Ultra low caliber muzzleloaders?

[GoodOlBoy]

I know I have see 32 and 36s, but what I was wondering about was something like a 25, or 22 caliber front stuffer with a rate of twist for ball for plinking, and squirrel hunting. I was just thinking that a F, a #4 or a #3 single ball might be a interesting squirrel gun in a flinter or a caplock.

Dunno just thinkin about it.

Richard

[Beagle333]

It would be cool.... but the small ones foul out much faster.

[starmac]

Ya hafta be able to pour powder and get a ramrod down the barrel. lol

I have heard and can sure see fowling problems with one that small, but people has done it. They haven't caught on for some reason.

[StrawHat]

Cecil Brooks was working on a rifle on one of the occasions I visited with him. It was a fancy caplock with lots of gold and silver inlays. I remember seeing the muzzle and a very tiny bore. I asked about it and he said it was a 25 caliber for round ball. He was making it for his Mrs. I don't know hat rifling twist he used but if Mr Brooks built it, it was going to shoot. It would have been one of the last rifles he built.

Kevin

[carbine]

Rocky Mountain Muzzle Loading made a .22 caliber turret rifle for $3 ball. I have one, still looking for the turret cap

[Nobade]

Ed Rayl makes 25 caliber barrels. There are quite a few rifles out there with those barrels on them, they shoot #4 buckshot and a cloth patch. I have shot against one a long time ago and was pretty impressed with what that tiny rifle could do. Thought it was funny that the owner used more powder to prime the pan than he put down the barrel. Have to use a metal ramrod, wood ones break too easy that small.

-Nobade

[SamTexas49]

Cant recall whole made it, but I had for a while a youth size ML in .22 cal. rifle kit. Looked basically like a 22 single shot with a pull back firing pin mechanism. never shot it and eventually traded off.

[pietro]

.

North American Arms (NAA) makes a small caliber (.22) C&B (Cap & Ball) version of their .17 & .22 cal Mini that they've labelled the "Companion".


http://www.conjay.com/_borders/NAA_M_004.jpg


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[John Taylor]

Many years back I made a brass barreled BB gun pistol under hammer. It had a smooth bore and used about 4grains of 4F. It would put a BB through a 1" board at 25 yards and most of the time could hit a 100 yard target. Pop cans at 25 yards never had a chance. Problem was it sounded like a 38 when it went off and got the Sheriff called on us. When I explained to the sheriff that we were shooting a BB gun he never asked to look at it and walked away mumbling about someone told him we were shooting a 357. The old Daisy BBs would not shoot strait, had to buy the more expensive polished BBs. Traded it off about 30 years ago.

[NoZombies]

I've had a number of .22 and .25 muzzle loaders. They are ridiculously stingy on the powder and lead, and back when caps where $0.75 a tin at the local sporting goods shop, I did a bunch of shooting for very little money. I've had 2 .22 pistols, one of the NAA guns, and a single shot derringer. The rifle I had was a converted stevens model 15. the .25 I had was a converted stevens favorite.

[johnson1942]

if you made a 25 cal side lock and used the shot gun primer nipple, magspark, it would shoot a lot cleaner. you could use 3 f or black horn 209 powder and with that primer set up it would have to shoot clean. also why not use 4 f powder as it would be a low grain dose and burn very clean. i shot 80 grains of 4f behind a .495 patched round ball one day all day long and it was very very clean and very very accurate. i did it after a teen ager shot at a local meet with his flintlock 50 cal and used 4f in the barrel and the pan. he won the match. it was the only muzzle loader that cracked every time it went off. a flinter is harder to blow up so i took a chance and tried it in a siide lock. no signs of any problems. would work very well in a 22 or 25 cal side lock. the barrel was very clean after every shot. just a thought. may want to build one of those my self for rabbits and such.

[Baja_Traveler]

Well, if you do a search here you will find a few threads where some of us are loading black powder 22 long rifle. I load mine with 4.5 grains of Swiss 4F, and shoot them from my 39a at Silhouette matches. I have shot several hundred rounds at a time with no swabbing or cleaning of any kind, and there is no fouling present. Use a half way decent powder, and good ignition and there is no reason why a 22 muzzle loader wouldn't be an awesome and totally fun rifle.

139146

[Mauser48]

Take a look at the traditions crocket rifle. I was looking at these a little but and they look very fun. Is kne was a 32 or 36 caliber cant remember. Not as small as you were looking for but still nice.

[Beerd]

it would take a trained ear to hear them little roundballs hit the 100 yard gong.
..

[.22-10-45]

Saw an old original boys muzzleloading rifle at small local muzzleloading gun show...percussion smooth bore...barrel was only around 18"to 20" long full oct...designed to shoot #4 lead shot..maybe only used cap for power?

[bob208]

bob hoyt makes a .25 cal. barrel. seen more then one at the matches. they do real good. no fouling problems either. for squirrels it is still a head shot job though.

twist would be 1-30 for round ball

[Squeeze]

Im a .32 cal nut. I have several of all types and designs. I DID have a .29 for a while and it was a great gun. I let myself get talked out of it years ago for a friend and his son. (who since moved and I lost contact years ago) They take a bit different technique on some for some loads, but the fouling is really no worse than anything else. I rarely use a wood ramrod for any gun outside the occasional 2nd load afield. Most of my squirrel guns were equipped with a brass or stainless rod. I have one inline .32 and a W209 primer will push a dryball out at about 320fps alone

[bedbugbilly]

I used to love to stop and visit with Myron Carlson at Friendship to see what "projects" he was working on. He made fantastic hand forged "furniture" (trigger guards, butt plates, nose caps, etc.) and his favorite rifle design was the "Bean Rifle" - he was and excellent craftsman. Anyway . . . one time I stopped to visit - which the visits usually turned into hours - and he showed me a "miniature" Bean Rifle he had made the previous winter. I believe he took an old 22 rimfire barrel that was heavy, made it into an octagon barrel and used it with the rifling "as is". It was a great looking little rifle! Unfortunately, Myron passed away - he was a fine gentleman.

I would think it would be a fun project. Could you not just use .22 pellets (as for pellet gun?). The muzzle could be bevel crowned and a small short starter made to get the pellet started. The hollow base should compress enough to trvel to the breech and then expand against the rifling on firing - sort of a "pint sized minie ball". As far as a "ram rod" - an aluminum cleaning rod would work for a range or a hunting rod. Wipe between shots to keep fouling down. Or, the barrel could be bored out to .250 and shot as a smoothbore.

I think there are all sorts of possibilities. If a fellow had the machining equipment and the "know how" - it seems like an old single shot bolt action 22 could be converted fairly easy into an "in line" by re-working the breech of the barrel and altering the bolt so the firing pin acts as a "striker" to set the cap off. I'm also thinking that an old Stevens "Favorite" could be converted fairly easy by re-working the breech of the barrel for an inline nipple and then re-working the breech block to convert the rimfire firing pin in to a "striker" to set the cap off?

Hmmmm . . . sort of makes me want to try it! LOL

[BartSr]

I know I have see 32 and 36s, but what I was wondering about was something like a 25, or 22 caliber front stuffer with a rate of twist for ball for plinking, and squirrel hunting. I was just thinking that a F, a #4 or a #3 single ball might be a interesting squirrel gun in a flinter or a caplock.

Dunno just thinkin about it.

Richard

Fella here in AZ has a .25 cal flinter. Really tiny bore.

Paul

[GoodOlBoy]

See i Just got to wonder if something like a 25 caliber flinter wouldn't make a great 22 substitute for squirrel and rabbit....

GoodOlBoy

[Lonegun1894]

I know this will be the boring answer based on the other ideas here, but the smallest ML I have is a .32.