best in all of them. I use .015 pillow ticking with Hoppes 9+ for patch lube. Cut my patches at the barrel. A smaller ball with thick patch will shoot but you really need the ball filling into the rifling for good accuracy. Go to a serious match and just about everyone shoots a tight combination. 9+ keeps the fowling soft . Personally I like to swab my barrel after every shot. Saves premature barrel wear and promotes better accuraticy.

 

[Evan Ebersole]

when i push the ball down barrel I have a damp patch on the jag that wipes the bore as you load. A old timer told me that is the way that was done back in the day.

 

[Britsmoothy]

when i push the ball down barrel I have a damp patch on the jag that wipes the bore as you load. A old timer told me that is the way that was done back in the day.

That doesn't make sense. Once that ball and patch has been rammed the bore has been wiped, no