Squirrel flintlock rifle fun
- Thread starter 8ball
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Caywood .40 cal Southern Mountain Rifle is one of my most used flinters. Had considered another .36...but my 70's- vintage TC already fit nicely into that role. So went to a bit larger bore. Wanted something that might also fill in as a deer rifle, from time to time. Nothing beats those smallbores for handling and pointability. Magic wands between the hands.
I am on a one year waiting list for a Tennessee Soddy-Daisy .36 flinter. It should arrived in october 2021. I like the simplicity of southerns rifles. Here the .40 is only authorized for varmint, .32 or .36 for small game, .45+ for deer or bear and .50+ for moose. .40 have nice ballistics and is fun to shoot!
I like the clean, simple lines of the Mountain Rifles, too. Mine features plain iron furniture and no patch box. i did fancy the rifle up though, with a nicely figured stumpwood stock. Mates up nicely with two of my other Caywoods... Virginia rifle, in .54 cal. The other, a jug-choked 12 gauge English Game Gun. That little beauty weights in around 5 lb. and is an absolute joy to shoot. Great turkey hunting gun. October sounds like a long way off....but maybe not so much. I had to wait a while for Danny to finish each of my guns, too. Just sharpens the anticipation of getting out and shooting them. One nice thing about those little squirrel guns is that they're easy on powder and lead.
Those little flinters are about 15 cent a shot with factory made balls and about one cent a shot if someone cast their own. Had a fusil de chasse de Tulle in .62/20 gauge (brain fart sell...) that was very light as an English fowler, they are so versatile. I am looking for ordering a kit from track of the Wolf or maybe from Sitting Fox.
I have a 32 Dixie poor boy flinter that I shoot in local "squirrel competitions". While I like the gun, it is a royal pain to clean because the bore is so small. It is handy because I shoot buckshot in it. What was a surprise is that it likes about 25 gr of 3 F and with lighter charges, the group opens up quite a bit
cheers mooncoon
cheers mooncoon
Thanks,, I have 3 rifles built by the same builder, Dale Friesen from Piapot, Sask and they are all beautiful. This is the plainest of the three. Here is an original southern mountain rifle in 32 that I had. Our squirrels live in the ground in the prairies but it did the job nicely.
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Here are a few more pics of that original .32 cal. southern rifle
It is believed to have been built in Unicoi county Tennessee and exhibits characteristics common to, if not somewhat unique to, the work of Ambrose Lawing's Unicoi county shop. The initials "PH" are on the lock plate. There is speculation it might have been built by either the elder Peter Howell or his grandson - also Peter. Both Howells worked in the Lawing shop prior to their moving to the family shop on Flat Top mountain. The rifle is entirely hand forged and is a surprisingly light. I am very pleased to be it's current caretaker.
It is believed to have been built in Unicoi county Tennessee and exhibits characteristics common to, if not somewhat unique to, the work of Ambrose Lawing's Unicoi county shop. The initials "PH" are on the lock plate. There is speculation it might have been built by either the elder Peter Howell or his grandson - also Peter. Both Howells worked in the Lawing shop prior to their moving to the family shop on Flat Top mountain. The rifle is entirely hand forged and is a surprisingly light. I am very pleased to be it's current caretaker.
I think it is so amazing that you were able to figure out who made this great rifle. It definitely went to the right home. This rifle inspired me to build one. I have a Jim Kibler SMR kit on order, can’t wait for it to arrive.
I cannot take much of the credit - if any at all. The credit goes to certain members of the American Longrifles forum who are true scholars on the subject. It was pretty much immediately identified as likely being a Unicoi piece. Further discussion and study brought out the rest.
The irony is - I lived for quite a number of years in an adjacent North Carolina county. Go figure.
You won't be disappointed with one of Jim K's kits.
The irony is - I lived for quite a number of years in an adjacent North Carolina county. Go figure.
You won't be disappointed with one of Jim K's kits.
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- Steel Town and The Peg
That looks like a heck of alot of fun.
This weekend I took my son and a buddy to my parents ranch to shoot gophers. We took a pile of guns but the most fun and explosive was my Kibler 45 cal southern mountain rifle. I can’t believe how well it worked. If I could see them, I hit them and it was explosive. I promise you none of the gophers suffered! I am going to do that again for sure.
