Opinion, 1st published July 7th, 2019, appears here now with fresh updates.
By Hovey Smith
Guns come and go on the replica market, but two that have had some staying power are Traditions’ .32-caliber muzzleloading squirrel rifles.
These two guns are different in style and pricing, but are similarly effective.
Traditions Black Powder Percussion Rifles
Both guns are side-lock percussion rifles that use the relatively small No. 10 or 11 percussion caps for ignition. The Traditions Crockett .32-Caliber Percussion Rifle is the more traditional design, with a half stock, set triggers, brass fittings, a relatively long octagonal barrel, and a maple stock.
In past years, Traditions has made a variety of black powder or muzzleloading tools that are great for shooting black powder rifles.
The .32-caliber version of the Traditions Deerhunter Flintlock Muzzleloader has a stock of modern design and a shorter, larger-diameter barrel. This unusually large barrel is the result of a .32-caliber hole being bored in a .50-caliber barrel blank. This expedient method of gun production allowed the same wooden stock, trigger, sights, furniture, etc., that was used on the larger-caliber deer rifle to be also employed to make a new smaller-caliber squirrel gun.
The rifle is now fitted up, and the stock is finished. Metal finishing comes next.
Smaller caliber rifles in .32 and .36 caliber have a lot of nostalgic appeal. They bring back the image of rugged Tennessee and West Virginia riflemen going out to gather a bag full of squirrels or pot a rabbit for their family’s supper. In many cases, this might be the only rifle the family-owned.
If they had a larger .40 or .45-caliber, and of course, .50-caliber rifles, these were reserved for deer or bear hunting, as there was no need to waste that much hard to get powder and lead on small animals. Over the past three centuries, wagonloads of squirrels, wild turkeys, grouse, rabbits, raccoons, and even an occasional deer, bear, or man were killed by .32 caliber lead spheres propelled by about 20 grains of whatever black powder could be obtained. The .32-muzzleloading rifle’s closest modern equivalent would likely be the .22 Magnum rimfire cartridge. In practice, the .32 caliber works very efficiently on small game and provides a relatively low noise load that kills well, provided that the bullets are put in the right place.
Live Inventory Price Checker
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Traditions ShedHorn Muzzleloader .50 Cal Percussion Rifle - Classic Walnut Finish for Traditional Percussion Shooting - R392001 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 647.99 $ 588.99 |
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Traditions Hawken Woodsman 50 Cal Percussion Rifle | Ammunition Depot | $ 539.49 |
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Traditions Hawken Woodsman .50 Cal Percussion Rifle - Reliable Percussion Performance with Classic Walnut - R24008 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 639.99 $ 580.99 |
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Traditions ShedHorn Muzzleloader .50 Cal Percussion Rifle, Veil Wideland Camo - Advanced Wideland Camo for Percussion Shooting - R3980525 | Palmetto State Armory | $ 609.99 $ 548.99 |
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There were problems with going much smaller than the .32 caliber in muzzleloading rifles. One was that smaller-caliber guns with rifle-length barrels became more difficult to service and clean with wooden ramrods. When you are on the frontier and might have to make a replacement ramrod, it helped to have a gun where you could whittle a piece of wood to make a ramrod that was sufficiently strong to be serviceable. Another problem that I have heard of but not verified is that if you started to use enough powder behind .25-caliber and smaller-caliber balls to make them really effective, the balls could be melted in the bore, resulting in your expelling droplets of molten metal from the bore.
The Rifles
The Crockett rifle is offered as both a completed rifle and as a kit gun. I elected to build the kit gun as one of the guns to be featured in my forthcoming book, Building or Restoring Your Own Muzzleloader. The Crockett rifle was priced at $469 for a new gun and $419 for a kit. There is some undeniable satisfaction in taking game with a gun that you had a hand in building, but many would consider the $50 savings as to not be worth the trouble. In the process of putting the gun together, I also produced five YouTube videos, which started with Assembly Traditions Crockett .32 Squirrel Rifle Kit and progressed through Stock Fnish, Metal Finish, Shooting, and presently ends with Tree Lounge Hunting with Traditions Crockett .32 Squirrel Rifle Kit
Although I do not usually hunt squirrels from a Tree Lounge tree stand, I did, in this case, try this stand out before using it on deer and bear hunts later this year. I did not actually get to shoot a squirrel from this stand, but did take two while walking to it. The final video in this series is Squirrel Hunting with .32 Caliber Traditions’ Muzzleloading Rifles, which may be seen in the following video:
The Crockett rifle is more true in spirit than in fact so far as resembling either David Crockett’s ”Betsy” or “Old Betsy.” The last rifle survives and is a fully-stocked flintlock. Once, in honor of an anniversary, 100 replicas of one of Crockett’s rifles were made and sold on a semi-custom basis. These guns still occasionally surface at used gun auctions. The rifle that Traditions made is more nearly after a small-caliber half-stocked Hawken rifle from a later era, and many makers sold half-stock small-game rifles during the 1850s-1870s when this style reached maximum popularity.
Dimensionally, the Crockett rifle has a 32-inch barrel (24-inch for the Deerhunter), a length of 49-inches (40-inches for the Deerhunter), and a weight of 6.75 pounds (6 pounds for the Deerhunter). The Crockett carries well in the arms while the shorter-length Deerhunter feels better slung over the back. The Crockett’s longer barrel also got in the way while trying to twist it through tight places and seemed to always clank against the deer stand each time I moved for a shot.
The solution to that is to leave the gun in the rack until you are in position and ready to aim at your animal. Then quietly get your gun and shoot.
I also found the shape of the Deerhunter’s stock more natural feeling when trying to shoot nearly straight up a tree and that its weight distribution felt better for off-hand shooting. Although I did manage to make some good off-the-shoulder shots with the Crockett, it was always better to brace the gun against a tree or another handy rest.
User modifications were made to both guns. I smoothed up the locks and trigger pulls on both of them as I usually do. The only other problem with the Deerhunter was that the front sight was much too low for close-range shooting. I happened to have a nearly appropriate-sized South African coin and trimmed that down to the proper height to make a replacement sight. Some fitting was expected with the Crockett Kit gun. I needed to install a piece of wood between the rear of the barrel and the stock, bend the hammer so that it would strike the nipple and make a cylinder of deer antler to fit around the sear bar so that the set triggers would strike it and drop the hammer to fire the gun. On both guns, aluminum ramrods are supplied, which removed the possibility of my snapping off a weak wooden rod in the barrel.
So far as accuracy was concerned, I could detect no significant differences between the two guns.
Certainly, the squirrels did not know the difference. To hit the squirrels with either gun, they had to be sitting or moving very slowly. With only a single shot and a long reloading time, I did not shoot until the animal was still, and I could clearly see it behind the foliage.
Whereas one might shoot at a violently shaking branch that a squirrel was working with a shotgun and expect to kill the animal, I wanted a clearly outlined target so that I could place the ball in the front quarter of the animal. I also preferred to have it the ball caught by the trunk of the tree, stream bank or hillside. These restraints limited shot opportunities.
This may be hard to believe for those who have to practically kick the fearless squirrels out of the way on college campuses and public parks.
These balls most often completely penetrated the squirrels, and I have only occasionally recovered one, as I showed in my video about making squirrel dumplings. That shot raked the animal from front to back, and the ball was found under the skin on the off side. While a .310 round ball weighs only 50 grains, it will usually penetrate about 2 inches of green wood. A typical load of 20 grains of FFFg sends it out of the Crockett’s barrel at about 1400 fps. giving it 218 ft./lbs. of energy. This loading is appropriate for these guns’ 1:48-inch twist barrels. The charge could be increased to 25 grains, but hotter charges will likely result in patches stripping out on these guns’ relatively fast-twist barrels and are not needed for small game.
My wild squirrels know very well that they are being hunted and are quick to head for cover or freeze in the treetops the instant I leave the house. Occasionally, I will find an area where they have not been hunted for generations, and in such spots, it is a much simpler task to take a limit of five squirrels. At home, I am fortunate to take one or two on each trip. On full moon nights, the squirrels will feed as much as they want at night and have no need to expose themselves during daylight.
In brief, between the two guns, I think that a person using the Deerhunter will kill more squirrels because of its better handling characteristics than the Crockett, despite that the gun has higher costs ($469 vs. $299), better looks, and added features. If you want to see a video of me with the ‘Deerhunter,’ I have a Backyard Squirrel Hunting Muzzleloader video at ( youtu.be/Jjwn4CDyI9M ) that provides a good look at the rifle and a bit on squirrel cleaning.
I also have videos on squirrel cooking like Squirrel Dumplings for the BBC (youtu.be/nOfhw1ZqTIw) where I propose cooking up a mess of squirrels for the Royal Household. The British Isles are overrun with gray squirrels, and cooking and eating them is one way to help alleviate the problem. To date, no response has been received.
The Royals often serve wild game, but I am not sure that they have had squirrels for any of their State or social functions.
About William Hovey Smith:
As a Professional Geologist and an Outdoor Writer, Hovey has had the opportunity to live and hunt over most of North America. He was always interested in outdoor writing and sold his first articles in the 1970s and have continued with newspaper, magazine and book writing every since. Hovey has done beat reporting for regional newspapers, been published in more than 80 different publications and has produced 15 books and most recently both screen and stage plays. Visit: www.hoveysmith.com
I have my great, great grand fathers 32 caliber squirrel rifle from 1850s Ga
It was taken away in the Civil War by Sherman’s men on the march to Atlanta
Two years later he was plowing and plowed up his rifle that the soldiers buried at the end of a field.
He had to carve a new Hickory stock by hand.
I inherited it and have it on my wall
P
This was my first gun I purchased, in 1978. I still have it, though the lock broke long ago, and I acquired many other muzzle loaders and a few more, much better quality, .32’s because it was so much fun to shoot. It was the door that opened my love of stinky blackpowder shooting, and primitive camping.
Amen , bought a 32 Crocket about 10 years ago for my grand son. He fell in love with it and I can’t stay away from center fire. It is fun to shoot very accurate at 50 yards , beautiful little cap and ball .
I inherited an original squirrel rifle produced by H. E. Leman from my grandfather and a story about life in East Tennessee during the great depression. Papaw would take small game with the rifle but told me about his hound dog that had been trained to hunt for small game and retrieve the animal back to my grandfather. Papaw said times were so tight that he had to conserve powder and lead, which he hand cast and that the hound was his most important hunting accessory. My .32 weighs about 8.5 pounds and is about 50 inches overall. Papaw may… Read more »
Watch the gun banning politicians want to ban this assault terrorist squirrel rifle! “They will ‘claim’ only drug dealers and gang members buy these!
The longest post on the muzzelloading forum I belong to is the squirrel hunting post. The Crockett is a very popular squirrel gun with black powder shooters. I have a Tradition Frontier I got as a kit from Gander Mountain back in the 70s. It came with .36 and .50 caliber barrels. I also have a Pedersoli Frontier flintlock in .36. All these have the curved buttplate that has to be held between the shoulder and the bicep. That is the trick to shooting the curved butt guns. The left shoulder should be pointed at the target and the gun… Read more »
In 1981, I shot one at the NRA Whittington center with a fellow student of the NRA summer gunsmithing courses that were held in Trinidad, Colorado. Maybe not the same brand, but it was a small caliber Hawken. He and I had gone down for the afternoon to shoot his .30 or .32 caliber rifle, and my misgivings about the slow reloading aside, it was a hoot to shoot. Ringing the gong at 100 yards offhand on the silhouette range was a blast. Almost as fun as breaking bottles with a .22 at the town dump as a kid. Good… Read more »
That is pretty interesting!! Small game fed more people than any other back then.
Nice and interesting rifle. Why does it cost more than some bolt action rifles?
I have the Deer Hunter in .50 cal. I could never find a .32 barrel and the trigger spring is weak.