1861 bridesburgh accuracy stinks

[Gamechaser]

I've tried ball and patch, Minnie and anything else I can think of to get more accuracy and no luck

 

[2 shots]

original or repro? bore condition if original?

 

[Gamechaser]

Original gun and the Border looks pretty decent

 

[Gamechaser]

Bore

 

[Gamechaser]

Was thinking of trying roundball wrapped paper cartridges

 

[Sam squanch]

Try a wool felt wad or cream of wheat between the powder and patched ball and see if that helps any. You can get a flexible scope deal that lets you use your phone to closely examine the bore. Keep in mind these barrels were churned out as fast as the armory could forge and rifle them, so you may just have a bad one.

 

[hawkeye2]

It should shoot a minie just fine. What is your bore size and what diameter minie are you shooting? What are you using for lube? 2 or 3f of any good brand of powder should work fine. What size group (minie) are you getting now and at what range?

 

[Trot]

A few things for shooting minies. The condition of the bore in the last few inches at the muzzle is critical, this is often worn from ramrod use. You need to measure your exact bore size, use minies that are no more than .002 under bore size, and make sure they are pure lead. If the barrel is good and the minies are correct and fit the barrel, the rest is load development.

 

[dave951]

Do you KNOW your bore size? Just dropping a minie in there with a charge is not going to yield anything like accuracy. If you pay attention to the basics on minies, it will nearly always shoot acceptably well if the bore is ok.

 

[Gamechaser]

Upon some inspection the first 2 in of the muzzle are pretty bad. I have not liked it yet as I have not had time. So patching ball are probably what I will shoot.

 

[Gamechaser]

Measured

 

[Gamechaser]

Well, I measured the bore every way I could,.592. Looks like I have a nice 24 gauge shotgun. I don't see any rifling

 

[Gamechaser]

What I originally thought was rifling must have been crud.

 

[PathfinderNC]

Wait- exactly how many shots and gun cleaning sessions did you do before you realized it was a smooth bore???

 

[Gamechaser]

Didn't take long,originally it had rifling, I believe. Don't think any 1861s were smooth bore

 

[Gamechaser]

This gun was in a friend's private collection for 50+ years

 

[Sam squanch]

It was originally rifled. Many were bored smooth for sale as a cheap shotgun , but the fore ends were cut off. I’ve never seen one bored smooth with the fore end left on.

 

[Gamechaser]

Why were they bored smooth?

 

[Gamechaser]

Dumb question, shot out probably

 

[Sam squanch]

Because after the civil war, the new cartridge technology was being developed, and was becoming popular- if you could afford it! Muzzleloaders were cheap to operate. And in demand in areas far from any store. Dealers bought up thousands of obsolete civil war rifles, and modified them as shotguns for sale at low prices mail order. If you couldn’t afford a new Parker or Baker, you could get a modified 1861, 1863, or 1842 model for $2 to$4 mail order.