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T/C Seneca 36 caliber

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I typically shoot a 20 grain charge in my .36. It's enough to kill a squirrel, probably other small/medium game and it is accurate. In these days of powder shortages, no need to make more smoke and more fouling for a minimal increase in velocity. The squirrels, rabbits and 'coons won't notice any difference.
 
I've got a Seneca in .36 and a Cherokee in .32. Both handle squirrels fine out to about thirty yards. Beyond that range, you can hardly see a squirrel's kill zone, let alone actually hit it... unless you got young eyes.

You won't likely find either .310 or .350 round balls on any shelf in the local gun shops. Just not enough demand to justify a small business stocking them.... not even larger chain stores for that matter. You'll have to order from Dixie, Track or somebody else. You can also cast them. Oh for the days when I worked at a gun shop that stocked all that stuff!

The bigger issue is parts. S&W bought out T/C some years back and they no longer honor the warranty on the older guns from pre-takeover days. They don't supply parts at any price either, so you gotta either make/repair your own parts when they break or keep extra guns around for parts scrounging. Some of the parts in those locks are pretty complex. That said, they don't seem to break very often. I've had my Cherokee for over twenty years and the Seneca for about ten. I had to work a sear engagement on the Cherokee once about ten years ago and I got a crack starting out in the Seneca. Neither repair is especially difficult.

True story about my Cherokee:

I was working at Olson Sales, a local gun shop just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin. A man brought me a chunk of wood with a rusty piece of iron attached to it. He claimed it was a gun, but I had my doubts. Eventually we struck a deal and I then purchased the piece of junk from the boss for well under a hundred dollars as near as I can recall.

I sent the gun back to T/C under warranty to have the broken hammer replaced. It came back with a new hammer. It had also been refinished... except for the stock, which wasn't all that bad anyway. I dunno what they did to the bore, but it seemed much better than it had been when I sent it out.

As I was not the original owner and the gun was at that time probably fifteen years old, I fully expected a hefty repair bill. No charge. All expenses covered under warranty. You just don't see customer service like that anymore!

All in all, I would absolutely recommend either a Cherokee or a Seneca as a small game/target rifle. There isn't much out there these days to compare them to.
Thanks so much for a excellent post. That was a great story of getting your gun repaired. Isn't it a joy when a company goes beyond what was asked of them? Sadly, that kind of customer service is rapidly disappearing.
 
I wasn’t correcting you, I don’t know if that’s a stout load or not? I just knew I’d seen what some common cases would hold before so I looked until I found it.

I have fired up to 60 grains of FFF 40 years ago when I had a .36 custom long rifle. It was extremely accurate with just about any load. With 60 grains I could get the occasional 1 1/2” to 2” 3 shot group at 100 yards from a halfway decent rest without sandbags.
 
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I've got a Seneca in .36 and a Cherokee in .32. Both handle squirrels fine out to about thirty yards. Beyond that range, you can hardly see a squirrel's kill zone, let alone actually hit it... unless you got young eyes.

You won't likely find either .310 or .350 round balls on any shelf in the local gun shops. Just not enough demand to justify a small business stocking them.... not even larger chain stores for that matter. You'll have to order from Dixie, Track or somebody else. You can also cast them. Oh for the days when I worked at a gun shop that stocked all that stuff!

The bigger issue is parts. S&W bought out T/C some years back and they no longer honor the warranty on the older guns from pre-takeover days. They don't supply parts at any price either, so you gotta either make/repair your own parts when they break or keep extra guns around for parts scrounging. Some of the parts in those locks are pretty complex. That said, they don't seem to break very often. I've had my Cherokee for over twenty years and the Seneca for about ten. I had to work a sear engagement on the Cherokee once about ten years ago and I got a crack starting out in the Seneca. Neither repair is especially difficult.

True story about my Cherokee:

I was working at Olson Sales, a local gun shop just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin. A man brought me a chunk of wood with a rusty piece of iron attached to it. He claimed it was a gun, but I had my doubts. Eventually we struck a deal and I then purchased the piece of junk from the boss for well under a hundred dollars as near as I can recall.

I sent the gun back to T/C under warranty to have the broken hammer replaced. It came back with a new hammer. It had also been refinished... except for the stock, which wasn't all that bad anyway. I dunno what they did to the bore, but it seemed much better than it had been when I sent it out.

As I was not the original owner and the gun was at that time probably fifteen years old, I fully expected a hefty repair bill. No charge. All expenses covered under warranty. You just don't see customer service like that anymore!

All in all, I would absolutely recommend either a Cherokee or a Seneca as a small game/target rifle. There isn't much out there these days to compare them to.
Olson's was my go-to place when I was at Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay. :)
I also have a 36 Seneca and 32 Cherokee ... good shape both, but have not yet fired either one.
Respectfully,
Bob S.
 
Here is the load chart from the T/C manual.
Screenshot_20221021-184442_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20221021-184452_Chrome.jpg
 
Olson's was my go-to place when I was at Supervisor of Shipbuilding in Sturgeon Bay. :)
I also have a 36 Seneca and 32 Cherokee ... good shape both, but have not yet fired either one.
Respectfully,
Bob S.
Those were the days.... I was there pretty much continuously from late 1989 until 2000 or so, with a six-month break to go fight the Iraqis in the first Persian Gulf War. After ten years working retail, you really need a break from people though. After another ten years I went back to work for Dan at Gus's Guns. Now I am old, crotchety and not going back except as a customer.
 
My experience for many years was with a Traditions "Crockett"; I've never even handled either the Seneca or Cherokee. And the little Crockett could head shoot squirrels at 50 yards. Trouble was that I couldn't hit the head at that range. Now I've got both a .32 and .36 flintlock SMR with the .36 getting the most range time. But both are accurate at 50 yards and I've easily hit plastic soda bottles with the .36 at 80 yards. Both really like 20 grns and 30 grns of 3F.
 
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