Good Squirrel Rifle

Hi guys! I'm new here and relatively new with muzzleloaders. What would you recommend for a good accurate squirrel rifle?

Thanks

Welcome, I usually use my .40 caliber Hatfield. I find the smaller calibers while fun, a pain to clean. I also have an older pedersoli scout in .32 that's a joy, just a pain again as mentioned to clean. The benifit to a larger caliber will teach you patience in regards to shot placement. :hatsoff:

The little Thompson Center Cherokee and Seneca rifles are great in .32 or .36, but they are hard to find, and the price has really jumped on them.

I have one of each, and they shoot great, and are small and lite.

I'm new also and have just about completed a Traditions Crockett in .32 cal. I've read numerous threads stating that the Crockett, and the .32 cal are great for small game.

Now I hope this doesn't start an argument... However I'm just going to share some personal experience related to small calibers. While I do thoroughly enjoy my .32 the frequency I hunt squirrel, which is about 3 days a week has really shined some light on the reliability of .32. When I say reliability, I mean in terms of fouling rather quickly. With the size of the breech, within a few shots the patent breech on these little rifles begins to gum up quicker than other larger calibers leading to misfires and missed squirrel. In reality, any caliber can be used for squirrel. I think there's just a generalized standard that .32 is the main choice for small game. While it does the job very well and uses less powder per shot, it may not be the right choice for everyone. I've also taken many of squirrel with a few of my .50 calibers. Don't just limit yourself to the smaller calibers, I personally favor my .40's because they are multi role calibers, which in todays economy can be a definite plus! :hatsoff:

A .32 will do a great job of getting squirrels but will require that you wipe your bore with a damp patch after every shot. You can just keep a clean patch in your mouth and after each shot, use it to wipe the bore. I have owned a couple of .32 rifles and really enjoyed them as long as I kept the bore wiped between shots. When I am shooting a small bore at the bench, I like to use a patch that is damp with Balistol.

Another pair of great squirrel calibers are the .36 and the .40. But when you get to .40 caliber or larger, you are limited to head shots because these larger calibers will destroy a squirrel if you hit them in the body. These two calibers are not as sensitive to fouling as the diminutive .32 but I still wipe between every shot.

As far as which brand of rifle or style of rifle, that is pretty much up to you. All rifles made today are capable of shooting better than you can once you have found the specific load that they want. Here's how you find that perfect load for maximum accuracy. It's only $20 and I highly recommend it. :thumbsup:
www.blackpowderrifleaccuracy.com

You might also want to consider a 20 ga. smoothbore loaded with #6 shot. The advantage there is that if you want to hunt deer also, you can load it with a patched round ball. It is as accurate out to about 50 yards as a rifle but will still be accurate enough to kill deer out to about 100 yards. BTW, 100 yards is the maximum distance that I recommend for shooting at any game with an open sighted muzzleloading rifle of any kind. If you want to shoot at game at distances greater than 100 yards, you will need to use a modern rifle such as a nice .308. :hatsoff:

Don't just limit yourself to the smaller calibers,

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Agreed.....

A bigger ball actually gives you more room for missing... meaning that if I'm a hair off the squirrels head with a .32, I miss.....that same hair with a .45 or 50 and you have a dead squirrel.
I bought a 32 for squirrel hunting years ago and sold it....it shot great but was to small in size and weight, fouled quickly, and was difficult to load. in cold weather when squirrel hunting is best, my cold fingers dropped more of those tiny ball than I shot.
Also many if the "squirrel guns" have shorter barrels being meant for kids I presume....The shorter sight radius doesn't lend itself well to putting a bead on a squirrels head as much as a longer barrel does....

Just my :2

Forgot to add that I use a .45 and if your shot placement is bad it really doesn't blow them up as much as people think....I hunt all the time with a guy who uses a .22 mag or a .17 hmr and his misses do far more damage than mine, its more about velocity than caliber....Also the squirrels all end up quartered in a crock pot so where you hit it really doesn't matter that much.

As I stated, I'm new to this myself and who knows, after firing/hunting with my .32, I may come to the same conclusion!

Just some helpful advice, good thing about this site! I do love my .32 and you will too, it just can be temperamental at the wrong times. I found myself swabbing my bore and clearing the breech more often than taking squirrel. Mr. Colorado Clyde hit the nail on the head with the 20ga remark. That's one reason I'm building a fowler!

Also I wanted to add, I'm currently building a .36 that I intended exclusively to be for squirrel... However, I'm thinking it may get passed up by the fowler build!

Thanks guys! So maybe I will try to find a .40 cal. Who makes a good Hawken style current production in .40 cal with a hooked breach for easy barrel removal for cleaning?

Billnpatti said:

You might also want to consider a 20 ga. smoothbore loaded with #6 shot.

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I have had .32 and .36 that I have used for squirrels. I also have a .40, but haven't squirrel hunted with it. But my "go-to" small game gun is my .62 cal (20 ga) Virginia smooth rifle. A smoothie is the most versatile gun one can own. Small game, turkey, bird shooting, big game...does it all. And that big bore doesn't require wiping between every shot...just hunt and shoot all day.

I'm thoroughly excited about the 20ga I'm building for the exact reasons you've mentioned. Just actually ordered some .600 rb's. Now I'll need a new mold to cast!

I shoot a .32 with Black MZ powder, because there is very little fowling. I shoot 15-20 times and never touch the bore. Also easy clean up. I save the real black for my flintlocks.

I just finished up a .32 in a hawken style with a rice barrel and that thing is a dream to shoot. I haven't noticed any fouling issues with it as the first day with it off the bench I prolly shot around 20 times and had no fouling issues....But I've been told that those rice barrels are way easier to clean than others. The .32 is a super fun round to shoot. I also have a .62 smoothbore that I built last year that is also a dream to shoot.

I say buy one of each and worry about which one you want to take. I don't think you can have too many guns can you? :hmm:

So does anybody make a drop in barrel for the Lyman GPR suitable for round balls in 40 or 45 cal?

i'm an avid shooter of the .32 cal for squirrels, woodchucks and steel targets at home. fouling is never a problem and no swabbing between shots here. find the load that the gun likes, from ball size, patches and lube. clean up is breeze also. get a loading block for your patched balls and no fumbling with loading the small balls. they are a ton of fun to shoot and they are very accurate once you figure out what they like.

I agree about the shooting part! Mine will punch the same bullet hole time after time! The light little load that these guns like makes them a real pleasure to shoot.

I've raised the issue of fowling, several times. I have several rifles and pistols, and there are a variety of rifling. A Colerain barrel, for example, has deep round bottom rifling and handles the fowling very well. A Douglas or Rice has a different rifle, although deeper than a TC Hawken/Renegade. The shallow rifled barrels, shoot conical bullet well, but large charges of black powder will load up with fowling.

Just something to consider, when looking at rifles, and thinking about the powder that you plan to use.

Boomerang said:

So does anybody make a drop in barrel for the Lyman GPR suitable for round balls in 40 or 45 cal?

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Pecatonica River hs .32 cal drop ins for the T/C Hawken platform but only Traditions adn Pedersoli make rifles with bores below .45. To my knowledge, there were no "Hawken" types made with bores below .45 caliber. It does't agree with what everyone "knows" about teh Hawken Bros. work! :wink: Anything in the .32, .36 or .40 bore range will either be a build by you, a gun makere or a place like Track Of The Wolf who handle lots of used muzzle loading rifles. Sorry.

A Hawken rifle made by the Hawken brothers' shop made for the small caliber 32 to 45 caliber bore would actually look more like a T/C "Hawken". You can find the T/C Senecas or Cherokee in the smaller calibers. They look like a smaller version of the T/C rifle.