squirrel hunting with 1851 Navy?

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Magwa45

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Considering a new cap and ball revolver, Dragoon, 1860 Army, and then thought of an 1851 Navy for plinking and squirrel hunting. That .36 caliber should be just the thing for small game. Can you get point of aim = point of impact with the 1851? I use kentucky windage and shoot low with my 1858 New Army to get on target. Just wonder if there are any small game hunters out there using the percussion revolver. The .44 revolvers might be a little to big for that, unless you can get a head shot and that would probably remove the head, no?
 
OMG you and GOTC need to go talk to each other. next think your going to talk about squirel oysters again
 
I just recently got back into BP revolvers after about 10yrs, I used to use my .36 army police fairly often for rabbits, its a bit hard to do at first due to the sites, but after you shoot it enough you know where to point.

The .36 did well, not to much meat damage at all really. I also really dont think that on a rabbit a .44 would really mash em to bits if the shot was placed well. on a squirrel you better be a good shot ;)

Ive gotten a .44 navy, a .31 pocket in the last month or so and have a .44 rem on the way and plan on the 5 1/2 in .36 so Ill be able to see what does what better. The .44 may end up as my Jackrabbit/snowshoe buster.

Its very fun, a bit slower on the reload (i miss alot) but your meat will come preseasoned with a nice smokey charcoal flavor.:D

Good luck
 
I'm not a hunter, but my Uberti London Navy is the only one of my Colt repros that does shoot to point of aim inside of about 75 yards. It's dead on around 20 yards or so with a stout load.
 
The Navy .36 should be accurate enough for head shots out to about 30 feet if you can hold steady enough. When I was a kid (50+ years ago) I would shoot rats and pigeons in the barn using my Uncle's London Navy Colt loaded with about 5 grains of FFFg and two 3/8 diameter harness leather disks. To shoot pigeons in the rafters I had to rest the barrel on something solid, but a body shot was deadly and the roof wasn't damaged. Headshots on big corn-fed Norway rats (squirrels with a naked tail) at 15 feet were equally deadly. This pistol did have a taller front sight installed but still required me to hold under a bit at close range.
 
I used to use my '61 navy for jackrabbits and ground squirrels. I shot at the jacks in the winter when the snow would outline them better. The ground squirrels would sometimes pop up out of their holes just a few feet away. I remember keeping the first chamber filled with #6 shot (12 grs powder, cardboard wad, all the shot I could get in the chamber, & another cardboard wad for the rattlers that were also hunting the squirrels. I managed to kill one squirrel with the "snake load" when it popped up on an oak tree trunk about 6 ft away. I already had the gun out so I did a smooth swing as I cocked it and as soon as I saw fur I touched it off. He hung onto the bark for a few seconds then fell to the ground.
The 36s & 44s will not ruin meat like a high velocity round so whichever caliber you can shoot the best is the best. I got one duck out of the air with that gun too.
 
Nothing wrong with using a .36 for squirrels and rabbits. I'vd used a '49 Pocket .31 to hunt squirrels and rabbits for years. That's the truth. I really have. I still remember that the squirrels were easier to hit when I first started. It took me awhile (several weeks) before I could hit anywhere near consistent on the rabbits. They were mostly always flushed and jumping pretty fast. I learned though... Down here in Alabama (I don't see many coon's in Wyoming and Montana. Plenty of them there; I just don't get after them much) and down in Louisiana I'vd coon hunted with my .31 several times. It only has the 4 inch barrel but it'll carry on up there to them. I'vd knocked their asses out of the top of some mighty tall trees. Shot clean through most of them...Yeah, that .36 will work for you just fine. Plenty of power there for all your small game needs. I'vd never shot or had my hands on a .36 (don't care anything about messing around with a .36) but I know it's stronger than the .31 and the .31 itself will do a fine job....
 
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I don't know about YOUR Navy, but mine wasn't even close to accurate enough for squirrel hunting. I'll take my Ruger Mk 2 or my TC Contender with scoped 10" .22 match barrel, thanks.

My Ruger Old Army is almost accurate enough for squirrel hunting and, God knows, it's got enough power. LOL! Still, I can put 10 rounds into an inch at 50 yards easily with those other two. With the contender, it's more like 1/2" at 50 yards. That's more accurate than all, but two of my rimfire rifles! That's what you need to head shoot squirrel with.
 
My .31 Remmy does good to hit a paper plate at 25. LOL Neither it, nor my Navy, were/are high quality. The .31 is a brass framed ASM built CVA. It's rather tight and well timed, pretty impressive, not that accurate, though. Its intent was close range defense back in the day. Hunting squirrel with it would be akin to hunting squirrel with a .25 pocket auto, LOL. I expect a decent quality .36 navy like a Uberti could shoot pretty well. Mine was a brass frame cheapo bought 35 years ago and worn out 25 years ago.

I've thought about working up a light load for my Hawken using a cast .44 or .45 bullet and a sabot for squirrels. It'd be a bit much, but maybe a near miss would bark one.

Oh, btw, on the POA/POI thing, both those reproductions shot way high. On the .31, I cut a piece of brass brazing rod for a sight and replaced the bead, cut to length, now shoots pretty much POA even if it ain't real accurate.
 
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Can't say anything there McGunner. Don't know anything about an ASM or whatever. My .31 (Colt [Uberti] 1849 Pocket .31) shoot's high but I learned to compensate for that. Now I'm so used to where to hold it I just shoot and don't even have to think about it. It is very accurate though. If I do my part it'll damn sure do it's part. All those revolvers take some working with. The '58's come ranged in for somewhere between like 75 to 80 yards. It took me about 2 years to learn how to hit with the Walker. ('47 I call it most of the time) I'vd got a Pietta blued steel Target Model (.44 of course) but I don't hardly ever shoot it. I carry the color case hardened with the laser checkered grips most of the time if I'm using a '58. But I'vd always had good luck with my .31 for squirrels and rabbits and 'coons. I'vd even killed a couple of ol' mangy assed timber wolves with it that kept trying to get too close to my camp. I'vd heard lot's of people do some serious complaining about the Remington .31. Never had my hand's on one so just have to take their word I guess....
 
GOC, appreciate hearing about your '49 Pocket. Do you use one of those cylinder reloaders? How do you handle that in the field? It just seems that a big advantage to something like the 1851 Navy is the loading lever. Just seems like it would be a real pain w/o the loading lever. Do you carry a few extra cylinders when you head out to the woods?
 
Magwa45
doesn't seem to mater what you use just make sure you can shoot it very well and use head shots. as far as reloading, their are two ways to hunt (1) fill your limit or (2) I was raised to make each shot count and take what you need and no more.
 
Magwa45. You may have the Colt 1849 Pocket .31 mixed up with an earlier version of it that Colt first produced. The first model did not have a loading lever. The '49 Pocket does have a loading lever..
 
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McGunner, good morning. I was just getting ready to send you a post..Yes, the '49 will do good for you, but you can forget about making all those head shots with a .31 that people keep talking about here. You may get lucky on that sometimes but you know as well as I do that if you're going to make consistant head shots you need a damn good .22 rifle with a good scope on it, and even then those head shots are mighty few and far between.. The '49 will get the squirrel very easily if you know how to shoot the gun. It's plenty accurate enough, but I don't understand why these people have got the idea here that all of us are David Crockett or Daniel Boone....
 
Well, actually, I probably wouldn't hunt with it, but if it's got better accuracy than my Remmy .31, that's reason enough. And, well, since that brass frame Navy stretched beyond hope, I haven't owned an open top revolver. I've thought of getting a steel frame .36 Navy, too. I'm tossing around what I might get in BP next. Heck, I got this flintlock itch I haven't scratched, either, LOL! But, if it's as accurate as you are saying, it'd be useful as an outdoor tool, for sure. The Remington really isn't. It's an up close defensive tool of last resort. I mean, if primers become extinct and I can't get ammo, my 9mm is going to be worthless. LOL The .31 would beat pepper spray IMHO.

I do have accurate .22s for hunting, both rifle and handgun. My Mk 2 and my TC both have 2x scopes on 'em and the challenge to a head shot is getting a steady hold in the field. That's sorta what I like about handgun hunting, the extra challenge, but the things are accurate. That don't mean they shoot themselves, though. :D
 
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