I have a new L&R lock to make a mule ear percussion rifle. I am wondering if I should get aboth. 32 or 36 barrel? I have a 32 Douglas XX with flint breech to set up an underhammer with. I want to set up a slim, almost Bedford County-esque 32 in the side slapper. I have the trigger and a side plate for the Mule ear and a piece of finely tiger striped maple for it. Would it be all that hard to make an interchangeable barrel in 32 and 45? I think the minimum for deer in Misery is 40 but I also have a 45 Douglas XX barrel just waiting. Be Well, RZ.

I have a Squirrel rifle assembled but far from finished. Too busy to work on my own guns. It's a 28 cal golden age flintlock. It's built but no carving is done yet. I inlayed a Jack Rabbit instead of a squirrel on the cheek [piece because we have no squirrels here. Should be good for winter cottontails however.

I have a TC Cherokee with both .32 and .45 barrels. Swapping barrels is as easy as driving out the wedge pin and lifting the barrel off. The .32 barrel fouls pretty fast. Looking back, I wish I had a .36 barrel instead of the .32.

For years I shot a Bedford style rifle built by a local maker in .40 calibre. Killed everything from squirrels to deer to hogs with it. Last rifle I built i was a .40 flintlock.

For me. I prefer to have separate rifles. Instead of swapping barrels. But I’m kinda a rifle slut. 😁

Well last night I got to cast some balls and this morning I finally got around to zeroing the 28 caliber flinter in. I have a .273" ball mold and I used a .016" patch and 12 grains of 4F. Zeroed at 20 yards. Seems like a good distance for a Bunny/Squirrel rifle to me. I was shooting into the sun so seeing my sights was hard, but over a rest I still got my last 4 shots into a target the size of a penny.

So now I am ready to get back on stock carving and engraving, but I get very little time to work on my own guns. I hope to have it all done by Christmas time.

I have 2 friends who come to my land every Christmas season for our bunny hunts for the holiday rabbit curry, and we have done that every Christmas/New Years season for years. Most years we have snow and we tromp around the brush and rocks trying to find cottontails for the feast to come.
I want to use the little flinter this year, but I'll just have to see if I can work it in.

Sounds like a sweet gun Szihn. Send us a pictures when you can. Be Well, RZ.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA by .com/photos/156296479@N08/]Steve Zihn, on [bleep]
These 2 pics are a year old. The rifle now has a running jack-rabbit inlay in the cheek piece. I need to do the stock carving and finish and also the metal engraving and last I'll rust blue the barrel and trigger bar, temper blue the highlights and polish out the lock plate. All that will take me many hours and extra time is not something I have a lot of . So I hope to get it done in the next 6 months, but that's only a "maybe"

You guys make me want a Bedford rifle.
Guess I should, living here in Bedford and all.

Mr. Zihn, I am in awe of your skills. Thanks. Yes a Bedford County rifle in flint would be a great gun. In 40 cal it is legal for deer and would be good for any small game in the state of Misery. Be Well, RZ.

If I were to have a rifle with a .45 and a smaller bore barrel, I'd use the smallest safe .45 barrel size, and a larger bore for the squirrel barrel. That way the smaller diameter bore barrel wouldn't be too much heavier. A .32 or a .36 will both tear up small game if you don't hit them in the head or neck. The .36 is a bit easier to deal with in my opinion, and would allow for a slightly larger ram rod you can still use on the .45.