60 grains?

[Derrick Pugh]

I wanted to find out what the best powder charge is for a 58 cal springfield shooting a minnie ball, I've been loading 60 grains of pyrodex fffg.

 

[RiverRat]

I shoot a 1861 Armi Sport Springfield .58cal with a RCBS 385gr minnie over 60grs of Goex fffg. I made a 65 yard shot on a doe this past October, I hit her right through the snoot. She was giving me a frontal shot so I aimed right between her eyes. What I am try to say that I feel that 60grs of fffg did the job for me and I will stick with that load :thumbsup:

 

[Derrick Pugh]

Thanks for the reply I'm new to live fire of the weapon.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

I wanted to find out what the best powder charge is for a 58 cal springfield shooting a minnie ball, I've been loading 60 grains of pyrodex fffg.

I'll see if I can confuse you even more... (I hope I don't muddy the waters for you, but that you will get some ideas of things to try.)

If I understand you correctly, you are shooting Pyrodex P in your .58 Springfield? And are you measuring that propellant by weight or by using a black powder measure set to 60gr by volume?

I have had so-so luck with Pyrodex in the larger bores, but I would not tell anyone not to use it IF they like it and the gun shoots it well. You could try switching to Black Powder and see if it makes a difference.

I do prefer Black Powder for pretty much every muzzleloading gun, but I generally use FFg in bore sizes over .45 caliber.

The "best charge" for a Minie Bullet may not be the same for two seemingly identical guns. Typically, I might use anywhere from 50 to 70gr of FFg in a the .58 cal. military style guns. That's not to say that the most accurate load is in that weight range either. I've seen some guns shoot best with only 40gr of FFg, others might take 75gr...

One important thing to check though is, IF you are having erratic groups and are loading "heavy", you may want to try to collect a few fired bullets to see if the "skirts" on the Minies are "blowing out". Sometimes too heavy a load can distort the base of the bullet and ruin accuracy. Going with a stiffer (thicker) based Minie, may fix the problem, OR cutting back the powder charge. Sometimes even changing the bullet lube can make the difference.

Regards, and ALWAYS use a big enough gun,
WV_Hillbilly

 

[Swampman]

I'd stick with the 3F.

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

I'd stick with the 3F.

Whatever works for you... it does keep the fouling down a bit too.

Regards.
WV_Hillbilly

 

[Two Trails]

It depends on what gives you the best accuracy in that particular gun. I'd go up and down in 5 grain loads until I found out where it hits consistently. Also gives you some range time.
Two Trails