Squirrel (Southern) Advice/Dissent

[Mike R]

You like to think things out and discuss them to no end. Listen to those with some experience and take the advise given above and go a little bigger. Make it a .36 at least and preferably a .40 cal. I've got a .20 cal, a .25 cal. & a .32 cal. They are very nice "southern" guns but I won't even shoot them because of the cleaning situation. They have long barrels which compound the cleaning problems, too. So basically they are gun safe queens. :/

I agree totally! I have owned/shot a 29 cal and currently own a 32 but I much prefer the 36 that I sold a couple of years ago. I also own a 40 which I enjoy shooting but they are extremely hard to sell in this area, can not use them for deer in VA. I sold one several years ago to a man in NJ and he said in NJ you had to use 36 or smaller for squirrels and 45 or larger for deer leaving the 40 for paper punching only.
Dennis

We have the same law here in Louisiana--.40 is only good for target range; small game can only be hunted with .36 or under and big game with .44 or over. [although we just went with a modified "primitive" firearms season for deer which allows single shot cartridge rifle of .35 or higher (go figure)].  I sold my .36 years ago and wish I still had one.  My current squirrel rifle is a .32 Tenn and I have not had the fouling problems some claim--at least not in hunting situations.  Can your proposed .30 take a standard buckshot ball?  Personally I would not go below .32--it mimics the .22LR in effect and that is small enough for me. Many old squirrel rifles were .36 or .38 and anything smaller was called a "pea rifle". 

[Hungry Horse]

 I think its wise to consider the weight of the bullet in this case. The average .22 long rifle round is 40 gr., much like the .36 cal. muzzleloading squirrel rifle. I would think that if you get much below that bullet weight, clean kills could be an issue. I know you're always going for a head shot, but what if?

                    Hungry Horse

[WadePatton]

In the pile of reference threads i posted way back there somewhere, as is reflected in this particular thread, it is clear that there are two camps regarding caliber: 

the why go below 40? well okay 36 will work, camp.

and the we loves our 22, 25, 28, 29, 30, 32 camp.

and this is O-KAY.  I started the thread thinking 30 and am pretty set in going that way, as I will also be building a 40 and a 36 as well.  I'll sell the one that gets used less, it's not a tattoo.    Although i never intend to own less than 2 LongRifles from here on out, I do intend to make more than that.  Some will have to leave.

there's also the lock, the bbl length and contour, the wood.

Manton, little bitty thing.  46" as i hunt on the ridge where i could load a 66" bbl just by kicking the butt a foot down the hill.  Curly Ash or some fancy Cherry? or even Walnut are appropriate as well as Maple.  Haven't bought that yet and is the biggest concern wrt bbl length as I looks at it.

Iron-mounted, extended tang, no entry, not sure on cap yet, crescent, classic lines-skinny with straight lines mostly. 

Also, with regard to (WRT), loading bitty bores:  would this not be a great application for a very holey loading block and pre-rolled charges/paper cartridges? 

Thanks for the all the input, bore size has been covered, but feel free to add your particular bore-size observations if you haven't already or weren't involved in those eight threads listed previously.

cheers y'all

[Pvt. Lon Grifle]

If you are going for a nice modern loading block, why not a speedloader?

In a fired 38 special or 357 M case(for a 32)  load your charge and then close the end with a patched RB. Put it in your belt pouch with its brothers. When the Squirrel massacre begins,  pull the patched ball out of the case with your teeth, dump the powder and seat & ram the ball. I once withstood the charges of a five pack of  suicidal squirrels forted up in a yellow leafed hickory that way.  Ha!

Lon

[WadePatton]

If you are going for a nice modern loading block, why not a speedloader?

In a fired 38 special or ... I once withstood the charges of a five pack of  suicidal squirrels forted up in a yellow leafed hickory that way.  Ha!

Lon

so that's what i do with all that brass i've hoarded all these years.

[JTR]

I once withstood the charges of a five pack of  suicidal squirrels forted up in a yellow leafed hickory that way.  Ha!

    That's Funny!

John