.32 versus .36

[mooman76]

The 36 being a heavier RB will carry a little farther too so you can shoot at a longer distance.

 

[BrownBear]

Depends on how you're shooting, as well as what you're shooting at.

Mine are strictly for small game, and the bigger the ball, the more critical that you keep your shots strictly in the head. Either ball is as big or bigger than an expanded 22 rimfire slug. At the same velocity, it can really move flesh and bone. At the charges lots of guys are talking here, if you drop a head shot down into the neck you'll blood shoot the front shoulders so bad you'll have to toss em.

I'm all about saving meat, so I want super accuracy, but also I keep cutting down on my powder charges. You're only shooting 25 yards or less most of the time with squirrels or rabbits.

I started out with a 36, then went to cutting charges. Down to 15 grains of 3f with it, but I still don't want any neck shots.

Next went to a 32. Better, so long as I'm using 15 grains or less.

Now I'm shooting a 30 cal. Not much different than a 32, but I'm shooting 10 grains in it.

As for excess fouling, in my experience it's a product of bad choices in lube and/or patch for a particular bore and ball size. Get the combo right, and the fouling is no more an issue than in bigger bores. On typical small bore hunts you'll do more shooting in a day than you do in a decade of deer hunts.

I've gone as long as 38 shots without swabbing the bore of my 30 cal. Lost count on the 32 and 36, but it was a long morning in the field followed by several hours of informal target shooting with my buds.

You get fouling like some of the guys report here, don't live with it and don't complain about it. Just go to work to improve your load.

 

[Bugflipper]

I agree with you on the excessive fouling deal. It seems like a lot of folks must use bore butter or something similar. I use a 25 for squirrels and rabbits. According to the info on a 32 it would be unshootable after just a few rounds if I didn't swab it out hunting.

 

[Bugflipper]

[/quote]
Well I use 30 in the 32cal, 30-45 in 36 cal, and anywher from 35-70 in the 40 cal on mine but thats just me. A 36 caliber prb is not to light for a coyote at all, people kill deer all day long with a 36 cal prb in some places. Just saying nothing against ya
[/quote]

Yeah no problem buddy. A 22 mag is legal for deer in some places too. They kill them pretty regular with those. Not here to argue with folks so no big deal.
Have a good one.

 

[mooman76]

I agree with you on the excessive fouling deal. It seems like a lot of folks must use bore butter or something similar. I use a 25 for squirrels and rabbits. According to the info on a 32 it would be unshootable after just a few rounds if I didn't swab it out hunting.

My 32 I have to swab every third shot or accuracy falls off quick. The only caliber I have like that.

 

[Rev_William]

I have a .32 but looking for a .36 and a .40. Mite as well plan on getting one of each since you're going to get them eventually anyway lol

 

[bpd303]

Yep... I want a .36 simply because I don't currently have one.

 

[azmntman]

Well you NEED one!

 

[Bugflipper]

Just think of all the powder savings. It will pay for itself in no time. :grin:

 

[hanshi]

I have a .32 Crockett and a .36 flint SMR. I don't hunt with the Crockett since I got the TVM SMR. Both are tack drivers. Never have I broken a ramrod with either, nor do they foul any worse than my .50 flint. Both can be shot all afternoon without swabbing and they still load easily without any accuracy degradation.

The .36 does well from squirrels to large varmints and can go even larger. The .32 is very underrated and I know one guy who kills hogs with a Crockett (wild hogs, now). My desire is to have a .32 Tn rifle built. I don't actually need it; I just want it. I don't hunt with percussion - they do get range time, however - any longer; only with flint. Hence the desire for a .32 flinter.

 

[Don]

I have a .36 and it is such a pain to load and clean I have no interest in going smaller. In fact, I bought a .45 cal cap gun kit last year and I love it.

Don

 

[Billnpatti]

I had a Pedersoli .32 cal. rifle. It was a nice rifle but I was not impressed with how well the tiny ball could buck a cross wind. If I had much wind, I couldn't hit as well with it as I could with larger calibers. Still, when the wind was not blowing, it was a tack driver with 20 grains of 3f black powder, a .310 ball and a .010 patch. I also presently have a .36 cal. that I built from a TVM kit. It, too, is a tack driver and it is not as bothered by the wind as the .32 is. Neither one will buck a wind as well as a .50 or a .54 so if you are hunting small game or varmints or shooting targets in a calm condition, both the .32 and the .36 are sweet little calibers. FYI for some reason unknown to me, the .40 is claimed by many to be a more inherently accurate caliber and is preferred by many target shooters.

 

[mooman76]

Yep... I want a .36 simply because I don't currently have one.

Same here but the only 36s I run into are pricy and the 32s are getting there too. I had a couple deals working on 36s but they fell through. I was thinking of getting a 32 barrel and rebore it to 36.

 

[Rat Trapper]

I have a .36 and it is such a pain to load and clean I have no interest in going smaller. In fact, I bought a .45 cal cap gun kit last year and I love it.

Don

??? Never found that to be true with my rifles.

 

[larry wv]

I have killed two Coyotes with a .32 and PRB. 20 grs of 3f. My next Squirrel rifle will be a .40 The only shot not wasteful on a tree rat is a head shot anyway. And a .40 is legal for Deer in West Virginia. Larry

 

[SR James]

You might want to check your local game laws. Here in Oklahoma you can hunt turkeys in the fall with a rifle but the minimum caliber is .36. I have no doubt a .32 would work just as well, but the law says no.

 

[jamesthomas]

I have a .36 and it is such a pain to load and clean I have no interest in going smaller. In fact, I bought a .45 cal cap gun kit last year and I love it.

Don

I'm working on a .40 cal. Looking at that small 92 grain bullet you folks that shoot .32s and .36 have my admiration, I could not even think on how hard it would be to load, clean and shoot those smaller calibers.

 

[BrownBear]

...I could not even think on how hard it would be to load, clean and shoot those smaller calibers.

Easy peasy when you do it right. Do it wrong and it's not- same for almost any larger caliber, too.

 

[Rev_William]

I've never had any problems loading or cleaning. except for the difference in loading it's as easy as a single shot .22

 

[Don]

Cleaning is a pain, loading not too bad except for fumbling with the small ammo. Finding accessories was not as easy as larger calibers. Bought a .36 jag and could not use it because it was too big. Bought another and it worked fine. Swabbing between shots was tough cause getting that patch down the bore was a real chore. I'll keep trying to use that rifle but it isn't my favorite.

Don