small caliber blackpowder rifle

T

tinbird

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hi guys, was thinking I'd like to have a small caliber bp rifle for hunting grouse, instead of a .22. But when I search, I'm not having any luck locating any, have the small caliber rifles gone the way of the dodo bird?
I realize they may not be as popular, but there should be someone in Canada with .32 or .40 caliber rifles or kits.

thanx for any helpful info

tinbird
 
If you're looking for muzzleloaders, the "squirrel gun" is popular in the USA, usually .32 Cal....you don't see many up here. If you're talking BP cartridge then you're choices are endless. Note that fouling from BP is more of a problem as you go smaller in bore size, .32 Cal. ML will be an ongoing fouling problem, and unless dealt with, won't allow an easy reload.
 
thanx for the responses guys, I was thinking about muzzleloader. Good point though about the fouling issues!
pedersoli has some nice looking gear, have to research that more and decide.
tinbird
 
I had a Pedersoli Frontier Flintlock Rifle in .32 and found that I had to clean between shots. My buddy has the same rifle in the Frontier carbine but does not have that problem. Go figure. Both Pedersolis were nice rifles.

I also had a T/C Senica .36 caplock that was a great little rifle but like an idiot I traded it off.

The small bores are a lot of fun and very cheap to shoot with small powder charges and you can use the proper size buck shot in them.
 
Mike Venturino had surprisingly good results shooting black powder in a 25-20 (Shooting Leverguns of the Old West).
 
Smoothe bore

You could go with a smooth bore. A percussion or flintlock smooth bore would give you the choice of using either round ball or shot. Using shot would make it better suited for wing shooting.

Cheers. Steve
 
Clean between shots

Normally all you need to do is swab with a wet/pre-soaked patch(spit, solvent or Windex) followed by a dry patch or 2. Remember to fire a cap off to clear any moisture or residue.

I actually just bought a TC Renegade .56cal(28 gauge) Smooth Bore just for wabbits and wing shots;)
Still, a nice lil small bore bp would be a nice addition to the collection:)
 
Smoothy

This is what i was recommending.... Any small bore (under .40 cal) is just a pain to deal with unless you like cleaning your gun all the time. a .54 smoothy is ideal for small game and with practice a round ball will kill large game cleanly up to 50 yards. I know it could be done further...but for practical purposes 50 yards is about as far a you want to go.

Cheers. Steve.
 
i had a 32 that i had to use a spit patch between shots. it was a CVA.

now i have a 36 flinter long gun made by jackie brown and i can get about 4-5 shots before i need to run a spit patch down the bore.
no big problem, when i'm out with it, i chew on a piece of patch then run it quickly down the bore. any more moisture than that and it turns everything gooey.
just make sure when you run a spit patch down that you stop before the touch hole or percussion channel, or you will push the soot down and block the channel.
the sub calibres are fun, and very powerful for bunnies etc.
they smoke out at about 22 magnum velocity so head shots are required.
smooth bores with shot don't destroy as much meat.
 
I'm not sure when they stopped making the Seneca but I know there are a lot of people looking for them in the small calibres.

Really see very few people who shoot a lot using anything less than about a .40 probably because of the fouling issues. Often thought that a little .36 would be fun though. Course its easy to load down a .45 too....
 
Stopped making them about 25-30 yrs ago when the factory burnt down.
I would recommend a 40 cal over any of the the other small bores.
I have a 32 for the grandkids, and because it fouls more I just make my patches wetter.
Cheers nessy.
 
I have a couple of 32's. I wipe between shots but I use them on paper. Wet patch followed by dry patch. They are squirrel head shot accurate at 25 yard. (I'm not).
Remember that the weight of a 32 cal round ball is about 45 grains, same as a .22 long rifle bullet. The velocity should be higher on the BP gun. I use 35 grains of 3F and these rifles are very accurate at shorter ranges. Wind definetely affects them over 25 yard.
 
Pedersoli are very well made but I dislike the way they make their small calibre rifles on their long rifles. They build their gun with the same barrel width for large or small calibre this making small calibres rifles much heavier.

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