Small game caliber choice

[JesseJames]

I use tc cherokee 32 cal for squirrels,25 gr of pryodex with maxi balls..killed a few squirrels but not as many as Claude gave me credit for...same gun,have a 45 cal barrel I use for deer,60 gr of pryodex with a 45 maxi ball..love that little gun,fits right into my milkcrates on back of my 4wheeler. I lugged that 50 cal tc hawkins for years,you know the old saying,the older you get the lazier you get.

 

[Spot Shooter]

jessejames,

I've alway's thought thet the older fellers don't carry as much cause they can make due with less 'cause of experience and such.

somewhere theres a say'in thet goes like this...

I've been doin' so much fer so long with so little, thet I'm now qualified to do everythin' with nothin'.

I think thet sum's her up! ::

I don't think lazy and old belong more to city fellers with ultra light super mag's and over powered scopes then it does ta fellers haulin' around smoke poles, and patch knives.

Spot

 

[Herb]

Thank you, riarcher. Tried some .38 wadcutters I had with an .024 (Wal Mart awning) patch and they keyholed at 50 yards. Don't know anything about paper patches, will probably have to learn. A friend gave me today some cast and lubed .38-40 slugs, will try them soon. Thanks for the Buffalo Arms info, will pursue that more. Saw the new Utah hunting regs today and see there has been a change. There is now a minimum of .40 caliber ML, and the ball weight is 170 grains, not the 150 I misremembered.

 

[Huntinfool]

There's an old saying, "Beware of the man with one gun"!

I guess I kinda took that to heart I have one rifle I chose .50 cal some of you have already seen the pics I've posted. I put a lot of thought into that decision. I felt if I had to have just one gun (as most any longhunter type would) it should be a middle sized .cal not to big to shoot a squirrel with and large enough to put an elk down!

Now before you start in on me I didn't say it would be my 1st choice as an elk rifle. But I would not be afraid to go after one with it. A man has to know his limitations and I would be as careful as if I was bowhunting! I know a perfectly placed broadside shot from a reasonable distance and my .50 would put a large elk down for keeps!

I guess what I'm trying to say is my small game rifle is a .50 cal. LOL!
Keep Yer Powder Dry Fellers,
Chuck

 

HUNTINFOOL: You make a lot of sense about the .50 roundballer being a good all round caliber and I'd bet you would take elk or moose with it if you get close and put the ball where it counts.
I wonder how many of the old mountain men put away elk, even griz with a .50 rounball.
Course I also wonder how many griz put away mountain men what placed a .50 ball in the WRONG place! ::

 

[musketman]

Course I also wonder how many griz put away mountain men what placed a .50 ball in the WRONG place! ::

Picked their teeth with the ramrod... :haha:

Imagine seeing this inches away and it's ticked off...

 

[Huntinfool]

For that matter I wonder how many griz put away mountainmen that placed a .75 cal ball in the wrong place. After all is said and done. The bigger the ball is that's placed wrong the madder the bear!LOL!
Keep Yer Powder Dry Fellers,
Chuck

 

[musketman]

After all is said and done. The bigger the ball is that's placed wrong the madder the bear !LOL!

The trick is to use lots of powder, that way you have a smoke cloud to try and sneak away through... :haha: :winking:

 

[Huntinfool]

musketman said,"The trick is to use lots of powder" I say always use lots of powder!LOL!

Keep Her Dry Fellers,
Chuck :bull:

 

[BadHeart]

Love my .32 Crocket. have taken many tree rats with it.

 

[swquiro]

Spot, I dont know the age or size of your kid, but I doubt that he would really enjoy shooting .45, .50, or .54 at squirrel. Sure, when I was a kid we'd shoot big bores at paper and tin cans, it was the macho thing to do. But did we really enjoy it? Not really. Our real love was the .22. Lets face it, our muzzleloaders are wonderful toys. We dont need rapid fire and we dont use them to supply our daily bread. The .32 will take any squirrel that ever chewed on a nut, the same is true of turkeys. With a stout load it will take fox and coyote, and the recoil wouldnt kill a flea. Your kid would love it. I need to swab my .32 every two shots, but so what? Im never in that big of a hurry. The .32 is pure pleasure to shoot, and it will take bushytails with a 10 grain charge. But, like the bigger bores, try for head shots if you dont want to destroy meat.

 

We re-lined a perc., small, extremely finely made and detailed English sporting rifle in .36 cal. The bore was rotten, but the outsides of the metal were in excellent shape. Taylor picked it up for $80.00 about 20 years ago. We put a turned down .36 Bauska barrel in it and it one-holes at 25yd. with 15 to 20gr. 3F.& .350 ball.
; The extreme delight is the diappearance of the entire head with eye-ball shots using the heavy hunting charge of 25gr. This fine, thin little rifle isn't a childs' or woman's rifle, either as it has a 14" pull. The wrist is 1 1/8" tall and 1/2" wide, finely checkered, beautiful English Walnut, very dark.
The barrel is tapered, oct/round, 1/2 stock.
:.36's are a great deal of fun, accurate, and can soot all day wihtout having to clean or swab the bore due to fouling buildup. there isn't any, whether using mink-oil, or Hopes 9+ for hunting lube. Nowadays, I use mink-oil or bore butter.
Daryl

 

[Spot Shooter]

Sq & Daryl,

I'm thinkin' a 32 or 36 is the way to go for the kid. I'll have to check KS rules, maybe I'll have to go with a 40 cal.

I'm not sure that a properly loaded 36 wouldn't do a good job on a deer either, but for fun I'd like to get one the kid enjoys.

Spot

 

I'm certain the .40 would be OK at bush ranges, and the .36 would also work out to 50 yds. although it's like s single triple ought buckshot, it's going another 600 fps to start with and that's gotta count for something.
: I finished a deer with my wifes .36. AT that time she was shootng the 128gr. maxballs. Her bullet hit in the neck, just behind the jaw bone, travelled down the neck beside the vertebrae, than under the hide, then penetrated the big vertebrae between the shoulders. I was amazed it didn't bounce off as most usually do & it did at higher velocityin the neck. Total penetration was about 22". Powder charge was 60gr.2F. It was a small Blacktail buck, only about 150lbs.- 70 lbs. of meat.
Daryl

 

[buckknife]

Spot getten a muzzle loader that fits a youngster is gonna be the hard part.I had a heck of a time finden my 9 year old a 22 rimfire that he was comfy with.Ended up with a single shot davy Crickett from wally world.I tryed him fer fit on different wood stock short barreled guns and they were too much for him.The one he ended up with is a chessey synthic job but it weighs 2.13 lbs.
Thats why i got a .36 so i could hunt with a frontstufffer with my little buddy.Imk hopen in time he will be in ah over the smoke bellowing out of it an watchen dad(hopefully i wont miss every time)shootem.Maybe someday he will grow into it,both in hunten with a muzzle loader and the fit of the gun. ::

 

[Stumpkiller]

There's an old saying, "Beware of the man with one gun"!

I guess what I'm trying to say is my small game rifle is a .50 cal. LOL!

Mine's a .54 for the same reason. I like to have one, good firearm (flintlock) and a couple back-ups (percussion). I'd feel guilty on the ones I left behind when I went afield if I had a bunch of 'em and had to leave most home, wimpering. I don't think many of our forefathers went to the armory wing of the estate and selected the choice for the day. They grabbed the one they had propped up in the corner of one of the two rooms in the home and that was it - choice made.

'Sides, if you only got one you can justify a good one.

Shoot one gun all the time and it becomes an extension of you.

 

[Huntinfool]

I couldn't have said it better Stump. Dang this is gettin' rediculass. Us agreein' all the time! ::

Keep Yer Powder Dry Fellers,
"The Chuckster"

 

[Muleskinner]

Barkin' tree rats with a .50[url] cal....ain[/url]'t nuthin' better. But you gotta have them big fat acorn-fed squirrels, not these ratty lil' western rock squirrels. Asides, the bark on rocks ain't nearly as good.

 

[Spot Shooter]

It's been a coon's age since i ate a grey, We've got fox squirrels here, and my wife won't let me back in the house if I got one on me.

I'll have ta see if I can't launch one into Colorado by try'n ta bark it with this GPR.

Spot

 

[musketman]

I heard of barking a squirrel, but this is the first time I seen a squirrel in a birch bark canoe... :winking: :haha: