Squirrel hunting early american style

[Jack]

There were no small arms?
I doubt that like H***
In the 1600's, if you really are interested in that far back, a rifle was a real rarity- almost all long guns were smoothbore. Load with a ball for deer, shot for small game. And everyone had a long gun. Most long guns (smoothbore) were .69 or .72 caliber, and did very well as shotguns.
Rifled barrels weren't common until the 1800's, and the rifles of the early 1800's were relatively small bore- like .32. Lead was expensive, so small balls were used.
It wasn't until people started going west of the Mississippi that you start to see larger bore rifles- like .50's, etc.