Cabela's Blue Ridge .36 or Traditions Shenandoah .36

[squirrel-shooter]

Looking for a new squirrel rifle and the two listed in the topic are my choices so far. Both rifles are about $55 apart in price with the Traditions being the cheaper of the two.

My understanding is that the Cabela's Blue Ridge is actually produced for them by Pedersoli who also produces many of the Dixie Gunworks brand of rifles. Everything I have read about the Pedersoli line of long rifles has been pretty good, cant say the same about Traditions fourm message traffic.

The only small caliber Traditions rifle that gets a lot of good marks is the lil .32cal Crockett. Nice looking outfit, too bad its not avilable in .36 or I would grab it.

Anyway, would like to hear from anyone who owns a .36 Traditions, Cabela's, Dixie or Pedersoli rifle. Good points..Bad points etc etc.

Thanks.

squirrel-shooter

 

[OldWolf]

This is an old thread, but since I am interested in an answer, I am resurrecting it.

 

[dwave]

I can only say that the Blue Ridge I have is very well made. It is .45, but the quality should be the same. Shoots very well. Hands down in is my favorite BP rifle I have (or ever had really.)

 

[OldWolf]

Is the barrel pinned or wedged in the Blue Ridge?

The only system I am familiar with is the T/C Hawken, wedge and hooked breech. Very condusive to easy cleaning.

So, how hard is it to remove the barrel on the Blue Ridge, since, I think, it is pinned?

 

[ThomasT]

I believe the Blue Ridge is pinned. I had a 50 caliber and never removed the barrel. But i don't clean my BP rifles with water anymore anyway. I make my own cleaning solution and removal is not needed.

The blue ridge i owned was accurate. I have a Traditions that is also accurate. The resale on the BR will most likely be higher.

I had a T/C Seneca 36 cal that i stupidly sold and would love to have again. I used to shoot 38 hollow base wadcutters out of it. The hollow base acted like a mini ball. It was a hoot to shoot. The Seneca had a 1 in 30 twist. If you are not dead set on a 36 you might want to look at a 45 caliber. Thats the minimun for deer in some areas but not to big for squirrels. The 45 caliber is my favorite BP caliber.

 

[Texoma]

The barrel on the Cabelas rifle is held on with screws through the
thimbles.

 

[dwave]

Removing the Barrel on the Blue Ridge requires 4 screws to be removed. Two at the back, and 2 under the barrel. One of the screws at the back is a lock screw that goes through the back portion of the barrel.

 

[.38 Special]

I have one in .36. It's a decent gun for the price. The touchhole is too small and too thick. I thinned and enlarged it upon which the gun became 100% reliable. The barrel is a bit tight for my tastes: the standard .350 ball with a .010" patch needs to be rammed home with enough force that the ball becomes deformed. I use .345" ball in the rifle, which seats easily and is very accurate -- more accurate than I can prove with the primitive sights, I believe. The rifle is also fairly well finished. It doesn't match the level of a decent custom gun, but that can't really be expected, IMO. I don't think anyone would be dissapointed with it.

 

[Pancho]

I've got the Blue Ridge in 50 cal. flint and it is one of my favorite guns. Good quality for the money. My squirrel gun is a TC cherokee in 32 cal. I made it from a kit and it is a squirrel getter.
Someone mentioned getting a 45 cal. because it would be legal for deer in a lot of states, that's a pretty good idea. I read in the Foxfire books that the oldtimers would "Bark" a squirrel if they had to use a large cal. gun for squirrel hunting. "Barking"was aiming for the bark of the tree at the squirrel's head, the splintering bark and wood would knock the squirrel out.

 

[arcticap]

I really don't like either of them very much. Who wants to carry any unnecessary extra weight to shoot such a small caliber that hardly produces any recoil?
I have several Tradition's percussion guns and they have all been very reliable.

I did shoulder a Cabela's Blue Ridge last week at a new area store, and I think that it would be heavy in a .36, but that's just my personal opinion & preference.
My .36's have 28 inch barrels or so because .36 barrels tend to be heavier.
I was able to shoot my Traditions Frontier Gander into a 4 inch target at 50 yards after only a little load development, and it has a 27 inch heavy barrel that's 7/8's of an inch in diameter. My CVA squirrel rifle achieved comparable results with it's shorter barrel despite it's heavy trigger, and I'm not that great of a rifle shooter either.
Shooting 777 fffg for the first time ever using these guns, I tried both .015 & .018 patches with .350 round balls. It was very easy to just load and shoot many consecutive shots without any swabbing while sighting in.
I found that these shorter carbine length rifles were a pleasure to shoot. Longer barrels tend to be more problematic both loading and cleaning.

I guess if a person really desires a Kentucky length .36 rifle, then go with the Traditions. But I really think that it's styling has too much unnecessary wood and brass, and the shape of the trigger guard doesn't look to be very comfortable.

 

[marlin1888]

The Traditions .32 Crockett rifles are known to shoot very accurately

"The Traditions .32 Crockett rifles are known to shoot very accurately"

I have one of the Traditions .32 Crockett rifles with the matching .32 Crocket Pistol. The workmanship in my rifle is very nice, but the pistol isn't quite as nice. The rifle has a deep blue finish, while the pistol has a flat blue finsih. The rifle has decent accuracy, and I once won a 100-yard "off hand" black powder shoot (one shot shoot), beating out all the other larger black powder rifles. I aimed about 1-foot high and 6" left of the target frame, and hit almost dead center. Sure it was a lucky shot, but the rest of the guys were amazed at the little hole in the center of the target. My prize for the match was a western video movie (that we all watched in the club house after the match while drinking some beer .... it was a good (but rainy) day.