The enfield is .577, but a .58 works just fine. Only problem I had with mine was finding the front sight. Eyes aint what they use to be so I had a taller one put one. Works beautifully and when it connects with a whitetail they do not go far, usually straight up and straight down. Beautiful weapon to shoot.
No damn man kills me and lives...Nathan Bedford Forrest
I'm thinking a heavier wax on the base of the bullet might hold it better; maybe dip it in some beeswax? Start it with a ball starter, wipe off the excess wax, and then ramrod it on in? I'd look in the Dixie catalog and see what bullet lubes they have and recommend - it is a very valuable reference. Maybe the North-South Skirmish Association (NSSA) has a website with more info? I can't think you would ever carry it in true muzzle-down mode unless you were in the rain which- good luck with that!
I had a friend who purchased a Parker Hale Enfield Artillery Musket in the 90's, and he was never happy with the accuracy. I think he was trying to use minies purchased from a commercial source, and did not cast them.
Dont want to start trouble, but here goes my experience, like it or not (I am sure this will elicit an array of differing opinions). Just like black powder cartridge, my view is that you have to get a decent quality rifle/musket, and then get a bullet mold that is a good fit for your rifle or musket barrel, and then learn the art of proper lead casting, something that takes time to get right.
I purchased a 2 band Parker Hale also from late 90's, and it was not very accurate for me with Navy minies and several others purchased from a variety of sources. It would not shoot into a "pie plate" or a gallon jug at 100yds, despite many minie and powder charge combinations and long hours at the range. My research subsequently indicated that the original muskets, and the earlieir versions of modern Parker Hales, had barrels with "progressive" rifling or "gain twist" rifling that made them more accurate. I believe the later versions of Parker Hales, just like other Italian replicas, do not have that type of rifling, which is more expensive to manufacture. That makes them more difficult to shoot accurately. Apparently the standard back in the 1860's was that the musket should be able to shoot minies into 4 inch or less groups at 100 yd (like 3 or 5 shots without cleaning bet shots). That is a pretty high standard for a musket, even a rifled musket. Something that mine or my friend's Parker Hale would never do.
The guys that shoot in NSSA competition regularly have worked out the right combination of muskets or rifles and lead projectiles to be accurate for competition. Some of them have acquired actual original civil war era muskets, having barrels with progressive rifling in good condition that they shoot. Several of them told me you have to keep your loads down around 50 gr black powder for best accuracy in competition. The NSSA business is a very specialized game, farily close knit group of folks, and none of them want to complain about any of the replicas as I think they consider that bad form, and maybe it is. From my experience if you have a musket that will shoot minies into 4 inches, or a pie plate, or a gallon jug at 100yd, you are doing great and should be very happy. There you have my view, YMMV, so now you can correct me, tell me how I should have done it, or flame away as you will.
Last edited by Hefights; 03-27-2011 at 02:54.
Again I thank everyone for the info. As soon as it warns up a little here I will go to the range. again thanks.
Let me just add one more thing....2 cents worth. Yes, I do know they were designed to shoot Minies. But I never got mine to shoot very well with them.
One thing I do know about is shooting round balls out of those things. Suggest you buy several 1/4 yard swatches of linen and get a good micrometer. One thickness is going to work the best with a given brand of round ball. You want to have an experienced muzzle loader shooter show you how to cut the patch and how to lube it. Then shoot the piece for group at 25 yards with a variety of loads. To get consistent accuracy you want the rifle to crack. It's going to take somewhere over 50 grs. to get good accuracy.
When the grease grooves are properly lubed, there should be no problem with them staying in place. My PH carbine has a .577 bore and is a great shooter with RCBS mini balls. I have always had better luck with the RCBS bullets than the Lyman bullet.
Thanks for the info.Originally Posted by musketshooter
I shoot N-SSA the website is www.n-ssa.org. With minnies you need to know your bore size and size your minnie to .001 to .002 under bore size for best accuracy. As far as lube you can use everything from plain crisco, crisco and beeswax, to prepared lubes like mcm and lens lube. I am currently using crisco/ beeswax for hot weather and plain crisco for colder. Register with the N-ssa website and youll get great info. If its a repro gun there are things you can do to make the gun shoot better like a trigger job and bedding the barrel to how tight you make you the tang screw.
Mack
hitler, stalin and mao were progressives in their time
British made parker hale barrels have progressive depth rifling the muzzle is tighter than the rest of the bore. the minnie has to be small enough to go into the muzzle then when fired will expand into the rifling and be squeezed down as it travels down the bore iirc correctly they may also be gain twist also. If you cant get it to shoot with proper sized minnies than you mave a skirt stuck in the breech area or the nipple might need to replaced. also see the other tips for getting it to shoot i posted above.
Mack
hitler, stalin and mao were progressives in their time
Thank you for the info.
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