bowmtn

I just received a 36 flintlock made by pedersoli and would like to hunt squirrels with it. Im loading with gearhart-owen fffg and hornady round balls since I don't have a owners manuel where should I start at on grains and what is the max safe charge

Charley

Never shot a .36, but do have a .32. I'd start about 30 grains, and work up in 5 grain increments.

bowmtn

Thanks I will start there, I can't find any where that has cleaning equipment for this cal. where do you get a cleaning jag for this rifle

cayugad

I would e-mail David Pedersolli and get the limits of that rifle and what it can handle. In the mean time I would be very mild with any charges. The old rule of thumb used to be one grain for each caliber. I do not know if I would even go that much. There is a forum where they have a lot of knowledge on this kind of rifle and caliber http://www.muzzleloadingforum.comyou might want to go over there and ask. I am sure they could help you out...

roundball

FWIW,TC's manual lists the following.36cal - 65grn patched round ball loads:

40grns 3F - mv=1894 me=518 ft/lbs
50grns 3F - mv=2034 me=597 ft/lbs
60grns 3F - mv=2150 me=667 ft/lbs

Charley

Track of the Wolf has all the cleaning equipment (and other stuff) you will need for your rifle. Go here: http://www.trackofthewolf.com

ijimmy

Dont think you want to excede 1.5 x caliber , That would be 54 grains . Id bet 40-45 grains would be a good load .

sabinajiles

I can tell you that I use a short 30 grns of Swiss Fffg in a rifle with a .40 cal GM barrel and it is an excellent load for squirrels. I say a short 30 because I use a flask with a spout that throws a bit shy of 30 grns, probably 27-28 grns. I also have a .32 cal Crockett rifle that shoots great with a short 20 grns of Swiss Fffg(a different spout). I would think something between 20-30 grns would work fine for your rifle. It doesn't take much to kill a squirrel and most shots are fairly short.

bowmtn

Went to the range today and it looks like 25 grains of powder hits dead on at 25 yards, so I will see if I can find me a squirrel on saturday. Thanks for all of your help

cyclone

No more than 20 gns pyrodex Don't know the equivalents of GO to Pyrodex .I've shot as little as 10gns effectively.You'll have to file the frontblade sightto get get the proper elevation. I have the same caliber/model in percussion. If you hit a squirrel with more than 20gnsPx, be prepared to collect the pieces in a body bag... Head shots only.