Author Topic: Squirrel Rifle Report  (Read 821 times)

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Offline farrerhaven

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Squirrel Rifle Report
« on: October 14, 2004, 05:03:26 PM »
First time out with Dixies 32.cal Squirrel Rifle.The good news the rifle came with a fiberglass ramrod and cleaninig jig.It will be great for cleaning but I like the old fashion wood ramrods,I made one out of hardwood dowel,and the local gun shop had the brass adapters and cleaning jigs.The frizzen  is alittle short for my taste and  I am having to look hard for a small flint to fit  the lock,but I'll make do with what I have.I fired it with .310 PRB, .010 patches and  started with 15 grains of 3fff.At 25 yrds this was low at 6 o'clock. I upped the charge to 20 grains and adjusted the sliding rear sight.This put me dead on at 25 yrds  :grin:  I cleaned after every other shot to keep fouling down.I had a few misfires and had a hard time venting the touch hole they used a real small vent.This will be fixed tonight.I was happy with the load so did alittle offhand shooting at about 35 yrds most of the shots hit  the target :roll: All in all this rifle will be fun this fall,trying to outwit the local squirrels population.Farrerhaven.   :)
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Offline Ramrod

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Squirrel Rifle Report
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2004, 01:36:15 PM »
Them damn tree rodents are a mighty fine adversary. Tasty too!
"Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine." Patti Smith

Offline indian*dave

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Squirrel Rifle Report
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2004, 05:45:51 PM »
I bought a 32 cal. longrifle from Track back last spring and have been looking forward to tomorrow ever since.  I have had a lot of fun over the summer getting ready.  Tomorrow opens our squirrel season so as soon as I can get there I am going to go smoke a bushy tail or two.  At least I'll make them run faster than I can with a 22.  Let you know how I do tomorrow.

Offline filmokentucky

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Squirrel Rifle Report
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2004, 06:28:01 PM »
Farrerhaven-You might want to be careful with that dowel ramrod. Unless it's hickory(and that's unlikely) it is apt to break. Years ago, a friend replaced a ramrod with a lumberyard dowel and it broke and went through his hand. The injury required surgery and physical rehab--an indication of how much pressure can be exerted on a ramrod. The smaller the bore, the higher the risk of breakage. You can buy good hickory rods from Track for $1.25 each and the ones I've bought have no run-out in the grain. I count it cheap insurance and I've never had one break.
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Offline Birddog6

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Squirrel Rifle Report
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2004, 01:59:20 AM »
Yes, TOW & Tip Curtis have some hickory rods & much more worthy of your rifle.  My experience with the dowel rods is they don't make good RR's.  I would trash the fiberglass rod as they will wear the muzzle & you will end up cutting off 2" of it in a few years. If it is teflon type rod it will not wear as bad, but hickory is the best.

I also I suggest drilling the vent out to .0625  If it is a removable vent, you can cone it on the inside & outside sometimes & improve the performance. You need to keep a .025 straight wall thickness between the cones.   The cleanest powder to shoot in the .32 is Swiss 3F & you should back your load off 20% as it is a Sporting Rifle Powder, not like regular BP.  But a very fine powder, very accurate & clean burning.   Also if you use a liquid lube such as Lehigh or homemade moosemilk rather than grease types you will have less fouling in the small bore.

As for the flints, it probably uses 5/8" flints & you can get Tom Fuller Black English Flints in that size from October Country. They are usually a little cheaper on flints than most. I buy them in bags of 100 from the in 5/8, 3/4, 7/8 and they are a considerable savings.  Once a year they have a  "Flint Buy" and that is when to get the quantity.
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Offline farrerhaven

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Ramrods
« Reply #5 on: November 03, 2004, 06:40:16 PM »
Thanks for the tips I"ll check the Track web site!Farrerhaven
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