Caliber change?

[Hatiwolf]

Ive been searching for a 32 or 36 cal for a while to enjoy rabbit/squirrel hunting. The hunt for a small caliber rifle is not going so well though. Someone mentioned to me the other day that I can change out the barrel in my cva or thompson 50 to 32 or 36? Is this true? Does this mean yet another project for me not to finish during the summer heat inside the house?

[johnson1942]

do they make barrel liners in the cal. you want. that would be a way to go.

[waarp8nt]

CVA made a .32 caliber smoke pole at one time. Shot targets with it pretty well, didn't have much luck hunting with it. I would side step the smoke only to see the tree rat "dun and runnoft". Sold it after just two seasons.

Green Mountain used to make plenty of replacement barrels for the tradition style T/C rifles, however I believe they stopped production of those a couple years ago. There are a few new ones left here and there if you are lucky enough to find them.

[bubba.50]

if ya luck up & find one of the drop-in barrels for T/C they're gonna be way pricey and with that small bore they add a ton of weight to the muzzle of yer gun. luck to ya & have a good'en, bubba.

[Hatiwolf]

I would consider building one but they are a fortune.

[Tatume]

I just looked at Green Mountain, and the smallest they have at present is 45 caliber.

http://www.gmriflebarrel.com/

You will probably need to buy or build a new rifle to get what you want. Take a look at this one, for example.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/872922/traditions-shenandoah-muzzeloading-rifle-36-caliber-flintlock-hardwood-stock-1-in-48-twist-33-1-2-barrel-blue

Midway no longer has them, but you may find one elsewhere.


Take care, Tom

[pietro]

.

Since .50 T/C's have larger barrels than the T/C .32's & .36's, the only barrels that will readily fit (some T/C's) is a Green Mountain drop-in (with a T/C type hooked breechplug installed).

The only 2 problems are that (as posted above) GM stopped making them several years ago; and they make for a HEAVY rifle. (I once bought a T/C Hawken with a .32 GM barrel installed - accurate but too heavy for my hunting)

IMHO, you'd be better off money & time/effort wise by purchasing a .32 rifle outright.

The Traditions Crockett .32 runs about $425, new: http://muzzle-loaders.com/rifles/traditions/crockett/traditions-crockett-rifle-R26128101.php


.

[Good Cheer]

My two cents...
Those little Traditions Deerhunters are slender, light weight and inexpensive.
Find one that somebody doesn't want any more, get it cheap and put a drop-in barrel in it to suit your desires.

Mine is a flinter that always goes bang when I squeeze the trigger.
Got a half inch smoothbore octagonal to round 31" long barrel on it.
A .36 rifle barrel would be kinda nice to, the taper adjusted to hold steady but not be too hefty.

http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy192/SNARGLEFLERK/crittergetter2014-04-20_zps79649e6e.jpg (http://s791.photobucket.com/user/SNARGLEFLERK/media/crittergetter2014-04-20_zps79649e6e.jpg.html)

Got the ram rod. Still got to finish the buffalo horn butt plate.

[Hatiwolf]

Starting to think the 36 might be a better choice before the 32 because I do a lot of sunday morning plinking on the silhouette range.

[missionary5155]

Greetings Hatiwolf
I have a caliber .36 I am very happy with. If I want to shoot smaller balls I start thick patching. I cannot see much accuracy difference at 25 yards using a real.32 ball instead of a .35 in my barrel. That is about all my hunting distance takes in as I mostly hunt river bottoms, drain cannals and woods.
Mike in Peru

[rodwha]

I would like an inexpensive barrel in a smaller caliber for small game hunting. I like the idea of having several barrels to make my Lyman Deerstalker something like a muzzleloading T/C Contender. I'm far from settled, but figure a .40 cal liner makes plenty of sense as I assume I'll be able to find patches that will make a .380" ball (.36 cal pistol) as I intend on a .36 cal pistol or three, and it's nice having multiuse items. A .40 cal lined barrel wouldn't be too heavy, though I wouldn't mind if it were cut to 20".

[koger]

I have squirrel/rabbit hunted a lot with a .40, .395 ball, I made them out of wheel weights, they would punch thru and not blow small game into, with 35grs of 3fffg black. I used a soft ..395 to take 2 deer, shot both in the meaty part of shoulder and lungs, double lung and exited, both ran about 40yds and piled up, with 60gr. 3fffg. Lot of vital damage when gutting them, both shots were about 60yds. Damage was close to what a .243 does on deer.

[ejcrist]

I know you said a kit/build would be expensive, and I don't know what price range you're looking for, but TVM makes some nice, easy to assemble kits available in .32 and .36 for reasonable prices. Examples are the Tennessee Poor Boy and Southern Poor Boy in steel furniture for $625. That's a pretty good price for a semi-custom rifle. They're very easy to put together and will give you outstanding accuracy.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

do they make barrel liners in the cal. you want. that would be a way to go..

Lots, and very good ones, are available from Track of the Wolf. But their muzzle-loading liners only go down to .45 caliber. The breech-loading liners would be fine for some muzzle-loading applications, such as long-range target rifles with a long bullet. But the twists are much too fast for round ball or light conical bullets, which I expect you want in a squirrel and rabbit rifle.

The liner for the .44-4- Henry rifle might be acceptable, with a 24in. twist. But it involves trouble or expense. If you wanted to insert conventional plain base, groove-diameter .44 revolver bullets, you would need some sort of false muzzle, and either a lever device or the sort of impact noise wildlife prefers to avoid. www.neihandtool.com (http://www.neihandtool.com) do a mould for an extremely bullet-shaped hollow-based .421-300-HB mould, which could probably be inserted and rammed down a clean bore in the usual manner.

Using the existing bore with smaller caliber bullets in a plastic sabot might be your best bet. That will reduce meat damage, but it won't much reduce the smoke cloud.

[kenyerian]

http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=7035 Dixie has some options.

[johnson1942]

the oregon rifle barrel co can make you a barrel to fit your gun and their barrels are very very good.

[John Taylor]

I have a 40 cal. under hammer I started for a customer and he got sick and died. Heavy long barrel with brass action, no sights or wood.

[Hanshi]

Prior to finally getting a .32 Tn flint PoorBoy I used a Traditions Crockett for many years. That little rifle could shoot sub 1" 5 shot groups at 50yds.