First time out with new .32 Deerhunter

[dave63]

I've been wanting a small caliber shooter for a long time. Finally broke down and bought the Traditions Deerhunter 32.

If you would please....how about some pointers on working up a load? I've got .310 balls, .018 ticking patch material pre-lubed with everything from Moose Milk to Bore Butter to Criso.

My plan is to start at 20 grains of fff and go up a couple at a time.

Any pointers?

Thanks in advance.

Dave

 

[torn moc]

Dave, I have never heard of a .32 Deerhunter
could you post some pics? I have a .32 Crockett and it shoots very well with anything between 18gr FFF AND 48 GRAINS FFF.
I got the bright idea to try some .32 pistol bullets last weekend with 45 grains FFF Goex and it surprised my ole eyes when I was shooting a 2" group in the middle of the 4" bullseye at 100 yards!!!! I swabbed the barrel between shots...
THOSE LITTLE guns are sweet!!! but they can build up fowling really quick if ya dont swab the bore tween shots....Have fun...and experiment with differnt loads patch thickness etc...see what works best for your particular gun.
...PHOTOS PLEASE!!! :thumbsup:

 

[torn moc]

I was itchin to see your rifle so I looked at it on the THUNDER RIDGE SITE... not a bad looking rifle! Congrats! :hatsoff:

 

[Burntbrows]

With 20 grains fff Goex and a .310 ball patched with denim or ticking (about .020) soaked in rendered pork fat/beeswax lube, I've seen one that will shoot into a half inch dot at 20 yards all day long -- perfect squirrel range.

 

"I've got .310 balls" :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: :rotf: OK, now that I've wiped the tears away, and got up off the floor. 20 grains of FFFG and a .010 patch will work fine. Using heavy patching with the small diameter of the ball, and trying to force it down the barrel can really deform such a small projectile. You may even want to try 15 grains, as at squirrel distance you don't need much oomph. I've even shot dried peas out of mine on a bet, though accuracy does tend to suffer a bit.

Bill

Why do you "put your two cents in"..But it's only a "penny for your thoughts" What happened to the extra penny?

 

[BrownBear]

Without knowing any different, I'm going to assume it's got the same patent breech as their Crockett rifle, along with the same arrangement for joining it to the barrel. We recently had to pull the breech from a Crockett and found that it held 25 grains of 3f.

The barrel however, does not seat all the way down against the inner face of the breech. There's a gap of about .050, well known for grabbing cleaning patches if you don't use a long jag.

I was a bit surprised and concerned about the gap, because it's impossible to clean back in there, short of removing the breech. In fact, my friend's Crockett had a whole bunch of corrosion between the breech and the rear face of the barrel.

Someone on here added a washer just the right diameter and thickness to fill the space, which solved the problem of stuck cleaning patches as I recall. I'm still concerned about the build up of corrosion in there, though.

My Crockett is really fond of 25 grains of 3f, .015 lubed patch and .310 ball whether cast or swaged. I tried .018 patches, and the amount of pressure needed to seat the ball with that skinny little ramrod was kinda scary.

If the barrel and breech of your Deerhunter are the same I'd expect great performance from a similar load, along with the issue of stuck cleaning patches if you don't use a long cleaning jag. As for the worries about corrosion, join the club.

 

[mainiac]

Hello, been shooting a .32 t/c cherokee all summer,been having a ball too, i might add. My gun shoots about 3/10 ths of an inch @ 25 yards, and around a inch @ 50. I use a lee .311 home-cast ball, blue .017 thick ticking from walmart,lehigh lube,and a full-full .38 special case full of shuetzen fff, which is 23.4 grains by weight. About 1700 f.p.s. and shoots real well! When the wind picks up,and you dont have no wind flags, THIS THING WILL SHOOT TERRIBLE! Never seen anything blown arouns in the wind as bad as this! enjoy,

 

[dave63]

Well.....I finally had time to spend a couple of hours with it last night. I'm shooting 3/4" groups at 25 yards with 30g of fffg, .315 balls, and .015 Traditions Wonderlube patches.


My goal for today is to find a ticking patch and lube combo that I can use. 6 cents a piece for patches wont kill me, but I dont like it. I have tried .017 ticking spit patches cut off at the barrel, but wasnt getting good results. Early in the process I was swabbing between shots, but found that the dirtier she is the better she likes it. Groups tightened up dramatically when I stopped swabbing.

I believe that I have found a load I could hunt squirrels with, but I'm still going to work on it. I'll let you know if it gets any better.

Thanks for the replies,
Dave

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Dave, I have never heard of a .32 Deerhunter
:thumbsup:

Thats funny, neither had I, but this week one got dropped into my lap. My wife is real small, and a bud thought she should try it out.

Way smaller than a Crocket only 40 inches overall

 

[Robin Camp]

I also have a Crockett. 20 grains of gfff make less noise than a .22LR. I think I will try 25 grains next. Never heard of the .32 Deerhunter, but I think it should be renamed as it is woefully inadiquate for deer....rlc

 

[octagon]

The Deerhunter was also made in larger calibers with the .50 being the most popular. I remember about 10-15 years ago that .32 deerhunter being offered and should have bought one back then. I don`t however remember the flintlock version of the .32 Nice find there :thumbsup:

Jack

 

[Runner]

I have the 50 flinter. The 32 caplock was on their website for a decent price. All they had left were the plastic stocks, but the parts would sure look nice in curly maple. They did not have any flinters.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

just to let everyone know,[url] www.possibleshop.com[/url] sells the traditions crocket rifle in kit form. I think its only offered in .36cal.

 

[dave63]

UPDATE:

20 grains of fff seems to be the magic number. Dropping the charge changed everything. .017 spit patch with ticking cut at the barrel works great now. With one fouling shot I can be right in the bull at 25 yards, and touch the original hole as long as I want to shoot. It will start to creep up half a ball if I shoot alot, but it is not an issue for small game hunting. Doubt I'll be shooting 20 times in a hunting scenario.

It's a keeper.

Dave

 

[JustynSayne]

That's funny I didn't think anyone else owned one besides me. I have a .32 Traditions Deerhunter with a Simmons 4x20 muzzleloader scope mounted on it.

The one I have is a #11 cap gun model. I don't know if they even still make them anymore, parts are rare. It's an excellent gun, I've had a lot of misfires with it though, no matter how well you maintain the thing, misfires seem to be normal.

But, it is a really fun gun to hunt small game with and puts a challenge in the fast paced squirrel game.

As for loads, I have shot this thing a gazzillion times. I have only had luck using Pyrodex P powder with this little bore. I started using Pyrodex RS, since I have a ton of it on hand, but, found that the RS would not fire as well as the P, so, after taking the suggestion on from a friend "in-the-know", I bought a can of Pyrodex P and man what a difference that made.

I also narrowed my best performance and accuracy down to a 30 grain load with the .310 balls. It's pretty nasty out to 30 yards and groups are tight and consistent within an 1". You have to keep this thing brushed after every few shots, fouling does not require much effort with this gun. As for my quick loading technique. I use a CVA composite powder flask, which also brings me back to the 30 grain load I settled for, the spout delivers exactly 30 grains, so, fast paced measuring is a breeze. Plus the addition of a multi-ported loading block made things even faster.

I'll post some pictures of mine as soon and I get a chance.

 

[W T]

I got the bright idea to try some .32 pistol bullets last weekend with 45 grains FFF Goex and it surprised my ole eyes when I was shooting a 2" group in the middle of the 4" bullseye at 100 yards!!!! :thumbsup:

Scalper, can I ask what .32 pistol bullets you used? Been wanting to try that myself for a long time...(apologies to Dave & all for the semi-hijack!)

WT

 

[theDuck]

I have one of these guns. When the kids were little I had the gunsmith buzz it on the lathe forward of the stock so the barrel is octagon to round. Really lighted the front end up for the kids. Had to change the powder load from 20Gr 3f to 30 gr 3f after the barrel buzz but it is still a sweet gun. Made a lollipop tang sight for it and shrouded the front sight. It's an accurate light 25 yard gun.

 

[Rocky Johnson]

Dave My .32 deerhunter likes 22 gr. of pyrodex P.
I have had no trouble with misfires,have not shot targets at more than 30 yrds. :wink: Rocky

 

[oldwolf]

The Deerhunter looks to be a hooked breech. Am I correct?

 

[Runner]

I have the 50 flintlock version. Yes, they are hooked breech guns. Mine has sling swivels.