Small bore musket...

[pullnshoot25]

Does anyone make .25cal musket/long rifle for blackpowder shooting? That caliber would be ideal for varminting (at least to my mind) but I can't seem to find one smaller than .32cal. Any thoughts?

[Fjold]

.32 is generally considered the smallest feasible rifle caliber because the black powder fouling accumulates so quickly that the smaller calibers have to be cleaned after every shot.

[CSACANNONEER]

I have an original (1840s?) (french made?) frontstuffer in .22ish caliber. I had never seen anything like it before so, I had to buy it. I plan on trying to shoot some NAA .22 bullets out of it as soon as I have nothing better to do. I tried to shoot some last month but, I forgot to bring a small enough ramrod with me! BTW, I'd love to find a .32cal left handed flintlock in case anyone reading this has one they wantto get rid of.

[bridgeport]

I have a little .32 and a .40 as well.... I much prefer the .40 for varminting becuase I like a relatively light powder load coupled with the extra heft of the .40 which will really get the job done. That being said the .32 was my
first little frontstuffer and it served me quite well in the field for many years.
Both are flinters by the way. I would suggest buying some parts and putting one together yourself.... very interesting road to go down.

[prob]

Small Caliber Longrifles

I built a beautiful little .32 caliber flint longrifle thinking that the smaller caliber would be ideal for hunting rabbits, etc. It's a very good shooter, but that long heavy barrel tends to make it a little uncomfortable for offhand shooting. Were I to do it again, I would go no smaller than .40 caliber, and I'd probably be inclined to go as high .45. Small caliber muzzle loaders tend not to translate well in terms of energy retention and shootability.

If you're really interested in putting together a rifle you might think about getting a catalog from Track of The Wolf. They have just about any part you'd need including flints, powder, balls, etc.

[bridgeport]

Danger: building muzzleloaders can become addicting, and act as a gateway
activity to other addictions such as carving, engraving, blacksmithing
and a whole host of other maladies purported by some to be a heck of a lot of fun.