squirrel rifles

[RobD]

cap, that's a drop-dead beauty!  caliber and barrel length, please?

[sse]

Any squirrel would be 'honored' to go in the stew-pot after takin a hit from Cap's rifle...LOL

[Riley/MN]

Any squirrel would be 'honored' to go in the stew-pot after takin a hit from Cap's rifle...LOL

They jump out on the limb and say "Take me, Bill Tyler, take me!"

[Captchee]

thanks for the nice words fellas

cap, that's a drop-dead beauty!  caliber and barrel length, please?

 its  my rendition of a J baum rifle , which was originally a 40 cal smoothbore . but it assumed that it probably was rifled prior .
She is a 36 cal ,44 inch Octagon to round barrel goes from 8 to 16 flats to round , no wedding band transition .
I also chose to French grey the barrel so as to bring out the engraving more
The stock is of black walnut .

The rifle is mounted in silver , from my own castings or where needed formed . IE nose cap , TG butt plate , side plate
Lock is a DE London , which I also built from castings .

Barrel engraving you see in the photos has been relieved . The breech bands are 18 ct gold . Front sight has a German silver blade. Its base is 4 leaves which clasp the sight this I formed from 14ct gold .
The wrist checkering is accented with 99.9% silver

[2 Locks]

[bluebottle]

cap... I wouldn't see any bushytails due to making sure I didnt brush that thing against a wait-a-minute vine    thats one sweet looking smokepole for sure!

[RobD]

cap's got an awesome rifle there, no doubt.  but can we get back to the topic, please?

your thoughts on stock wood for a 32 squirrel rifle, 42" barrel ... ?

[Captchee]

cap's got an awesome rifle there, no doubt.  but can we get back to the topic, please?

your thoughts on stock wood for a 32 squirrel rifle, 42" barrel ... ?

 My post wasn’t to lead this topic off . But to say , that IMO the answer to your question is one of personal preference of what your actually wanting  OR recreating a specific rifle from the past  .
 I don’t own the rifle I posted , I built it for a customer . The lady shoots  it all the time . I finished it up in February of this year and I would bet she has a good 1000 rounds through it now .
 So if you look through the posts on this thread you will see that  most have  different ideas of what they want . Some like cal . In 32 others in 36 . Some like flintlocks , others cap .  Some want a full stock , others a ½ .
 Its really up to you . So my answer I guess is a question ; what is it you want or thinking you want .

[RobD]

i fully understand that objectivity can easily take a back seat to subjectivity when it comes to choosing the spex on a long gun.

what i'm asking are commented reasons as to why one prefers a specific caliber, stock wood genus, stock design, lock type/size, overall design, etc.  

that is to say, criteria - if any - that determines the spex on a squirrel rifle one would prefer, and why that preference.  functional stuff, embellishments excluded.

as a purely hypothetical example, one might say that he/she finds a longer barrel either more accurate or more cumbersome in the woods - or both.

[2 Locks]

Sorry for the diversion.

OK, my choice is based more on my hunting style than anything else.  I would rather range & explore the woods while hunting.  I'm not much for sitting & waiting for squirrels to show themselves so I can take careful aim.

So my choice  is not a rifle at all, but a side by side shotgun.  I wish it was a flinter, but it is a cap lock.  I like it because it is an original dating to about 1870, and it gives me some sort of satisfaction that I'm keeping this old gun in use.

I hunt by  walking the woods looking for squirrels ahead, and then stalk them.  When they see me coming (and they always do) I charge ahead, and they usually run giving more of "bird like" shot rather than an aimed shot.  The relatively short length (45" OAL) gives me greater mobility while I'm making that charge.

Back to Rifles:  I have done the sit & wait method, and used my .45 flinter in those cases.  I prefer long barrels. This one is 44 inches.  It is my opinion that a long barrel does not necessarily give the gun greater accuracy, but the longer distance between the sights gives the shooter a slight advantage in aiming.

When taking an aimed head shot at a squirrel, I don't feel that the ball size matters at all.  If you hit them in the head with anything moving that fast they are dead. And I don't eat the head.  I will concede that if you miss to the body side, of course you will tear up less meat, and the smaller calibers make for much nicer pictures at the end of the day.   Larger balls also give you an advantage if you try to "bark" a squirrel whose head is not visible.  I could be described as more of a bull-in-a-china-shop as opposed to finesse person, and I would probably break ramrods for smaller calibers way too easily.

There is also the pair hunting style that is somewhere in between.  Here a partner/dog/grand-kid chases the squirrel around the tree, while the shooter waits quietly for a shot.  I have not tried this method personally, but I would imagine that shorter barrel lengths may help with maneuverability in this hunting style.

As for stocks, my preference is for full stocked rifles.  I like tiger striped maple the best.  The choice should be influenced by your persona, but a man of any means could have saved/traded-up for his dream rifle. Mario might disagree with that point.

If you buy/build whatever type of gun you want, it will subconsciously give you greater confidence which is in turn likely to lead to better results.  So while it is wise to ask, you will only be getting opinions, and ultimately you will need make the choice that you feel is best for you.

Good luck, and be sure to let us see a picture of your first squirrel alongside your new gun.

[RobD]

thanx for the very good scoop, dave.   your point about longer barrels perhaps offering better aiming is the kinda stuff i wanted to hear.  i like woods walk spot'n'stalk type hunting, as i do for hogs, and a longer barrel wouldn't be any great disadvantage for stalking tree rats.  my current ml's sport barrels from 36" to 38" and this .32 would be 42".  this rifle will be full stocked and i'll either go with maple or walnut.  thanx again, sir.

[RobD]

real interesting to note that hershel house's personal flintlock is a .32 squirrel rifle.  

when i grow up, i wanna be just like mr. house.  

[Captchee]

With the rifle I posted , the  owners concerns were with weight and balance  do to some health issues .  Most generally a 32 cal   barrel can feel rather heavy  even if its swamped . This is compounded by a stock which is refined and small .
 The other issue is that with a longer barrel , as you slim it down , it becomes easily bent .
 I litteraly had one heck of a time with the one in the photos because  I could actually with  no trouble  pull the muzzle over a good inch  with the breech in the vice

When it came to the stock wood , it was personal preference in that she liked the figured black walnut much better then the English  or maple I had .
 Sight wise  while a longer barrel can help out , it also can create a hindrance in that on hot days or after some firing , the heat waves can make the front sight harder to see ..
 This gets compounded if it’s a thinner lighter barrel

[RobD]

that's what i'm talkin' 'bout, real good stuff to ponder, cap - thank you.

[biliff]

When I had mine built, I went with a .32. Figured anything larger than squirrel or rabbits would get shot with one of my bigger rifles. Wanted a longer barrel for the previously mentioned sight radius, but was concerned with weight so ended up with a 42"x 3/4" GM barrel. Some Bean"ish" iron furniture in a full length ash stock, makes a slim, easy to carry rifle. And yeah, I don't always use it on squirrels.