Calibers and loads for economy.

[Woodsrunner79]

So, I've hunted with a muzzleloader for the last 15 years. Mostly during Vermonts muzzleloader deer season. Always in a rifle that's .50 or better.

Lately I've been thinking on getting one to plink with, maybe use it to clean out some of the cottontails behind my parents place.

What's a good caliber and load for punching paper and casual small game hunting?
I want a rifle so, .25, .32, .40?

[rich pierce]

It depends on your arthritis situation. A .36 ball is more awkward for me to handle than a .45 but ok. Not sure if I went smaller if I wouldn't have a case of the drops.

[WKevinD]

Personally, I really like a .36. Smaller than that I have a problem with ramrods. A .40 is nice but I just like how slim and dainty a .36 feels. I've taken turkey, squirrel and woodchuck with mine and can spend a day at the range with less than a 1/2 horn full of fffg for prime and load.
Kevin

[bgf]

I thought I'd love a .40, but even those balls and the slender rod (especially cleaning) gives my hands fits.  I can't imagine .25!

If you anticipate similar issues, you could try putting low sights on your .50 and trying lighter loads.

[OldMtnMan]

I agree. Use a light load in your .50. It doesn't take much to kill a rabbit or poke a hole in paper.

[Matthew1969]

I shoot lots of cottontails with a .32. 20 grains 2f, .310 ball and patch. A body shot tears up meat, thankfully the gun is wonderfully accurate to the 25yds or so I stretch a shot.
I just acquired a .40 and cannot wait to try it. Given serious thought to the young jackrabbits running all over but something seems to always come up. Life!
Matthew

[hanshi]

I've taken small game with the .32 and the .36.  Of the two I like my .36 SMR better.  The .36 is a dainty, skinny and featherweight little rifle and is awesomely accurate.  20 to 30 grains of 3F is very economical and this makes it very cheap to feed.  I have used the .45 for small critters.  But when hunting small critters I much prefer a small rifle and not an under loaded deer caliber.

[Woodsrunner79]

No arthritis yet. (Knocks on wood)
I like the idea of a .36. I was looking a a kit from Jim kibler this afternoon. Seems to be good solid stuff.

[smokinbuck]

I vote for the .40 as a good all around caliber. For starters you can use the same loads as you would for a .36 and get the same or better accuracy, especially if the wind is blowing. In a lot of states you can use .38 and over for deer, if you can place your shots well. Third, the inherrant (sp) accuracy of the .40 has been shown time and again at the offhand line, table shoots and just plain funning around. Very little more lead, if you cast, same loads, unless you are doing something that demands more and better accuracy during iffy weather. IMHO.
Mark

[Darkhorse]

When I was planning my next rifle I had all these same questions to work through. I eventually decided on the .40 caliber. The .40 was always a contender as I just liked the idea of it. This rifle was going to be a Turkey rifle, a squirrel rifle, and a general purpose rifle. It also had to be small enough to save some money on powder and ball. But a lot of it's hunting time was going to be from a hidden blind while making game calls to attract turkeys. Trouble is a lot of stuff hunt turkeys so I had to take into account the many times I myself had been stalked by coyotes, bobcats and hogs.
The hogs are a major factor as we are ate up by them, some really large ones. And while I've had good fortune with a .54 I don't cherish the thought of depending on a .32 or .36 when a *#)*^~ off big boar has his beady little eyes on me down in the palmetto bottoms.
So that's the main reason  I built a .40 caliber Flintlock. To give me just a little larger and heavier ball if I needed it. So I built a .40 with a B weight 38" Rice Barrel, large LH siler lock and set triggers.
That was a little over 10 years ago and I've never had a doubt I made the right choice. The rifle will shoot ragged hole groups as long as I do my part. It is not so small as to cause trouble loading or cleaning nor is it so large as to incur extra meaningful expense. I have found the .40 to be the perfect caliber for what I built it for.
Of course if you take the hogs out of the equation then a smaller caliber could also be perfect. It just depends on your situation.

[hanshi]

Every state I've hunted had a minimum caliber requirement for deer of .45.  That has always been perfect for me as that's my favorite caliber and I own three rifles in .45.  I have a .40 that I really like but can see not advantage it has over a .36 where small critters are concerned.  I would let my .32 go and keep the .36 if I had to choose.  Had a couple other pics, a target and a game pic, but trashbucket refused to open. 

[Dave Marsh]

I love my .32 SMR.  Light and accurate.  Great on bunnies, squirrels and paper.  I had mine made by Steve Losey.  Great gun.  Jim Kiblers kit looks real good too and comes in .32 and .36.  Depends on your budget.  Good luck whatever you do.

Dave




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[oldtravler61]

 Also have two 36s an a 45 an now a 40 . The forty is my hands down favorite. One  ragged hole accuracy. Plus it's just fun to shoot. As for deer an coyotes not one has refused to fall over when hit. Oldtravler

[Don Steele]

Since the title of this thread asks for recommendations "for economy"...I'm compelled to add to the conversation that my 40 cal. Rice barrel shoots BEST when I take the powder charge up into the 50-60 gn. range. I can get decent groups out of my 50 cal. Green Mtn. barrels with that kind of powder charge that would be more than sufficient for small game, and paper punching so at the end of the day I'm not saving much on powder with the .40.  Now I grant, I'm still saving on lead by about 50%, but REAL powder saving doesn't happen until you get into the 30's...either .32 or .36.
If I had a healthy population of Cottontails anywhere close, and wanted a rifle purpose built to hunt them economically, I'd be going with a .32. Otherwise, just head shoot'em with the 50. 

[OldMtnMan]

Plus, you save a bunch of money using the .50, because you don't have to buy another gun. That would buy an awful lot of balls and powder.

[Darkhorse]

On the other hand some barrels behave entirely different. My Rice "B" profile .40 caliber shoots 30 to 40 grains of 3f into a ragged hole. 50 or 60 grains 3f at 100 yards shoots at least as tight as I can see. Except for turkey season 30 grains of 3f is my favorite load.
My Colrane .54 will shoot 50 grains of 3f into one hole at 50 yards. And it will do the same thing with 85 grains of 3f at 50 yards.
The Rice barrel didn't always shoot this good. But after several hundred rounds down the pipe it got broke in and suddenly became a shooter.
So I see some savings in powder but mainly with lead. The .40 is the cheapest, for me, to shoot.

[hanshi]

Plus, you save a bunch of money using the .50, because you don't have to buy another gun. That would buy an awful lot of balls and powder.

Come, now; you are guilty of heresy, OldMtnMan.  A man's got to have a man's gun battery. 

Do Not listen to these guys who recommend you to use a .50 or .54 on squirrels.  These guys drink their whisky over ICE!  Can you believe it!?   

A man's got to have a rifle for every type of game he intends to hunt.  To do otherwise is an insult to Skeeter Skelton Bill Jordan and The Duke.  A real man has several rifles and drinks his whisky straight just like a man's suppose to. 

All seriousness aside, I have a .40 "B" wgt swamped barrel.  It shoots like a laser at 25 and 50 yards with 30 grains or 40 grains of 3F.  Put in 60grns and it shoots fine enough at 100 yards to make even me look good; and that's really saying something.

Get that Jim Kibler, if that's the one you want, or a TVM in .32 or .36 and live like a man! 

[little joe]

I have a 32, 36, 40 and my choice is 36.

[hanshi]

I have a 32, 36, 40 and my choice is 36.

Excellent; and I'll drink to that.  .36 rules!

[Scota4570]

I made a 22 cap lock when I was a kid.  Used to shoot resized Benjamin pellets.  It was quite accurate with a 10 grain charge.  That is extreme.

I just finished a Jim Kibler rifle  in 36 and am enjoying it very much.   

[Dennis Glazener]

I have owned a 32 (loved to shoot it, but not to load or clean it!) 2 different 36's and 2 40's if I had to pick 1 of the three it would be a 36 hands down. I build mostly spec rifles and I have had problems selling 40's. In some states you can not hunt squirrels with a 40 nor use it for deer. Many states do not allow it for deer hunting.

Dennis

[Darkhorse]

Dennis, I did my research before I decided on a .40, in Georgia a .45 is the minimum for deer and that's OK as I hunt with larger calibers for deer. But it's legal for Turkeys and small game which is what I wanted it for in the first place. The legalities of a shooters state should be given first consideration when making a decision of caliber for a new rifle.
There are some really strange laws out there governing the .40 caliber, due to the fact that it became popular in more recent years, making it a borderline caliber to some state's Dept. of Natural Resources.

[hanshi]

So true.  Back in my native Ga I killed deer with .45s, .50s and a .54; the majority was with a couple of .45s, my favorite.  I killed small game/varmints with the .45s but mostly a .32 and a .36.  A .45 minimum for deer is okay with me but I sure would like to try my .40 on them.

[rfd]

skwerls can be routinely "barked" with a "50/50" = a .50 loaded patched ball over .50 grains of whatever, and a handy dazed critter dispatching knife or 'hawk .  but i'm with dennis, ain't nothing like a good .36 for the little critters and head shots to save the meat.  and life is so much better with more guns than less. 

[hanshi]

  and life is so much better with more guns than less. 

So true, so true.