I personally would look for a .32cal for squirrels and rabbits. I built a rifle using a traditions frontier gander .36 barrel. Holy smokes! Ive never seen rabbits explode when shot. I aint kidding you, 80% of the rabbits i shot with the .36 blew in half. I only used 30 grains of powder and a .350 ball. Awesome shooting rifle but the original stock i made cracked and so im buying maple this time and building another. That lil rifle is fun though, i lost count of rabbits after 20 .