Uh huh, you know that you don't see it being talked about much, though it was undoubtedly the most prevalent firearm on the American Frontier. Most frontiersmen weren't buffalo hunters, they predominantly hunted and ate small game, and there isn't enough left of a small game animal after being hit with a .50 caliber or larger projectile to make a decent stew. Yes, the smallbore rifle, in .30, .32, .36, or (questionably smallbore) .40 was what many people used to feed themselves and their families. Over the years, I have searched 15-20 pages deep in Google results from various related search terms & have only come up with a small handful of pitiful "discussions" concerning this subject.
I've been shooting a .44 Remington for about 25 years, and a .50 caliber inline for the last 6 or 8 years- all the while yearning for a decent smallbore rifle (they are rather scarce unless you contract a custom job). Just last weekend, I aquired a very nice Traditions Crockett in .32 from one of our members (Thanx Dennis ). From the very limited information that I could find online, it kinda looked like a person would do much better with a .36, but this deal was just too sweet to pass up & I have to say, I'm not the least disappointed (in fact, I'm quite delighted ).
I went out back this morning with a can of Pyrodex P & a can of GOEX FFFg (both cans are quite old, but have been stored properly & smelled sweet) and did some chronographing. In my other BP firearms, the Pyrodex outperformed the GOEX, with the real black powder kicking harder & giving lower velocities then the substitute. That was not the case with the smallbore rifle, as the GOEX performed nearly TWICE as well as the other (this might be attributed to the age of the powders, your mileage may vary). Here is the results that I got with patched .310 diameter, 45 grain round balls:
(*Says a quick prayer to the Formatting Gods, as I have pulled my hair out trying to post my ballistic tables here before*)
Pyrodex P
Charge (gr) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft lbs)
20..............1045............109
20..............1115............124
25..............1421............202
25..............1333............178
30..............1512............228
30..............1544............238
35..............1573............247
35..............1512............260
40..............1680............282
40..............1689............285
GOEX FFFg
Charge (gr) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft lbs)
20..............1589............252
20..............1637............268
25..............1887............356
25..............1879............353
30..............1989............395
30..............2017............407
35..............2096............439
35..............2074............430
40..............2117............448
40..............2113............446
On one of the posts that I found which spoke of this rifle, the poster made the statement "Only round balls can be shot from the Traditions Crockett". I also read in the downloaded version of the owner's manual that the charge limits were 10-25 grains of powder. The manual that came with this rifle lists charges as 20-40 grains and had no warning against using lubed bullets (in fact, it descrbes using them). So, I dropped a 165 grain lubed .32 cal bullet down the snout & gave it a trial flight. The bullet wasn't as snug as I would have liked it to be (only minimal resistence when rammed) & it wound up Keyholing at 25 yards due to lack of contact with the barrel rifling. The thinnest patch that I had felt real good until the next bullet was 3/4 of the way past the muzzle crown, then it got a tad tight for comfort so I pulled it back out while I could still grab it with a pair of dikes. That one loose fitting 165 grain bullet that I shot (with 20 grains of GOEX) went downrange with a velocity of 1729 fps, & muzzle energy of 1,096 ft lbs
All in all, this rifle met or exceeded even my wildest expectations. Not too loud, with very low recoil- even a young child would have fun shooting it. Can't wait to do it again, at ranges past 25 yards
(*Crosses fingers & pushes the "Post" button*)
I've been shooting a .44 Remington for about 25 years, and a .50 caliber inline for the last 6 or 8 years- all the while yearning for a decent smallbore rifle (they are rather scarce unless you contract a custom job). Just last weekend, I aquired a very nice Traditions Crockett in .32 from one of our members (Thanx Dennis ). From the very limited information that I could find online, it kinda looked like a person would do much better with a .36, but this deal was just too sweet to pass up & I have to say, I'm not the least disappointed (in fact, I'm quite delighted ).
I went out back this morning with a can of Pyrodex P & a can of GOEX FFFg (both cans are quite old, but have been stored properly & smelled sweet) and did some chronographing. In my other BP firearms, the Pyrodex outperformed the GOEX, with the real black powder kicking harder & giving lower velocities then the substitute. That was not the case with the smallbore rifle, as the GOEX performed nearly TWICE as well as the other (this might be attributed to the age of the powders, your mileage may vary). Here is the results that I got with patched .310 diameter, 45 grain round balls:
(*Says a quick prayer to the Formatting Gods, as I have pulled my hair out trying to post my ballistic tables here before*)
Pyrodex P
Charge (gr) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft lbs)
20..............1045............109
20..............1115............124
25..............1421............202
25..............1333............178
30..............1512............228
30..............1544............238
35..............1573............247
35..............1512............260
40..............1680............282
40..............1689............285
GOEX FFFg
Charge (gr) Velocity (fps) Energy (ft lbs)
20..............1589............252
20..............1637............268
25..............1887............356
25..............1879............353
30..............1989............395
30..............2017............407
35..............2096............439
35..............2074............430
40..............2117............448
40..............2113............446
On one of the posts that I found which spoke of this rifle, the poster made the statement "Only round balls can be shot from the Traditions Crockett". I also read in the downloaded version of the owner's manual that the charge limits were 10-25 grains of powder. The manual that came with this rifle lists charges as 20-40 grains and had no warning against using lubed bullets (in fact, it descrbes using them). So, I dropped a 165 grain lubed .32 cal bullet down the snout & gave it a trial flight. The bullet wasn't as snug as I would have liked it to be (only minimal resistence when rammed) & it wound up Keyholing at 25 yards due to lack of contact with the barrel rifling. The thinnest patch that I had felt real good until the next bullet was 3/4 of the way past the muzzle crown, then it got a tad tight for comfort so I pulled it back out while I could still grab it with a pair of dikes. That one loose fitting 165 grain bullet that I shot (with 20 grains of GOEX) went downrange with a velocity of 1729 fps, & muzzle energy of 1,096 ft lbs
All in all, this rifle met or exceeded even my wildest expectations. Not too loud, with very low recoil- even a young child would have fun shooting it. Can't wait to do it again, at ranges past 25 yards
(*Crosses fingers & pushes the "Post" button*)
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