Squirrel caliber?

[Boomerang]

Hey Boomerang! Nice rifle and looks like nice shooting! What load did you use for those squirrels?

Thanks

I use 35gr of Goex 3f .530. round ball and duck cloth for patch.

 

[Boomerang]

Hi Boomerang, Nice job on those squirrels. Makes me want to get in the woods and look for a few. Nice rifle, what is the sight mounted on the tang. Looks like something I might want to try on my .54 to get those clean head shots.
Percy

Hi Percy,
I use the Pedersoli ghost ring tang sight. It works very well for getting accurate shots.
https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/883/1/RS-DP-GRS

 

[RunningBear]

I shoot a 32 cal flinter 20 grains great on Squirrels but fowls the bore quickly,a 36 is better.

 

[Pioneer flinter]

Using a .45 for squirrels is a meat waster. .45 can,t be reasonably throttled back enough to get below a level where tissue vaporization won.t occur. .32 and .36 don.t reach the mass/velocity level to ruin meat. There are two levels at which a .40 can be loaded. The lower level doesn't cause tissue vaporization , the upper one does. Hey , if all you have in mind is to kill squirrels and not eat them , .45 is ok except for one issue , that being launching a 130 grains of lead off into the air w/o knowing where it will end up.

Oldwood I use a 45 with 20 gr of ffg. Real mild, accurate and does not damage them to much at all.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

After having a 32 in a 66 twist for years that has always been very finicky to get to shoot accurately I shot a 32 with a 48 twist. The difference in accuracy was pretty amazing. I really like the caliber but I'd say, based on my very limited experience and the advise of others who know more about it than I do, if you go with the 32 make sure you get a barrel with at least a 48 twist and a 36 twist may even be better. I found this out after I made my previous post on this thread.

 

[Bassdog1]

Crisco- I dont own any 1 in 66 slow twist 32s but I own one that is 1 in 48 and a few that are 1 in 30. The secret with the faster twist in my opinion is to shoot them with reduced powder charges mine prefer around 15 grains. My 1 in 48 I move up to 20 grains and get the same squirrel rifle accuracy. I think if I owned a 1 in 66 I would probably bump my charge up even more If I couldnt get it to shoot well. Out of curiosity what type of 32 do you own that is 1 in 66. I am looking for a more historically correct rifle to add to my small caliber collection and have been researching several different rifles lately.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Well, my deer season has been a complete dud this year again, and prior years. We moved to an area where the deer populations on the public land within a reasonable drive from home is quite pathetic, so I’m starting to think about adding squirrel hunting to my annual routine. I definitely see more squirrel than deer, which isn’t difficult to say, given that I’ve only seen one deer this entire season (and I hunt archery through late muzzleloader seasons).

Thinking about flintlocks, I see guys talking about .32, .36, and .40 caliber rifles for squirrels. Thoughts on these three for walking or sitting in the woods and going after squirrel?

Out here in Colorado, we have some pretty sizable fox squirrels, though their numbers aren't high unless your hunting downtown, but that tends to draw negative attention.

I've hunted them with the venerable little .32 for many years, and in recent years I've added the sweet shooting .40 calibre. Both calibres are fun and very effective on all sorts of small game. Both calibres are light on resources, which is awesome as prices of lead and powder clime.

Recently, I've been using a light easy handling fusil de chase loaded with an ounce of shot and an equal volume of powder...awesome fun.