Best Mould for .58 Minie Ball

[bc9339]

What do you think about the Lee .58 Cal Oversized (.578-478M) minie ball? I compared the Lee 90478 mould to my batch of minie balls and it seems to be shorter and lighter than what I currently have. The ones I have measures .577 dia x 1.07 tall and weighs around 538 gs. I do not know what brand was used for my batch but it seems to be different from what I have seen from Lee and Lyman. Thanks.

Texas Phil Peeno

 

[bingo1952]

If you have a bore that measures .580 or larger it is probably a good choice short of going to a custom.

 

[paulvallandigham]

What possible need can you have to shoot a hollow based Minie ball that weighs 100 grains more than an ounce?

If you are cutting paper, in matches, then use a lighter minie ball. Not only do you have to deal with increased chamber pressures with such a heavy bullet, but the recoil is going to test your ability to NOT Flinch, and see just how accurate you can be shooting such a bullet.

 

[ResearchPress]

You don't say what rifle you are seeking to use the Minie in. My experience is with Enfield rifles. Rule of thumb is generally to use the deep based Minie in the 1:78 twist P/53 Rifle Musket and the shallow based Minie in the Short Rifles with 1:48 twist rifling.

I use an RCBS Minie in my original Short Rifle. It weighs around 560 grains. It has served me well and I have won matches at 50m offhand and 600yds prone.

Ref. Paul's comment about flinch and how accurate can you be with a heavy bullet, see the picture below.

Bull's-eye measures 50mm (approx 2") and scoring rings are at 25mm spacing.

This is 13 shots I fired offhand at 50m with the 560 grain Minie. It was in the MLAGB National Short Range Championships in 2007 and scores 97 based on the standard international rules of 13 shots in 30 minutes, best 10 to count. It is the current MLAGB National Record for the event. The previous year I scored 96.

David

 

[larry wv]

Very good job David. What kind of load did you use? Larry Wv

 

[paulvallandigham]

David: You are one of the finest rifle shooters in the world. Comparing your ability to that of a new shooter is just not fair to him at all. You might at least do him the favor of telling him your powder charge for that target. I am betting its a lot less powder than he thinks is required to fire that bullet!

And, with your experience, I know that you know how much recoil affects your ability to shoot those kinds of groups, even at 50 meters, using light loads.

 

[Stubert]

I learned to shoot with an origianal 1863 springfield 58 cal. When I bought my 1st muzzleloader in 1978, I bought a 58 cal investarms. For target loads the lyman 575213os at 460 grains was good with lower loads.(under 60 grains) for a heavy load I used the 577611 at 530 grains. It has a much thicker skirt.However, I don't think there is an animal on this continent that won't go down with a 460 gr. minnie using 60 grains of powder. The only reason I see to use a heavy charge and a heavy minnie would be to compensate for drop at longer ranges. I hunted with a .562 r/b and never recoverd one from any deer.

 

[ResearchPress]

Paul, I was not comparing my shooting to anyones. I have no idea whether Texas Phil is a new or experienced shooter and no information was presented with which to compare anything. Your original comments suggested that accurate shooting would suffer with a heavy bullet due to flinching; I merely wanted to demonstrate that good accuracy can also be had in response to your comment "see just how accurate you can be shooting such a bullet."

There's no secret to the loads I have used and they are already in various postings on Enfield shooting in these forums. At the moment we don't know what rifle Texas Phil is shooting or the rate of twist to the rifling, what distance(s) he wants to shoot at and whether he is target shooting or hunting. How appropriate my loads are to his purposes I don't know.

Notwithstanding that the target above was fired with 65 grains of a 'medium grade shooting powder' sold here in the UK by Peter J. Starley. This is a weak dirty powder, but the fouling remains soft and I can fire my 14 shots (13 match + 1 fouler) without cleaning. For 100m prone events I increase the load to 75 grains of the same powder.

For 200-600 yards I use 75 grains of TPPH (Proof House powder) and the nearest equivalent is Swiss #4 (1.5F). I've increased this load to 80 grains at 800 yards; some use heavier charges.

The bullet is dip lubed with a home made mix of 5 parts beeswax, 4 parts olive oil, 1 part Cookeen (UK equivavlent of Crisco). I don't put any lube in the base.

David

 

[paulvallandigham]

Actually, David, he did tell us he is only interested in target shooting. We have suggested to him that he might want to consider a smaller caliber rifle for shooting targets, to reduce felt recoil, and to save on money for both powder and balls.

Thanks for posting your loading data, and translating it into powders our American readers are more likely to know. You still make some very nice targets to see.

I used to have a couple of 50 yd. off-hand targets of which I was very proud, but they were damaged in some flooding, and while I could deal with the water stains, I could not abide with the mold that grew on the paper. They had to be thrown out. With most shooting sports, its not what you did yesterday, but what you do today that really matters. Its nice to have evidence, however, that at least on one day, you put it all together and shot an exceptional score. Whether you want to acknowledge it or not, You ARE one of the best shots who haunts this forum, and its always a joy to me to read your posts. :hatsoff:

 

[ResearchPress]

Oh there's certainly better calibres to use for general target practice than the .577 Minie. On the other hand the MLAGB here in the UK hold a series of matches specifically for the Enfield rifle at 50, 100, 200, 300, 500 and 600 yards. There are also other club matches, those by the NRA(GB), and internationally by the MLAIC that are specifically for military rifle. They're the events I shoot in.

David

 

[paulvallandigham]

David: Years ago, a good friend advised me that if I wanted to be a good 50 yard, Off-hand shooter, I should practice, practice, practice shooting at 100 yds, off-hand.

If we had a 600 yd. range at our disposal, I am sure he would have told me to practice at 200 yards, then increase the yardage of my practice until I was able to hit targets off-hand at the long range.

A lot of shooters don't get that.

I had some fellows come over to me when I was shooting a revolver at pop cans at 100 yards and ask me what I was doing. " Practicing" was the only answer I felt I owed them. They thought I was nuts. :shocked2: :youcrazy: :grin:

I was hitting more around the cans than I was hitting cans, then. I still hit more around the cans than I hit the cans now. :wink:

But, the misses are getting a lot closer, and the cans I hit are beginning to happen more often.

Funny, how my 25 yd, and 50 yard hand gun shooting has improved over the years. :rotf: :hatsoff:

 

[bc9339]

I have a Zoave. I bought the balls from a guy from Ebay and all I remember is that it is an improved minie (I assumed it was a Lee mould). Since I am a first time shooter I didn't think twice about the weight or lenght of the minie ball until now when I am considering to cast my own. I just bought from Ebay a Lee .58 cal oversized improved minie. When I compared the mould and my minie ball on hand that is when I noticed the major differences.