.32 Crockett Rifle

[MattRaymond]

So I’ve been wanting one of these guns for awhile. I shoot mostly larger calibers and a few years back I got a Pedersoli Pennsylvania Flintlock in .45 and kinda caught the smaller caliber bug. Anyway, I’d been around Crockett rifles for awhile now and guy’s at my shooting club have them and love em. One of those buddies happened to be moving and was thinning his heard and his nearly new Crockett was too good to pass up. I gave it a good cleaning and polish, bore is perfect...the guy was meticulous with his guns and he said he only shot this one a few times. 

I wasn’t too keen on the aluminum ramrod that they come with and I had a long hickory rod lying around so I made up a proper rod for it. I’ll be taking it to the range on Saturday to see how she shoots. Should be ready for squirrel season in no time

 

[exMember]

Good looking rifle! I've been wanting one of those for foxes and yotes!

 

[MattRaymond]

They make maxi balls in .32 with some decent weights. Heck, with a .32 maxi with enough powder behind it, you could make clean kills on damn near anything...where legal....45 caliber and up here in MA for big game.

 

[mark1945]

Ive only shot round balls in mine, might have to give the maxi's a try didnt know someone made them . Have to track some down .

 

[MattRaymond]

Track of the Wolf sells em in .32. The internet has mixed reviews, they’re around 125 grains.

 

[mark1945]

I looked them up found them on ToW site Maybe next time I order something from them I will add some of them just to play with .

 

[Idaholewis1]

The little Crockett’s are COOL Little Rifles, and VERY Capable of MUCH more than one might think? They are more than a .22 Magnum, by a decent amount!

 

[MattRaymond]

I will order a box of conical bullets from Track next time I’m ordering as well. Bigger is generally better, but I would imagine that a 125 grain conical with 20-25 grains of 777 behind it would be enough to penetrate a thick hide, a rib bone or two, and continue on to the pump station of large game. You just really need to wait for a broadside shot and be careful of shot placement. I wouldn’t think twice about shooting a deer with a 30/30 within 75 yards, probably pretty similar power.

 

[Muley Hunter]

A few years back I was going to buy one for squirrel hunting. Mepps will buy squirrel tails. They use them to make their lures.

 

[Idaholewis1]

A few years back I was going to buy one for squirrel hunting. Mepps will buy squirrel tails. They use them to make their lures.

I think that would be a DARN BLAST to do!! Right down to Skinning the Squirrels  It Wouldn’t cost a Fortune to get in to it. I see they sell this little Rifle finished, or a Kit, A kit would be a Fun Winter Project :Red tup:

 

[Buck Conner1]

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We use to use TC's in .36 cal and custom built small bores, killed more rabbits, squirrels and mule deer at close range with these guns. Best part was a very low report when shot, didn't seem to spook the other game. 

On over 10,000 acres after a few years we had to stop as our game was way down in numbers from 4-5 guys shooting every weekend.  :cheers: 

Laid off for a few years on the squirrels and rabbits and started working on other game, turkeys, quail and other game birds (catch them roosting, easy shots). Coyotes are harder to put down than most game, those little balls had their work cut out for them on those dogs. Wild dogs are the hardest to shut down - wireee ....  :|

 

[Marty1]

A friend of mine has a .32 muzzleloader.   It's a real blast to shoot!.  Kinda like a BB Gun on steroids  :lol: Obviously not legal for most "big" games species... but would be really fun to hunt  with on smaller game where legal.

 

[MattRaymond]

Shot the Crockett today at 25 yards. It was way low so I had to file a bit off the front site. Started with 15 grains of 3f Goex-.310 ball-.015 pillow ticking patch lubed with Frontier Lube. Accuracy was not great and was shooting a bit to the right and low. Made some rear sight adjustments and it was centered up more or less but still a bit low. Did a penetration test on a small block of 2x4, entered, and split the wood but didn’t pass through, accuracy still not great. Bumped the powder up to 25 grains...what a difference! The group shrank to about the size of a 1/2 dollar and at point of aim consistently. No miss fires at all, or hang fires. Penetration test on a 2x4 at 30 yards sent the ball clean through like butter!  The little gun shoots great and I will likely work up a load  for it using .315 balls, and 3f 777 powder in the near future.  One issue I ran into was that the spent cap tends to get stuck in the hammer cup after most shots.  Not really an issue, just kind of annoying. I saw a little burr in there so maybe if I smooth it out in there, it’ll help with that issue. It’s a fun little gun to shoot for sure.

 

[exMember]

thats what that deep hammer cup is for, keep those caps from exploding into pieces, in your eyes/face.

25gr 3f is a good hot load for sure! Im considering this 32 instead of the 17 for foxes.

 

[mark1945]

Jonathan If your like me you wont really be happy until you have both of them. Its completely impossible to have enough guns.

 

[Marty1]

thats what that deep hammer cup is for, keep those caps from exploding into pieces, in your eyes/face.

25gr 3f is a good hot load for sure! Im considering this 32 instead of the 17 for foxes.

My friend used 25 grains of FFF and a .310 round ball with a .015 patch in his .32 smoker.

 

[MattRaymond]

That’s the combo the gun seems to like 25 grains of 3f BP. I’m gonna keep the patch and ball combo the same and try 15-20 grains of 3f 777 next. Should be plenty of power and easy cleanup.

I was a little concerned with fouling with the small bore and BP, but it wasn’t bad at all.

 

[Hanshi]

The .32 can go from mild to WILD and take anything from dump rats to bobcats.  But I'm a true believer in using the right gun for the job at hand.  My Crockett came with a wood ramrod and I used it quite a bit and it didn't break.  I did make a rod for the woods just to spare the wooden one.  I used only black powder and .311" home cast ball.  My best load was 30 grains of 3F, pillow ticking patch lubed with Hoppes.  That load was my hunting load and took its share of squirrels.  20 grains was nearly as accurate.  The 30 grain load gave consistent sub 1" 5 shot groups at 44 to 50 yards; I never tried it past 50.  The bore didn't need wiping between shots, loading was a breeze and cleaning in the evening was quick.

It got a lot of use over the years; but at some point I decided I just had to have a .32 in flint.  I sold the Crockett and had a flintlock built, a very nice flintlock.  But it has never shot better or done anything the Crockett wouldn't do.  I miss that little rifle.  You have a wonderful little .32 that wants to please you and be your woods companion, treasure it.
 

 

[Muley Hunter]

thats what that deep hammer cup is for, keep those caps from exploding into pieces, in your eyes/face.

25gr 3f is a good hot load for sure! Im considering this 32 instead of the 17 for foxes.

 Now you're talking.

 

[LR]

I am going to order a Crockett rifle, hopefully, this week.  I am also going to attempt to do some predator hunting with mine for foxes, coyotes and small game too.  These rifles have amazing reviews.