.32 vs .36

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Hello all.  I am fixing to build a southern mountain style, very plain rifle.  I have not experience shooting or building small caliber rifles.  The smallest thing I shoot is a .36 cap and ball revolver.  In looking through various threads it seems that .32 is very popular.  Why is this?  I hunt squirrel with a fowler.  Is .36 too big for squirrel? 

Just curious if there is an advantage of one over another. 

Coryjoe

[P.Bigham]

  I have had and built both. They do about the same damage to a Squirrel. I liked them both. The 32 is like shooting a 22. You can load the 36 up some for gongs and such. Either one Is a lot of fun.

[bama]

I have had both and preferred the 36 better. Both shot well and were pleasant to shoot. The 32 I found to fowl a little quicker and a little harder to load than the 36, it was also a little heavier to carry. None of this would keep me from having another 32 though. Just remember to use the smallest diameter barrel you can get or it will be muzzle heavy.

Good luck with your build.

[WaterFowl]

The 32 cal. is all you need for squirrels...i shoot 20-30 gr powder..
prefer the smaller-less weight roundball.
I try to keep some kind of back stop on shots at squirrels..tree trunk-branch...mindful of shot angles.
Had issues with the bore of my 36 cal. rifle..had it relined to 32 cal. no regrets.
Found that finding the most accurate load in the small calibers....... the window was smaller.
I use a wet lube and god forbid a short starter.. solid brass ram rod..just works for me.
can hold them inside a quarter at 40 yards using a 42" barrel with a tang peep on a good day.
You'll enjoy the smaller calibers. Think head shots .


after barrel relined by Bobby Hoyt...... I pulled the 1 st one...bp Gremlins at work.

[L. Akers]

I shoot a .31 with 15 grains 3F for squirrels (head shots only) and think a .36 is getting too big for that animal.  My son and I shoot the squirrel rifle silhouettes at friendship and for that the .31 is too small--not enough oomph at 100 yds.  Using 35gr of 3F I have hit the 100 yd buffalo 3 times and still didn't knock it down.

[B.Habermehl]

Having owned both I prefer the .36. The balls etc are noticibly too fiddley for my fingers as the caliber gets smaller. Also the .36 uses a 5/16 diameter ram rod. Unless you get a ram rod that is truly split from hickory the rod will have grain run out and be weak. With either caliber head shots are best as both approximate .22 mag ballistics at close range. BJH

[little joe]

36 preferred ,fingers too stiff and chubby. Have both and they shoot very good.

[Turtle]

 I built a .32 with 3/4" X42"  barrel. Nice and lite. I shoot 20gr.fff. I worry less about the shot carrying too far than if I had a .36 with it's superior ballistics. Target shooting I swab with one spit patch every 5 shots. Also have to scrape the breech plug face to remove fouling there every 100 shots or so. My favorite flintlock to shoot!
                                                Turtle

[Curt Lyles]

  Coryjoe    You have some good advise here ,I say build them both.You cant go wrong with either.Curt

[Mike Brooks]

I have had a .29, a .32 , a .36, and a .40 . They all shot well and all killed squirrels. You had to head shoot with all of them. In fact, you have to head shoot with a .22lr as well.
Wish I had all of those guns back....

[oldtravler61]

Have both an either one works well. The 36 has a 32 inch barrel.  The 32 has a 42 inch. Both straight 13/16 barrels. If I'm going to hike the hills an bluffs the 36 . The woodland flats the 32. Just because of the weight. Both will work fine it's just a matter of personal choice.

[iloco]

I have both but prefer my 46 inch swamped rice barrel 32 caliber with a charge of 25 grains of 3F.  I can shot all morning if I use a wet patch on reloads with out fowling the barrel.
 

[Dave Marsh]

Coryjoe,

My choice is a .32.   30 grains FFFG, 1/8" home punched lubed fiber wad and .020 patched .300 roundball.  Shot it 27 times at the range last weekend with no wiping between shots.   42 inch swamped barrel.  Very accurate if I do my part.  Happy New Year.

Dave

[David R. Pennington]

I have a nice 3/4 x 42" x .32 Ed Rayl barrel with 7 land rifling I'm anxious to get started on. A couple small fast locks, can't make up my mind which one. I have taken squirrels with .45 and .50 . Either way the head is neatly removed.

[Pete G.]

I prefer the .32 over the .36 for a squirrel rifle. Use a water based lube like Ballistol and water for target shooting and fouling will not be a problem.

[Daryl]

I have an like my .32. I've not shot squirrels with it nor with the .36 I had years ago. Our squirrels are not edible, imho. I did shoot one with the .69 and that worked.
My .32 is used for the "Squirrel" shoot at rendezvous which specifies .40 and under. Lots of fun. I also use it on the trail from time to time. If using Neetsfoot Oil or Track's Mink Oil for lube, the last shot of the say actually loads easier than the first shot of the day- no wiping.  With our normal WWWF+tich of NFOil lube, no wiping is needed and last shot loads the same as the first one. I switch between .310" store bought and .319" cast balls. No difference in loading that I can see and I use a 10 ounce denim patch.  The grooves are 1/2 as wide as the land in my barrel- opposite what they should be, yet still no problem loading. I use a 5/16" hickory, or 5/16" steel rod. The steel rod makes for nicer holding when shooting. Of course, the 5/16" hickory is much lighter - too light for the best holding.

[doug]

I have a 32 and like it, sort of.  It is accurate and I can use OO buckshot to load it with but I have a bit of trouble with fouling after 10 or 15 shots.  It is quite fussy about the powder charge and does not shoot light  charges at all well.  My biggest complaint is that it is a nuisance to clean with such a small bore.  I would lean towards a 36 cal for that reason.  Like Darryl, I don't consider our local squirrels to be very edible;  it has been a very long time since I tried one but I recall it having a distinctive turpentine taste

cheers Doug

[Mike Brooks]

I never have had any trouble with small bores cruding up.

[410-er]

I never had a small bore crude up either.
I have both the 32 and 36.
32 is ideal for squirrel.The 36 is more of a turkey,fox,yote,etc.
The 32 cal RB's are allot lighter to carry than the 36 cals.

[Virginiarifleman]

have had both, for squirrel hunting i liked the 32 cal the 36 cal i found the RB easier to find than the 32 cal.

[Daryl]

I never have had any trouble with small bores cruding up.

Me neither - if using Track's mink oil & saturated .022" patches (soaked up hot then squeezed out), the 60th shot loaded even easier than the first did in the dry, clean bore - no wiping, just shooting, over and over. Using either a .311" cast, .310" Hornady swaged, or .320" cast.

Forgot to mention, with the oil lube, I use 40gr. of 3F GOEX.  With a water based lube, I use 35gr. same powder.

[Joe S.]

I have an like my .32. I've not shot squirrels with it nor with the .36 I had years ago. Our squirrels are not edible, imho. I did shoot one with the .69 and that worked.

maybe not edible but big as dogs in the great white north I suspect,a .69 and that worked,really!

[retired fella]

Sounds to me like the young man is in a quandary.  I'd consider this an opportune time to explain to "she who must be obeyed" why you must build 2 rifles or more if ya catch her on a good day.     

[J Hollis]

Sounds to me like the young man is in a quandary.  I'd consider this an opportune time to explain to "she who must be obeyed" why you must build 2 rifles or more if ya catch her on a good day.     

I would like to see a tutorial on that topic! 

[JimTom]

I'm partial to the .36. It's a little easier for my big hands to load . But they're both good calibers.