.36 Cal TC Seneca

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Idaholewis

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I’ve decided to get 1 of my .36 Cal Senecas out and try some patched round ball, patched RB is a whole new game to me, according to my TC manual it shows a starting load of 40 Grains 3F with a Muzzle Velocity of 1,894 fps and 518 Ft. Lbs of muzzle energy. The Max load listing is 60 Grains of 3F with a Muzzle velocity of 2,150 Fps and 667 Ft. Lbs of muzzle energy. Pretty darn impressive numbers for a nimble little ‘Squirrel’ Rifle!

I plan to start at the bottom and work my way up looking for what works best in it? Anyone have one of these Senecas, and load data that works best in yours? The balls are .350 and my patches are .015 thickness. I have 2 of these little .36 Seneca rifles, Both of mine have the Rare Seneca Tang peeps. Both bores are kinda rough, but i can see strong riflings all the way through them so they are not Sewer pipes, i have cleaned and polished both bores the best they can be done. I shot a little Maxi Ball in one of them and it shot really well (30-40 yards) These Senecas sure are neat little rifles!
 
I’ve got about everything except a .36 Seneca. I’ve got 2 .45 Seneca’s and a .45 and .32 Cherokee. If you decide to move one of your .36’s, I’m your guy!
 
I would love to find a .32 Cherokee sometime that didn’t cost an arm an a leg (wishful thinking huh? lol) I haven’t given up on it tho, I’m just not gonna pay what they are getting for them. I finally got a chance to Handle a Traditions Crockett .32 Cal, Fit and finish looked great, The bluing was DEEP and super nice, all n all I was VERY impressed with it! I would DEFINITELY buy a Traditions Crockett .32 Before i shelled out the money for a used, sight unseen .32 Cherokee. Another thought is having a .32 barrel built to fit a Seneca.
 
I bought a new, unfired .32 Cherokee barrel and then bought a very nice stock with all the hardware and wound up with the complete rifle for less than $400. Maybe not a steal, but I’m happy to have it.
 
QuinnTheEskimo said:
I bought a new, unfired .32 Cherokee barrel and then bought a very nice stock with all the hardware and wound up with the complete rifle for less than $400. Maybe not a steal, but I’m happy to have it.

That’s a good deal!! I would jump on one like that!! That is about what i have in my last .36 Seneca, The first .36 i got cheap, i paid 50 bucks for the barrel, and 245 for a Complete .45 Seneca Rifle that literally looked like brand new. Both have the Seneca/Cherokee Tang peeps which are fairly rare, and hard to find. I traded the .45 Barrel off, i was only interested in the .36 Cal Seneca’s
 
the problem now, is that snails for the cherokee/seneca are no longer available anywhere, so even to rebarrel one, you would need a donor for parts.
 
Squeeze said:
the problem now, is that snails for the cherokee/seneca are no longer available anywhere, so even to rebarrel one, you would need a donor for parts.
I emailed one of the barrel makers about making me a .32 barrel for a Seneca and that’s exactly what I was told, they’d be happy to do it but they’d need a barrel for parts.
 
Like i said, Neither of my .36 Seneca bores are perfect, Exterior finish is perfect on both, I sure wish i had been the one that bought them brand new, they would stil look like that today! I contemplated sending 1 of them to Robert Hoyt and having it bored to .40 Cal and Twisted faster to shoot pistol bullets, But both of these barrels shoot fine so I doubt I’ll do that.
 
Don't have a Seneca but have a Green Mnt. IBS .36 cal barrel for my T/C Hawken. I use a .360" ball sized to .354" with pillow ticking patches. 40 grs. of Goex red can or Schuetzen 3Fg give 1750 fps. Jumping up to 45 grs. the velocity is 1900 fps. I plan to get a pound of Olde Eynsford 3F just to try it. I have OE in 1.5 and 2F and it is great stuff in all my rifles .45 and up, so I think it will really perform in the .36 GM. A couple years ago I was at a gun auction when I spied a box of home cast .36 maxi balls. Another table down was two T/C molds, a .54 and .36 maxi. I ended getting both molds and the cast .36 maxi's for $10. With 40 grs of powder the 128gr. maxi is over 1500 fps. I prefer PRB's in the .36 but it's neat to have both.
 
admiral said:
Don't have a Seneca but have a Green Mnt. IBS .36 cal barrel for my T/C Hawken. I use a .360" ball sized to .354" with pillow ticking patches. 40 grs. of Goex red can or Schuetzen 3Fg give 1750 fps. Jumping up to 45 grs. the velocity is 1900 fps. I plan to get a pound of Olde Eynsford 3F just to try it. I have OE in 1.5 and 2F and it is great stuff in all my rifles .45 and up, so I think it will really perform in the .36 GM. A couple years ago I was at a gun auction when I spied a box of home cast .36 maxi balls. Another table down was two T/C molds, a .54 and .36 maxi. I ended getting both molds and the cast .36 maxi's for $10. With 40 grs of powder the 128gr. maxi is over 1500 fps. I prefer PRB's in the .36 but it's neat to have both.

I have a pound of Olde E i need to break out, i am hoping it will be really close to Swiss, if so i plan on Switching. I have 2 .36 Cal Maxi molds, A lyman, which is a steel mold, And an Aluminum TC that is stil new in the box. I have a BUNCH of little Maxi’s casted up from pure plumbers lead. This bullet is from the Steel Lyman mold, this plumbers lead is super soft and HEAVY
 
I picked up another .36 Seneca Barrel yesterday, i now have 3 of them, yesterday i had a machinist friend drill and tap the tang of my Renegade for my new Long Range Soule Sight, We got to talking about TC Sidelocks, He knows i have several and think highly of the Old TC’s, i told him how impressed i was with the little Seneca in .36 Cal, He popped right up and said ‘I have a Seneca Barrel over there on the counter’ Sure enough another .36 Cal! I need to find that elusive .32 Cal Cherokee
 
I just now watched this TC Seneca/Cherokee peep sell, I have seen 2 of these hit 300 bucks over the last 2 years, I’ve only seen 3 of them sell and i was the buyer of 1 of them (but NOT at that price!) I feel fortunate to have 2 of these. These peeps are in NO WAY worth this kind of money! My Williams FP Hawken, and Lyman 57SML peeps are far and away nicer. Its all about them being TC and rare to find, And This #7196 for the Seneca is by far the hardest to find. The Seneca And Cherokee have a very different tang, Short and narrow, so not just any Tang Mounted peep will work right with these rifles, I think the Lyman 57sml and the Williams would work fine if the sight base was milled down narrower to fit the Seneca/Cherokee tang, Might look kinda Bulky? But who cares, if it’s the function of the peep you are after
 
QuinnTheEskimo said:
I’ve got about everything except a .36 Seneca. I’ve got 2 .45 Seneca’s and a .45 and .32 Cherokee. If you decide to move one of your .36’s, I’m your guy!


QuinnTheEskimo, Would this .36 Cal Cherokee work, or you specifically want it to say Seneca? (They are the same thing) This one is on GB, it is a kit barrel, brand new in the box.
 
Thanks for the heads up! I think I’ll try and get that. I still want a .36 Seneca though! I prefer the Seneca stock to the Cherokee and Seneca Barrels are longer and I think it makes them look better. Don’t get me wrong, I like them both.
 
QuinnTheEskimo said:
Thanks for the heads up! I think I’ll try and get that. I still want a .36 Seneca though! I prefer the Seneca stock to the Cherokee and Seneca Barrels are longer and I think it makes them look better. Don’t get me wrong, I like them both.


Good luck, and hope you get it! The best I ever heard these 2 rifles described was from bubba.50, The Seneca is to the Hawken what the Cherokee is to the Renegade, I think that’s how he said it?

Basically The TC Seneca is a Scaled down version of their Hawken, and the TC Cherokee is a scaled down version of their Renegade.

I like both rifles, but if i were to have to choose between the 2 big guns i would take a Renegade over the Hawken, But in these small bores I REALLY like the looks of the little Seneca’s better than the Cherokee, in my opinion Both the Seneca and Cherokee are at their best in .32, or .36 Cal, The 45s have never interested me in either (hence why i traded off my .45 Seneca Barrel) When you hear of a cracked Cherokee or Seneca Stock 99.9% of the time it had a .45 Cal barrel in it when it cracked, Simply due to the Scaled down ‘Finesse’ of both they can NOT take heavy .45 loads, There is a reason TC has seperate load data SPECIFICALLY for the Seneca and Cherokee. I have a friend that knows Muzzleloaders well, he broke his Seneca Stock a year or so ago shooting a 240 Grain Maxi from the .45 Cal barrel, he was inside TC’s Load data for the Seneca, He knows his rifles well, the Lock screw was not to tight etc. You want to be VERY Cautious with your .45 Cal barrels in either the Seneca or Cherokee stocks! Again, I believe they are best suited in .32 or .36 Cal
 
Idaholewis said:
QuinnTheEskimo said:
I’ve got about everything except a .36 Seneca. I’ve got 2 .45 Seneca’s and a .45 and .32 Cherokee. If you decide to move one of your .36’s, I’m your guy!


QuinnTheEskimo, Would this .36 Cal Cherokee work, or you specifically want it to say Seneca? (They are the same thing) This one is on GB, it is a kit barrel, brand new in the box.

42B063B4-45B2-4F98-9325-747560CACCB6.jpeg
Got it. Now I’m going to have to pick up another Cherokee stock.....
It’s a vicious cycle. :D
 
QuinnTheEskimo said:
Idaholewis said:
QuinnTheEskimo said:
I’ve got about everything except a .36 Seneca. I’ve got 2 .45 Seneca’s and a .45 and .32 Cherokee. If you decide to move one of your .36’s, I’m your guy!


QuinnTheEskimo, Would this .36 Cal Cherokee work, or you specifically want it to say Seneca? (They are the same thing) This one is on GB, it is a kit barrel, brand new in the box.

42B063B4-45B2-4F98-9325-747560CACCB6.jpeg
Got it. Now I’m going to have to pick up another Cherokee stock.....
It’s a vicious cycle. :D


AWESOME!!! I checked it earlier and i didnt see any bids on it? For a brand new unfired .36 Cherokee/Seneca barrel that is about as good a deal as you will likely find. And buying these small bore barrels used is a crapshoot at best, they seem to be the most neglected, at least in my experience. As i said erlier Both of my .36 Seneca bores are kinda rough, but they both seem to shoot good. I can see strong riflings all the way through, it sickens me each time i shoot clean them, had i of been the original owner they would stil look brand new

I really think I will end up buying a little Traditions Crockett .32 Cal Rifle, After getting to handle 1 i was really impressed with it! The bluing was by far the richest, nicest job I’ve ever seen on a Muzzleloader, and the little rifle just handled well.
 

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