58 Caliber Minies?

[Pritchett Ball]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Rule #1...Listen to Curt!

Hey, having .575" bullets (Minies) loaded down a .581" bore can prove to be frustrating! You need to know the bore diameter of your rifle, and have minies sized to 1-2 thousandths under that diameter.

I ran into that problem with a Lee Minie Ball Mould that cast at .575, and my ArmiSport Enfield shot them all over the place! I then got the idea to paper patch around the base of those bullets, place lube on the paper, and could at least get in the black at 100yards. I then bought a Rapine Old-style mould, at .580", and can get great results IF I weigh my bullets to as closely equal weights, (bullets segregated to weight groupings) and load equally the same each time. I have several sizing dies, to help accomodate differing bore diameters of friends rifles/muskets when we do get together to live fire.

Email me personally, Kdallyrm@aol.com I may be of help.
Respectfully:

Kevin Dally
PS. Careful about live firing AND reenacting with the same gun...those pesky blown rings can become a projectile!

[Tom Ezell]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

There's going to be a big difference, depending on whether you just want a couple of minies to pass around for Show-&-Tell, just to blast downrange, or if you're going to be entering competitive matches or shoot for accuracy. It's easy to get disappointed in a hurry if you aren't pretty meticulous about your ammunition.

To re-emphasize what Curt said, there is a wide variance in the tolerance as to bore diameter for the Italian repro guns. My ten-year-old Enfield shoots well with a .570 minie; but in the same model gun, an Armi-sport purchased in 2004 as a company loaner gun, the same minie can't even be inserted in the bore. Take a little time to have the bore of your weapon closely measured, then buy a mold to fit. Don't be surprised if you go through nearly a dozen molds, as our group did, to find the optimal bullet. Even then, we found that different guns of the exact same model (same thing, Armi-sport Enfield), different purchases shot differently with each bullet.

And as Kevin mentioned, the purer lead is softer, and with a "hot" powder charge you can run into the problem of a part of a skirt melting off in your bore to come flying out at an inopportune time. My ultimate solution was to get my live fire yearnings worked out with an M1841 and patched round ball, though Miss Slippy does right well with minies as well... making the minies buzz just like a mad hornet, incidentally.

Use as pure a lead as you can come up with -- not wheel weights! -- if you plan to shoot minies. Wheel weights do make an okay patched round ball, though...

And then there's the problem of coming up with the best powder charge, but I'll leave that for another day ;-)

[Bill]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

You can buy pure lead at most plumbing supply shops. When in doubt, use the finger nail test. Your nail will cut into pure lead.

Live firing is a lot like reenacting. You can get as involved as you wish and there are different aspects of that Hobby too. As an example, I shoot only standard military loads, which means I'll never be as accurate as the folks who shoot in NSSA competitions.

[Dreamer42]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Thanks, Curt, for the clarifycation. I didn't intend to imply that the average CW soldier spent his evenings squating over a fire molding bullets. But, rather, one can appreciate what it took to take game, defend one's family, etc. - indeed, understand the slower pace and attention to details resulting in a high quality product - compared to today's fast-pace world. I dare say most rural lads knew what it meant to cast lead by the time they were adults.

"IMHO, the biggest problem with "store bought" bagged "Minies" is that there is often a lack of quality as time is money and packaging the requisite number in a bag is more important than the individual quality of each Minie.
It is not unusual to find Minies that have been cast from too cold a mould, or that the lead was not at the proper temperature when poured. While wrinkles effect accuracy, the greater danger is that the wrinkles are bad enough to be separated. When such a segmented Minie is fired, it is blown into segments- and the skirt or pieces of the bullet can be forced back into the breech end where it may become a projectile the next time a blank reenactment round is fired from the same gun. " - Curt
My sentiments exactly.

I have found my .575 ball shoots very good at 150 yds. - lucky onthe first buy, I guess.

BTW, I wish I could shoot N/SSA, but can't so I relegate my rounds to two groups A) "plinking" and B) those that I measure more accurately for hunting so I'm more consistant. Good luck.

P.S. Don't forget to lube that minnie - another discussion, I suppose.

- Jay Reid
9th Texas/165th NY

[Minieball577]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

You can buy pure lead at most plumbing supply shops. When in doubt, use the finger nail test. Your nail will cut into pure lead.

Live firing is a lot like reenacting. You can get as involved as you wish and there are different aspects of that Hobby too. As an example, I shoot only standard military loads, which means I'll never be as accurate as the folks who shoot in NSSA competitions.

I shoot a standard military load in the N-SSA and seem to be pretty accurate. Enough to make it in their "Expert" category. Some of the 'shooters' there tend to forget that Mr. Burton and similar folks did a great deal of experiementing with the arms and perfected the system around 1856 or so.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Hallo!

Very true.. but

A sized 325 grain . 578 Semi Wad cutter pushed by 36 grains of FFF in a glass-bedded,
.580 multi groove 1:72 twist barrel shoots a quarter size group, benched at 50 yards on a windless day.
;) :) :) :) :)

Curt

[Minieball577]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Hallo!

Very true.. but

A sized 325 grain . 578 Semi Wad cutter pushed by 36 grains of FFF in a glass-bedded,
.580 multi groove 1:72 twist barrel shoots a quarter size group, benched at 50 yards on a windless day.
;) :) :) :) :)

Curt

Your comedy is clearly recived, I thought I was on the wrong board for a minute. ;)

I'll venture this as a guess. Skrimishing in the N-SSA is a lot like reenacting in the sense that you get out of it what you want to, and what you put into it. To me, the technical goo you have included vs what was historically correct is the equivalent or perhaps an entention of the Farb-mainstreamers vs. C/P/H discussions I so often read on boards like this.

[Gary of CA]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

The only reason to buy a minie-ball is to see what works well in your gun. Once you determine the diameter and weight, then you buy the mould. That way you won't have a dozen moulds laying around with only one being used. It's much cheaper to cast your own than to buy them too.

I'm fortunate in that I have English made Parker Hale Enfields and a Parker Hale Enfield mould (made by RCBS).

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Hallo!

Yes, apples and oranges.... :)

However, If the Italians were not so consistently "loose" with calibre, all we would need to do is order .575 "Old Style" 505 grain Minies or moulds to cast them and be done with it.. ;) :)
Assuming no one made swaged ones... ;)

Curt

[Bob 125th NYSVI]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Dixe Gun works has them and ships them via the mail.

You can order online.

Bob Sandusky
Co C 125th NYSVI
Esperance, NY

[Tyler Gibson]

Re: 58 Caliber Minies?

Try the good folks at Lyman Reloading. they might have something for that. its been a long time sience ive bought ready made ammo, but thats where I got it from