caliber choice .32 vs .36

[Mike R]

My first MLer was a .36 H&A that I loaded with a homemade conical and "too much" powder, but with the tang peep sight it was the most accurate rifle I owned.  1" grps at 100 yds from a bench.  Sold it.  My current squirrel rifle is a custom scaled down Tenn style in .32.  Good accuracy and plenty of power for any small game--you know--varying the powder charge can give you .22LR to .22Mag power with reasonable accuracy.  I tend to shoot about 24 gr fffg [an empty .38 spec case full equivalent] which zings the little .310 ball out there. I would not hesitate to take larger varmints with this load, but so far have killed only squirrels with it.  Should make a fine turkey load.  Had a .40 [very accurate], but gave it to my son in Arkansas where it is a legal arm [can't hunt with a .40 in Lousyanna].  Many of the old original squirrel rifles were .38s.  Kinda have a hankering for another .36 [the largest legal size for small game here].

[Hessian]

I used to have a cherry stocked .32 I got from Jack Garner. I traded it away. I really enjoyed that gun. You  could shoot all day with small bag of balls & a small colt pistol flask of 3f. I have a hankerin for another but I think this one will be a .36. in walnut. Of course it will be a flinter. Reason being, here in Tn, one can use a .36 to hunt most anything that walks or crawls in the state. I spoke with a barrel maker,(can't remember his name) at Friendship last year who was making up some slow twist barrels (1/66) in 36 & he said he was getting over 2000 fps out of a 40 gr load of 3f with excellent accuracy! That would give me over 170 shots per pound! I think I'll be looking him up this spring.
Hessian

[jamesthomas]

 Hessian that sounds like a good barrel. My brother has a .36 cal. and I have trouble loading it even at the range, can't imagine being out in the woods hunting with it, I can't get around how ya'll folks that use a .32 do it. Now I know a loading block comes in handy, but let me get something straight, in using a loading block and a short starter, How long is that first "knob" on the short starter? I figure you would need at least 1 to 1 1/2 inches or so to get past the wood and past the crown? A couple of pictures of some set-ups would be nice to help me use one with my .40 cal. and might help some other folks also. Thanks.

[Kermit]

If I understand your question, skip using the button on your short pusher. That's for getting a ball into the bore enough to get a purchase on it, then push it a few inches into the muzzle and follow up to finish with your range/ramrod.

[Daryl]

When I used a loading block, I used the long shaft of the starter to push the ball against the muzzle- holding it there with pressure, let go of the block, and smack the starter's knob with my palm- in goes the ball and the block is captured on the starter's shaft. The shaft on my .32's short starter is 6" long. I like the patched ball to be well inside the bore before pushing it down with the rifle's 5/16" rod.
The stud on the starter's knob is only for starting a patched ball into the bore, before using the long shaft to run it down that 5" to 6".
My .32 is not shooting a bit better (last time I targeted it) with a .319" mould that casts .320" X .320. I use the 8 ounce denim with that ball, measuring .020" compressed.
The .311" ball and patch prefers 35gr. 3f GOEX and the .32" ball prefers 40gr. 3F GOEX. All shooting at 50yards, rest.