Are .36 Rifles Fun?

[hanshi]

Yep, the .45 is close to ideal for game up to and including deer.  For any targets/woods walks and 100 yard shooting it shines doing double duty.  Everything else begs for a .36.

[heelerau]

I have had a lot of fun shooting crows in the garden with a little .36 Leman rifle, done the same with rabbits in the same garden. Crows  give our chooks a hard time and steal eggs. I sit on the back stoop and shoot, nice in the morning with a book and a cup of tea. !

[trentOH]

Every rifle is fun. Some are just so fun that I sell them so some other sucker, errr shooter can enjoy the fun too. i remember this 45 caliber bent barreled piece of fun........

[Mike from OK]

I wanted a .36 when I went shopping, but wound up settling for a .32 instead. So I can't really comment on a .36 versus a larger bore.

But I reach for my .32 more often than I do my old 50.

Mike

[Sequatchie Rifle]

Although I no longer have one, .32 has always been the most fun to shoot. I have killed hundreds of squirrels with a .32 cal. They are very easy on the powder and lead too- and less noisy. High fun factor. A .45 is a great overal Rifle- target shooting, to include shooting a woods walk, and deer hunting are all a little more satisfying with a .45! Depends on what you’ll be doing. I probably have a dozen contemporary flintlock Longrifles, but I get cozy with just one and end up using it for everything. I’m shooting a .40 caliber now.

[Tim Ault]

I guess I'll be the odd duck and say go with the 50 cal . I had a 36 cal and it was terrible finicky on loads maybe it was just my luck that mine wasn't all that accurate either . If your using a straight barrel the 50 will be lighter if you use a 7/8"  unless 36 is a 3/4"  . I don't feel the 50 cal recoils at all unless your using hunting loads. My target load of 40 gr 3F is nothing in the 50 . You can also hunt small game with a 50 just don't shoot em in the eatin parts.    With the 36 I can only hunt small stuff with the 50 I can handle everything that I wanna hunt in Pa , one rifle  multi purpose I'm practical that way I guess .

Tim

[hanshi]

Shooting a .36 is super fun and highly recommended.  But if you opt for a .32, it will work perfectly and a .36 won't be needed.  I've found both calibers to be no more finicky than the big bores and no more prone to fouling.   

[Turtle]

 One thing I like about my .32, is that due to the poor ballistics, I worry less about how far it will travel when shooting at squirrels in trees.

[Nessmuck]

Must calibers to have .....40.....45.....54.....62 Smooth ...those will cover any hunting /plinking situation that comes along

[Daryl]

One thing I like about my .32, is that due to the poor ballistics, I worry less about how far it will travel when shooting at squirrels in trees.

I used .050 for the BC and a rather high 1,800fps for MV and found a RB with THAT BC cannot travel past about 850 yards.

At this distance, the ball is 18 feet high at 25 yards. You can guess the angle - I suppose more math will show that in degrees. Any steeper or
shallower angle of departure will reduce the maximum range the ball could travel, if it did not hit something before coming to rest.
Incidentally, the velocity of the ball at the maximum distance would be approximately 143 feet per second, so it would sting, most likely,
1/2 the speed of a paint ball but smaller in diameter.

Just checked and Lyman notes .049 for a .350" ball, so good guess. A .311 of so will not be as high, thus lower maximum range.
The larger the ball or about any type of bullet, will increase the maximum possible range - in bullets, quite dramatically.

[Silky921]

Just picked up a new to me 36 caliber, so it looks like I just joined a fun club. Really excited to  take it out this weekend.

[stuart cee dub]

I built and shoot two .40's but only for close range .They are great up to about 50-60 yds but beyond that the wind ,if any ,plays havoc. Also the smaller balls are really hard to see on the 100 yd standing bear target even with a good spotting scope (if you do any longer range shooting anyway ) .

After years of playing with various calibers I have come to the conclusion that .45 is just about perfect for the kind of shooting I do up to 100 yds.
 
If I were going to spend real money on a custom gun I would opt for the generalist .45 caliber caliber.Not that you are thinking of the resale value at this point but I would guess it would be higher as well.
 
.40 caliber ball costs the same as .45 ,sometimes more per 100 . Also my 40's want just about the same amount of powder .The 40's like to run faster for the best accuracy (mine are both 1-48''twist ).The savings aren't there .

Further I find handling smaller .36 and .32 caliber balls more difficult but perhaps my manual dexterity isn't the best.

What .40's and smaller calibers do make are elegant slim rifles.
     

[PPatch]

I've built two .36 cal's and other than my 45 I like the 36 for the pure fun of small caliber shooting. Inexpensive to shoot they are quite accurate out to about 60 yards. I believe you can compare the muzzleloader .36 to a .22LR round.

Thumbs up for a 36!

dave

[Ghillie]

 Almost as much fun as a .32 caliber.  I've had a .32 flinter since 1972 and have a ball with it.  Taken lots of squirrels and groundhogs.  If one were careful I would take a deer also.  It was always my go to gun for fun shooting.  As to accuracy, I won my first 100 yard First Place ribbon at our local muzzleloader club using it.  I would advise anyone who doesn't have one to get one.  You will not be sorry.

[Iktomi]

I had a .30 and a .36.  The .36 was easier to load and less aggravating because it was easier to handle the larger balls and patches.  I have several .50s, .54s, and a .62 rifle.  All fun.

 Yes, but which is the funnerest? 

[LH]

Like most others here I agree that all different calibers of roundball guns are fun.  Some have specific uses that make them better than others in those areas, but fun is built in to all of them.  A couple of myths about small calibers have kept some people away I think.  One in particular is wind drift.  Its true that smaller diameter balls are effected more by wind,  but not much.  Certainly not enough to notice shooting offhand, and doubtful it would be noticeable even when shooting off a bench.  For example,  a .395 ball weighing 95grains at MV of 1450 in a 10mph cross wind will drift 14.0" at 100yds.  Same conditions with a 67grain .354 ball and the drift at 100yds is 15.2".   Bottom line is if the wind is blowing 10mph, wait for better conditions to shoot 100yds no matter what caliber you're shooting.  Another myth I've heard is that small caliber guns foul more. I have not found this to be true with 3 different .36 caliber rifles and one .32.  Bore condition is the primary factor for fouling imo.  A smoothly polished bore will foul less than a rough bore.  Google "round ball wind drift calculators" and look at the numbers. 

[hanshi]

Like most others here I agree that all different calibers of roundball guns are fun.  Some have specific uses that make them better than others in those areas, but fun is built in to all of them.  A couple of myths about small calibers have kept some people away I think.  One in particular is wind drift.  Its true that smaller diameter balls are effected more by wind,  but not much.  Certainly not enough to notice shooting offhand, and doubtful it would be noticeable even when shooting off a bench.  For example,  a .395 ball weighing 95grains at MV of 1450 in a 10mph cross wind will drift 14.0" at 100yds.  Same conditions with a 67grain .354 ball and the drift at 100yds is 15.2".   Bottom line is if the wind is blowing 10mph, wait for better conditions to shoot 100yds no matter what caliber you're shooting.  Another myth I've heard is that small caliber guns foul more. I have not found this to be true with 3 different .36 caliber rifles and one .32.  Bore condition is the primary factor for fouling imo.  A smoothly polished bore will foul less than a rough bore.  Google "round ball wind drift calculators" and look at the numbers.

I totally agree, LH.  I've never had a fouling problem with either the .36 or .32 and I've owned and still own both.  I've taken more squirrels with a .32 as it was my first small bore rifle.  I also have a flint SMR and shoot it a lot.  It has been in the squirrel woods as well and accounted for squirrel and coon.

In answer to the question, "which is better, the .32 or the .36", I will say unequivocally, yes! 

[Daryl]

I've had .32 and .36. I'm thinking a .25 might be even more fun,

but difficult for old fingers to handle, especially in the winter time.

[hanshi]

Just in passing I'll mention that a friend and I were shooting plastic soda bottles at around 80 yards.  The load in my .36 was 20 grains of 3F.  The ball did drop a few inches at that distance; but by aiming at the top of the bottles that little ball either hit the middle or a little lower on the bottles.  Windage was still perfect at that range.

[Greg Pennell]

I just picked up a 42” Green Mountain.36 barrel for a Gillespie rifle build. I hope to have it up and smoking by this fall...if it shoots like my other Green Mountain barrels the tree rats better start runnin’.

Greg

[Clear Spring Armory]

I've had a .25, a .30, and a .32 and the .30 seems to be the happy medium for squirrels. Manageable to use, but the errant bodyshot doesn't tear them up too bad. Some I've seen shot with a .36 were quite tattered. But, I lost points in a few woods walks we we had trouble hearing the ball hit long targets using the small calibers. A .36 seems like it would be a good target gun. I'm getting ready to build one for my daughter, hopefully she'll like it.

[J Henry]

  To answer your question,Yes!

[draton2681]

If you're still looking I would take a serious look at the Kibler .36 in the sales forum. I have a 36, 40 & 45. They're the best thing going. I like my 40 the best but they're all fun.

[heelerau]

I have a couple of .36 rifles (and one .40) they are great bunny rifles and good for sniping crows of the back stoop. No weight and no recoil, great for starting of kids and women.  My step daughter only knows how to shoot a .36, has never touched a modern rifle.  I did find the .36 a bit light for Kangaroos unless head shots. We do not have squirrels down under, except in zoos.

Cheers

Heeler

[bones92]

Regarding fouling, I assumed that .32 and .36 were more susceptible to fouling, but I note that some here disagree.  I do think the smaller bores require a bit more diligence, such as avoiding swabbing between shots (so as not to cover the vent with fouling pushed down the bore.)   I still believe, however, that fouling can be more problematic in smaller bores, because the fouling represents a bigger percentage of the area circumscribed by the bore (relative to the same thickness of fouling in a larger bore).

Another factor to consider is this:  what happens when you get to be really good with your rifle, and you decide you want to hunt with it?   A .50 caliber will take a deer whereas a .36 is probably not optimal.

I personally think the .45 caliber is the best all-around caliber for muzzleloaders... if you had to choose just one.