Best way to lube swaged bullet

[paulmarcone]

I found this on Track of the Wolf:

24 gauge, .589" ideal for .579" bore, .025" over shot card, 1000 count.

Seems just what the doctor ordered.

 

[paulmarcone]

Using the overshot card, how many grains of 2F Goex would you recommend?

Thanks guys.

 

[poordevil]

I have shot the smooth sided minnie since 1974 in my Parker-Hale musketoon. I melt 50/50 bees wax and mutton tallow. I have my mixture in a pan where it stays and put in another pan of water to heat. When it is all melted I dip the skirt in the mixture. Simple. I use plastic powder tubes. Put in the powder then the ball and dip. Or just dip the ball. I have done it this way for 30 years. I shot a buffalo in Wyoming in 2007 with my Prichitte ball from my 30+ year old mould and 70 gr of 3FFFg powder.

I have also used paper patch for a while and stopped, as I found not real bennifit to doing so.

 

[Jerry Coffee]

If you fill the cavity of a .575" swaged Pritchett style minie ball with lube instead of using a lubed paper patch, you can use over-shot blackpowder shot shell cards between the base of the minie and the powder load to prevent contamination of the powder with lube. I have not tried the cards or the .575" Pritchett style minies yet but I plan to try this lube arrangement this spring. However, be prepared for leading of the bore.

I purchased a bag of 1,000 over-shot cards for a 24 ga.(.579" bore) BP shot shells. Those are .025" thick X .589" diameter which is just the size for a .577" Enfield rifle bore. After loading the Enfield with 50 gr. 3f BP, push the card into the muzzle with your thumb and then load a lubed .575" Pritchett style minie ball on top of the card. An alternative way to prepare the minie ball is to glue the over-shot shell card to the base of the minie but I feel sure the card will not stick after the base of the minie is lubed.

Thanks guys for all the advice. Where can I purchase the over shot cards, on the Dixie Gun Works site they only go up to 20 gauge?

Track of The Wolf is where I purchased my bag of 1,000 overshot cards. Their number WAD-24-B . ( www.trackofthewolf.com )

 

[Jerry Coffee]

Using the overshot card, how many grains of 2F Goex would you recommend?

Thanks guys.

I never have used 2Fg powder in anything I shoot. I only use 3Fg GOEX in my BP 44 cal. revolvers and my .577 cal. P53 Enfiled 3-band rifle musket. Usually 50 gr. 3Fg is equal to 60 gr. 2Fg powder. I like 3Fg because it shoots hotter and cleaner than 2Fg.

Up until now, I load and shoot 50 gr. 3Fg in the P53 .577 cal. Enfield using Moyers pre-cast 575213-OS minies dip-lubed with SPG. I have yet to shoot the the Pritchett minies but I plan to use the same powder and load with the overshot cards. Used in a rifle musket, those cards will be "overpowder" cards. Fill the base cavity with SPG (or your favorite lube) and use the 24 ga. shotgun overshot/overpowder card.

As an option if you think leading will occur, you can coat the Pritchett style minie with Rooster Jacket Bullet Film Lube and let the lube completely air dry. That is a milky appearing lube that is non-petroleum base for BP and it has a 210 degree melting point and it is also available from Track of The Wolf. Before I shoot the Pritchett style minies naked without any lube on the sides, I think I will dip lube those minies in Rooster Jacket Film Lube after I put them in the 50 gr. red nylon loading tubes.

If leading becomes a problem after multiple shots and loading the Pritchett style minie becomes a little more difficult, then is when you clean the bore with Ballistol before the next series of shots. I don't think it will be necessary especially if you use Rooster Jacker Film Lube.

 

[paulmarcone]

Using the overshot card, how many grains of 2F Goex would you recommend?

Thanks guys.

I never have used 2Fg powder in anything I shoot. I only use 3Fg GOEX in my BP 44 cal. revolvers and my .577 cal. P53 Enfiled 3-band rifle musket. Usually 50 gr. 3Fg is equal to 60 gr. 2Fg powder. I like 3Fg because it shoots hotter and cleaner than 2Fg.

Up until now, I load and shoot 50 gr. 3Fg in the P53 .577 cal. Enfield using Moyers pre-cast 575213-OS minies dip-lubed with SPG. I have yet to shoot the the Pritchett minies but I plan to use the same powder and load with the overshot cards. Used in a rifle musket, those cards will be "overpowder" cards. Fill the base cavity with SPG (or your favorite lube) and use the 24 ga. shotgun overshot/overpowder card.

As an option if you think leading will occur, you can coat the Pritchett style minie with Rooster Jacket Bullet Film Lube and let the lube completely air dry. That is a milky appearing lube that is non-petroleum base for BP and it has a 210 degree melting point and it is also available from Track of The Wolf. Before I shoot the Pritchett style minies naked without any lube on the sides, I think I will dip lube those minies in Rooster Jacket Film Lube after I put them in the 50 gr. red nylon loading tubes.

If leading becomes a problem after multiple shots and loading the Pritchett style minie becomes a little more difficult, then is when you clean the bore with Ballistol before the next series of shots. I don't think it will be necessary especially if you use Rooster Jacker Film Lube.

I normally clean with Ballistol about every 2 shots. What if I spray the bullet with Ballistol right before loading?

Thanks again for your insight and advice. Very helpful.

 

[Jerry Coffee]

Using the overshot card, how many grains of 2F Goex would you recommend?

Thanks guys.

I never have used 2Fg powder in anything I shoot. I only use 3Fg GOEX in my BP 44 cal. revolvers and my .577 cal. P53 Enfiled 3-band rifle musket. Usually 50 gr. 3Fg is equal to 60 gr. 2Fg powder. I like 3Fg because it shoots hotter and cleaner than 2Fg.

Up until now, I load and shoot 50 gr. 3Fg in the P53 .577 cal. Enfield using Moyers pre-cast 575213-OS minies dip-lubed with SPG. I have yet to shoot the the Pritchett minies but I plan to use the same powder and load with the overshot cards. Used in a rifle musket, those cards will be "overpowder" cards. Fill the base cavity with SPG (or your favorite lube) and use the 24 ga. shotgun overshot/overpowder card.

As an option if you think leading will occur, you can coat the Pritchett style minie with Rooster Jacket Bullet Film Lube and let the lube completely air dry. That is a milky appearing lube that is non-petroleum base for BP and it has a 210 degree melting point and it is also available from Track of The Wolf. Before I shoot the Pritchett style minies naked without any lube on the sides, I think I will dip lube those minies in Rooster Jacket Film Lube after I put them in the 50 gr. red nylon loading tubes.

If leading becomes a problem after multiple shots and loading the Pritchett style minie becomes a little more difficult, then is when you clean the bore with Ballistol before the next series of shots. I don't think it will be necessary especially if you use Rooster Jacker Film Lube.

I normally clean with Ballistol about every 2 shots. What if I spray the bullet with Ballistol right before loading?

Thanks again for your insight and advice. Very helpful.

It certainly can't hurt to give the mine a shot of Ballistol before loading. However, I don't think you will find it necessary to lube the .575" minie balls until you start feeling more resistance when loading. The .575" minies have .001" land to land clearance in a .577 cal. P53 Enfield rifle musket and that will make it easy to load in a clean bore even if the minie is not lubricated. Lubrication of an undersize minie ball is mainly to keep fouling soft. A nice little gadget to use is a .58 cal. Spin Jag available from Dixie Gun Works (UA0816). It makes it easier to load a minie ball because the field rod attachment spins with the minie when loaded in a rifled barrel. The Spin Jag makes cleaning easier too.

Before I load the .575" minie balls nose first in the 50 gr. red nylon catridge tubes, I knock them through a DGW sizer die a couple of times.

 

[paulmarcone]

Okay, I finally got out to the range today with my 2-band Enfield.

I used 60 grains of Goex FFG followed by a 24 gauge overshot card (fit perfectly!), then the swaged bullet greased in the base. I cleaned out the bore with Ballistol patches every 2 shots. Also, before pushing the bullet into the muzzle I gave it a very little shot of Ballistol. Again, that worked fine.

At long last I was on paper! At both 25 yards and 50 yards I was on the bull. I didn't get good groups as I was changing my point of aim a couple of times. I only had time for ten shots. That worked out fine.

I lost some time when my jag cracked off just outside the muzzle!! Fortunately the broken off jag was close enough to the muzzle that I was able to get it out with my pliers. I also had an extra range rod.

All in all the rifle shot much better than my last two or three outings using minie balls. The last 2 times out I didn't even hit the target on over half my shots!

Today I was on the bull every time. Next time out I should be able to zero it in.

Thanks for all the tips!

 

[Jerry Coffee]

I am glad that worked so well with the Pritchett style minies. I will use the same technique so the 50 Pritchett minies I have can be shot ecept I will use 50 gr. 3Fg GOEX which is the same as 60 gr. 2Fg. Lubing the base cavity with a 24 ga. over-shot/powder card sure beats trying to load a lubed paper patched swaged Pritchett style minie. I will pour melted SPG lube in the base cavity. The melting temperature of SPG is about 120 degrees so I will try that lube without a over-powder card. I will also try dipping the DGW Pritchett style minies in Rooster Jacket bullet film lube,let them air dry and shoot them without a over-powder card.

The DGW Pritchett style minies size at .575" OD and would be impossible to load in a .577" bore with a wrapped paper patch without tearing the patch all to pieces.

 

[paulmarcone]

Okay, I finally got out to the range today with my 2-band Enfield.

I used 60 grains of Goex FFG followed by a 24 gauge overshot card (fit perfectly!), then the swaged bullet greased in the base. I cleaned out the bore with Ballistol patches every 2 shots. Also, before pushing the bullet into the muzzle I gave it a very little shot of Ballistol. Again, that worked fine.

At long last I was on paper! At both 25 yards and 50 yards I was on the bull. I didn't get good groups as I was changing my point of aim a couple of times. I only had time for ten shots. That worked out fine.

I lost some time when my jag cracked off just outside the muzzle!! Fortunately the broken off jag was close enough to the muzzle that I was able to get it out with my pliers. I also had an extra range rod.

All in all the rifle shot much better than my last two or three outings using minie balls. The last 2 times out I didn't even hit the target on over half my shots!

Today I was on the bull every time. Next time out I should be able to zero it in.

Thanks for all the tips!

Here is a picture of part of the target from yesterday. These were all shot from 50 yards, seated. The lack of grouping was due mainly to the fact that I changed my point of aim a couple of times as it was shooting a little high and to the left. I only had time for 5 shots. Hopefully next time out I can zero it in.