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Squirrel rifle?

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mancill

40 Cal.
Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
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So I have a 54 cal rifle for deer season but I need a rifle for squirrel and such. So what would be a good rifle to get? I shoot round ball.
Thanks.
 
mancill said:
So I have a 54 cal rifle for deer season but I need a rifle for squirrel and such. So what would be a good rifle to get? I shoot round ball.
Thanks.

Use your .54 caliber, just make sure you hit 'em in the head. ;)

Seriously...I've been wanting a squirrel rifle also. For me a .36 cal would be ideal, as I've heard the 32 cal round ball gets a bit difficult to handle in cold weather and the fouling makes it more difficult to load.
 
I have had 2 32 call squirrel guns
Never had a problem loading. I would go with either a 32 or 36 again. Imo, smaller calibers are a little more sensitive to variations of powder charges. Also 32 is more susceptible to wind drift.
 
I had a cva squirrel rifle in .32 and it shot good and stayed easy to load with about 12-15 grns of 3f real black, I found a pedersoli frontier in .36 but a flint and fell in love with the .36 cal, for me it seems easier to handle and load with my big clubby fingers than the .32, I like the caliber so much I bought a .36 smr from Tip Curtis last year, for plinking seems like the .36 shoots flatter farther also imho, either is a head shot caliber I think, the .36 will tear one up through the body for sure.
 
The 32 hits a squirrel much like a 22 LR. The 36 takes more powder to get it to shoot and then it blows stuff into pieces. A 40 is much the same and requires head shots, but a 40 makes a nice target rifle.
 
It would be darned hard to beat either a .32 or a .36 caliber rifle for squirrels. A .40 would do but it is on the upper edge of what I would call a "squirrel rifle". Some folks will tell you that a .50 or a .54 caliber rifle can be made to serve as a squirrel rifle if you shoot them all in the head and that is true but only if all of your shots are head shots. I have done a good bit of squirrel hunting and I can tell you that not all of your shots will be head shots unless you are willing to pass up any shots that offer only body shots. Personally, I like to eat squirrels and I want to bring home as many as I can (or as many as the law will allow) so I want to be able to take those shots, too, that are not head shots. Therefore, I prefer either a .32 or a .36 rifle with patched round balls and mild loads for squirrels. But, that's just me.
 
If legal in your area, and if your 54 will shoot them, there are huge bonuses for using reduced loads for small game in your 54. Lots of field time and field shooting at tiny targets translates well when it comes time to unlimber on large game. I use 30 grains of 3f all the time in 54, and it's a certified head smacker lots further than I can hold.

What make is your 54?
 
Can't beat a .32 Crockett by Traditions for price and shots per pound of powder.
 
I use my .45 because it's my most accurate gun...I can consistently shoot them in the head...
Another thing about a larger caliber is that a grazing shot kills dead....where a grazing shot with a .32 lets them get away...
 
I picked up an older used Traditions 32 for squirrel and small game. I didn't want to use a 50 even with a light load. My thought is many of the areas that I would hunt in are relatively populated and the lower report and less range of the 32 would make sense. Also, I would require less powder and lead and cause less damage to a squirrel.
 
Doesn't matter what caliber you use if you hit them in the head...
Using a larger caliber a worrying about damage will make you pick your shots better...
For powder and lead efficiency a .32 is king ....and a shotgun is the worst.

Close proximity to residences is a valid concern....

One just has to weigh out all the pros and cons for their needs...

I've used all the way up to .50 cal for squirrels with great success...
I've also used modern guns as big as 30-06 for squirrel and rabbit and done no more damage than a .22lr or a .32 muzzleloader....
Happy hunting... :grin:
 
Just completed a 36 over the weekend. It was a completed rifle, from back in the 70's or 80's. I couldn't stand the looks of it, so I wiped some of the ugly off it, and I already know it shoots good. Look out, squirrels, the wind and rain is gone. Now, I just got to find a place to hunt. Probably National Forest Land.

I have a 32 Cherokee, but I think the long rifle will be more fun. So, my suggestion is a 32 or 36. And, a flintlock, would be even better.
 
I sure like the .36 calibers; I like them in 1: 34 twist
Can’t go wrong


:)
William Alexander
 
Kansas Jake said:
I picked up an older used Traditions 32 for squirrel and small game. I didn't want to use a 50 even with a light load. My thought is many of the areas that I would hunt in are relatively populated and the lower report and less range of the 32 would make sense. Also, I would require less powder and lead and cause less damage to a squirrel.

This is an extremely valid concern, as a young Amish girl was killed in MO two years ago after being hit by a muzzleloader projectile fired from one mile away. Most squirrels are shot out of trees, and a miss with a large caliber could have very detrimental affects. Food for thought.
 
colorado clyde said:
I've used all the way up to .50 cal for squirrels with great success...

hehehe One deer season we was seeing NO DEER but like 12000 tree rats. So I decided to kill one. I let my son shoot with his .22 SS he got from grampa. He only brought one bullet( :youcrazy: ) and missed! So the the rat is running up n down the trunk just raising hell and sonny boy has the binos on him when I squeezed off :shocked2: LOLOL. "OMG Dad his head EXPLODED"! What'd you shoot him with?

He both still laugh bout that one. He was good eating and about an hour later I got a nice spike!
 
BrownBear said:
If legal in your area, and if your 54 will shoot them, there are huge bonuses for using reduced loads for small game in your 54. Lots of field time and field shooting at tiny targets translates well when it comes time to unlimber on large game. I use 30 grains of 3f all the time in 54, and it's a certified head smacker lots further than I can hold.

Is your point of impact much different than full loads?
 
Nuthin' barks a squirrel better than a .54 cal roundball - except for maybe my .62 cal musket. Of course an ounce of #4 shot from the musket makes it much easier than ball.
 
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