As of right now I will be purchasing A TC 32 Cherokee A TC 36 Cherokee and a 45 Cherokee barrel from another seller. Will know shortly when deal will take place, I don't mind shooting big calibers just really have a strong interest in the smaller guns and do a lot of small game hunting and target shooting on my own. I am also a fanatical gun cleaner I enjoy and take a lot of pride in keeping my guns looking and shooting good so not worried about cleaning the small calibers. As far as deer I may carry the 45 next fall but I have hunted with a CVA Accura for a few years now. I recently gave it to a young guy who could not afford a muzzle loader and replaced it with the Accura Plains rifle. That gun is going to be used to test loads with Blackhorn 209 powder.

You can shoot a 32-36 for evah ,with a pound of FFF. And when you start making your own balls ......a pot of lead will make a ton of small cal balls....say vs my 62 cal ball...lol

Not set up for pouring lead yet but have a feeling that will happen eventually.

You can always "Bark" squirrels with the larger cals. I've taken a number of squirrels with my 50 by shooting under their chin when on a limb or just to the side of their head on a trunk and the wood fragments that explode off the tree have taken them out without any meat damage.

I use a .36 cal offhand most of the time for the above reasons. Why burn extra powder and put more lead down range for paper? I do like the .54 for hunting and shoot some off hand. I primarily shoot heavy bench gun, which is .54 cal.

Lyman great plains is a great factory muzzleloader. Fast lock.

I've been hunting with a TC Hawkins 50 caliber for around 47 years now. Down fall to shooting one was cleaning them , that is until I read about a better cleaning solution. All you do is mix 1 part Murthy's soap to 2 parts peroxide and 2 parts alcohol. Then put a tooth pick in the nipple pour cleaner down the barrel,fill it to top , let it sit for a couple minutes . Then pour it out and run 3 or4 cleaning patches down the barrel or until your patches come out clean . There's no water to cause rusting and no oils in it. Been cleaning my guns this way for 30 years now and wouldn't do it any other way. Try it you may like it.

I use windshield washer fluid...cheap enough ! I add 1/2 gallon of water...to a gallon of Cleaner for the summer......and late fall and Wintah....run it straight...no freeze.

I use that mixture for between shots swabbing .....and cleaning too

My .32 flintlock with a pinned barrel is easier and faster to clean than my .50 caplock with a removable barrel...

Don't buy into all the hype surrounding cleaning. Tepid tap water dissolves fouling just fine. Swab the bore until the patches come out clean. Run a few more to pick up any residual moisture. Then swab the bore with a lightly oiled patch before storing...

Before you head out to shoot again run a patch wetted with rubbing alcohol to remove the oil from the bore.

I use 2 lubes for shooting patched round ball...

Saliva for target shooting.

Track's Mink Tallow for hunting.

Mike

Heres a fifty yard target ....standing off hand...not leaning on anything....NO REAR SIGHT....front blade only...62 cal Smoothbore flinter.......still room for improvement......

Nessy, whether you realize it or not, you have just about talked me into making my next gun a smoothbore flintah!

Lol

Mike

Can the smaller bore ML's .32/.36 cal's use lead buckshot? Or would you have to have it custom bored to allow for the patch?

The .32 can utilize a .310 buckshot. Patch and ball combinations are worked out to fit a given bore size instead of the other way around. Someone above said that a .32 is only adequate for head shots on squirrels. At 40-45 grains weight and much bigger diameter than a .22, rest assured that any .32 round ball will kill any tree rat quite dead with any decent hit.

Yes you can Bob. You can buy a bag of #1.5 buck (.310) and it will work for a .32 rifle. (It's dirt cheap!)

There is a small catch though. Most shot has some antimony added to increase hardness. The ball is smaller than the bore, but the patch acts as a transfer to impress the lands of the rifling onto the ball. Anything harder than pure lead can make that a chore when loading. You might even risk breaking your ramrod if the ball/patch combo is too snug.

Mike

8 lb jar for $38. If my math is right, that's 3 cents a ball.

http://www.ballisticproducts.com/mobile/Super-Buck-Lead-1-1_2-8-lb_jar-310/productinfo/SBK15/

Mike

I have successfully taken cottontails with my .32 as well.

You won't get a shot off at every rabbit in a briar patch. Some bolt and run to the horizon. Others hop a few steps a little deeper into the briars... The ones that hop a few steps and freeze end up in the bag.

Mike

I use friendship speed juice , works well and is cheap , 1/3 rubbing alcohol , 1/3 hydrogen peroxide , 1/3 Murphy oil soap mix and store in small opaque spray bottle.

Anybody familiar with old auto body lead? I pickup quite a bit at a yard sale, it comes in long skinny bars about 3/4 inch wide by about a foot or so long. I have a Lee bottom pour smelter. I have been using it for fishing weights and jigs, would it be suitable for muzzle loader round or mini balls? Too much tin? I think each bar says "National Lead"

Depends on how fussy you are. I just use old wheel weights.

they are not that picky , I have made round balls from water pipe and I know of a very good flintlock shooter who uses nothing but Wheel weight lead for round balls , how it fits down the bore being the same every time , patch thickness and how much pressure it takes to seat it down the barrel matters more than the hardness of the lead unless your trying to run a fat ball and a thin patch.