Paper patch roundball in a civil war musket?

jrweis1997 · Wednesday at 10:28 AM

I have an 1861 springfield that I really enjoy shooting but it does get kind of boring shooting alone after a while id say. There are a bunch of shoots by me in western PA that I would like to shoot at that are roundball only which puts me in a bit of a bind with my 1861. Has anyone ever fired roundball paper cartridges out of a civil war musket? I had some .570 balls I tested it with that were basically impossible to get down the bore with paper around them. Reading about the 1842 rifles it looks like they shot .662 balls out of a .69 cal bore so I was thinking maybe I should try a .550 ball. Just curious if anyone here has given this a try I think ill pick up a box of balls and test out and if it goes well ill have to get myself a mold.

Nobade · Wednesday at 12:24 PM

Why not use cloth patches? My '61 shoots great with a. 570" ball and ticking patch. Or is this a speed competition where you need to use cartridges?

Rifleman1776 · Wednesday at 12:31 PM

I once had an original CW musket I shot patched round balls from very successfully. No need to reinvent the wheel.

jrweis1997 · Wednesday at 12:37 PM

Nobade said:
Why not use cloth patches? My '61 shoots great with a. 570" ball and ticking patch. Or is this a speed competition where you need to use cartridges?

ive done patched as well i think it would just be neat to be able to shoot cartridges too

dave951 · Thursday at 7:02 AM

jrweis1997 said:
I have an 1861 springfield that I really enjoy shooting but it does get kind of boring shooting alone after a while id say. There are a bunch of shoots by me in western PA that I would like to shoot at that are roundball only which puts me in a bit of a bind with my 1861. Has anyone ever fired roundball paper cartridges out of a civil war musket? I had some .570 balls I tested it with that were basically impossible to get down the bore with paper around them. Reading about the 1842 rifles it looks like they shot .662 balls out of a .69 cal bore so I was thinking maybe I should try a .550 ball. Just curious if anyone here has given this a try I think ill pick up a box of balls and test out and if it goes well ill have to get myself a mold.

Hook up with the N-SSA if you want to shoot competition with a team.

rmark · 2024-11-22T21:11:39-0500

The round ball paper cartridge was used with smooth bore muskets, the paper held the ball in place on the powder and took up some of the excess windage between the ball and barrel. It didn’t impart spin to the ball since there was no rifling.

IIRC, the 1841 Mississippi rifle was loaded with separate cloth patch and ball.

rmark · 2024-11-22T21:54:08-0500

I think some of the later 1842 Springfields were rifled but used a .69 minie bullet.

Paper patch roundball in a civil war musket?

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