Bobby Hoyt .577 rebore

[Texas Gil]

I just tried out my new 577 rebore with .575 Minnie sized. 1 in 60 twist. First 5 shot group was about 4” with 60 Gr 2f. Second group was 2.5 in with 80 2f. All at 25yds.
Any advice on Hoyt loads.
Moving out to 50 and 100 next ?

 

[Notchy Bob]

That's good shooting, Gil. Mr. Hoyt does good work.

Some of the N-SSA members on this forum may be your best source for recommendations. I think a lot of those fellows shoot remarkably light loads, and they weigh them for consistency. And then there's the question of which lube. I think it's been almost a week since we had a lube thread going... Probably about time for another one!

It sounds like you're getting a pretty good start all on your own, though!

Notchy Bob

 

[gemmer]

Try 40 gr of 3f. Stay at 25yds. Did you cast the minies yourself? Pure lead? What kind of lube?

 

[Texas Gil]

Will try 3f 40 Gr,
Lube is 50/50 paraffin and lard
Pure lead sized .575 Minnie from TOW

 

[dave951]

I just tried out my new 577 rebore with .575 Minnie sized. 1 in 60 twist. First 5 shot group was about 4” with 60 Gr 2f. Second group was 2.5 in with 80 2f. All at 25yds.
Any advice on Hoyt loads.
Moving out to 50 and 100 next ?

Get your minies from this guy- Bullets

Pat is a N-SSA competitor and he knows how to cast minies properly. I don't trust anyone else commercially, especially if they're round ballers.

For first group. 4" at 25yd with a Hoyt reline? Really? I'd expect that at 50yd.

Here's my advice as an N-SSA competitor and NRA Muzzleloading Instructor. Get your bullets from Pat. Cut the powder charge to 45gr 3f. Ditch the parafin. Use only beeswax/lard. Parafin is a petroleum product and detrimental to accuracy. Size the minies to .001 under bore size. Use RWS or Schuetzen caps only. CCI are garbage. Next, are you using issue sights? Good luck if you are. Modified sights within N-SSA competition rules are much, much better. But what do I know-

50yds Offhand, Rapid Fire- 2 min duration. 3 shots per minute, one miss. I got in to big of a hurry.

 

[poker]

Thats pretty good shooting for 6 in 2 minutes

 

[dave951]

Thats pretty good shooting for 6 in 2 minutes

Try it sometime at 50yd, it's loads of fun and not easy. As decent as my target was, it was only in the top 1/3. There were better. One guy put 6 hits on the card.

Just to give you guys an idea of just how good a top N-SSA team shoots, there is an event called the Pigeon Board. At Nationals, the board has 32 clay pigeons attached and is set at 50yd and is shot by an 8 man team. There are a couple teams quite capable of clearing all 32 clays in 34 shots, done in about 80-90 seconds tops, shot offhand, with iron sight Civil War muskets, with minies. I've seen it more than once so it's not a fluke.

 

[Texas Gil]

Thanks, good information
Appreciate the experience

 

[stank]

Isn’t 1:60 a bit of a slow twist for minnies?

 

[springfield art]

Try 40 gr of 3f. Stay at 25yds. Did you cast the minies yourself? Pure lead? What kind of lube?

I learned to use the lighter loads from the N-NSA comments. I always thought you had to use the Army service loads of 60 grs., but the N-NSA guys know what they're doing, and as an organization, they've retained and kept alive so much knowledge and technology, it's wonderful.

 

[Texas Gil]

Isn’t 1:60 a bit of a slow twist for minnies?

It’s what Hoyt recommend

 

[ResearchPress]

Isn’t 1:60 a bit of a slow twist for minnies?

The Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle had a twist of 1 in 78. The 1861 Springfield was 1 in 72.

I can’t think of any contemporary (19thC) rifle-muskets that used 1 in 60.

David

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

Will try 3f 40 Gr,
Lube is 50/50 paraffin and lard
Pure lead sized .575 Minnie from TOW

Paraffin is pure slipperiness, and sounds like a good choice. Question: I read on the forums a lot that petroleum products plus gunpowder plus fire equals tar. Is that not true with paraffin? Other than that possibility, to me, paraffin seems like a better choice than beeswax for making a slick lube.

 

[dave951]

Paraffin is pure slipperiness, and sounds like a good choice. Question: I read on the forums a lot that petroleum products plus gunpowder plus fire equals tar. Is that not true with paraffin? Other than that possibility, to me, paraffin seems like a better choice than beeswax for making a slick lube.

Short answer, no. Beeswax/lard/tallow all work fine. Paraffin causes fouling issues.

 

[Texas Gil]

I just tried out my new 577 rebore with .575 Minnie sized. 1 in 60 twist. First 5 shot group was about 4” with 60 Gr 2f. Second group was 2.5 in with 80 2f. All at 25yds.
Any advice on Hoyt loads.
Moving out to 50 and 100 next ?

Update:
50 yd results
70 Gr 2 f goex 4 shots 3” group
60 Gr 2f pyrodex 3 shots 3 “ grp
50 Gr. 3f pyrodex 3 shots 2 1/2 grp

next 100 yds

 

[Texas Gil]

Update on my Hoyt .577 Colt Signature 2 band
Wasn’t happy with my accuracy with .575 Minnie balls that were TOW THICK SKIRT. Was getting keyholes. Thought maybe wasn’t getting good rifling contract. Changed to old style thin skirt from TOW .575 sized lubed and no key hole and 50yd groups @ 2.5 in. Same point of impact with both 70 and 75 Gr of RS 2f pyrodex.
Question if poi is 1.5 in high at 50 yds. What should I expect at 100? Assuming 70 Gr 2f load same bullet.

 

[mark_fare]

Update on my Hoyt .577 Colt Signature 2 band
Wasn’t happy with my accuracy with .575 Minnie balls that were TOW THICK SKIRT. Was getting keyholes. Thought maybe wasn’t getting good rifling contract. Changed to old style thin skirt from TOW .575 sized lubed and no key hole and 50yd groups @ 2.5 in. Same point of impact with both 70 and 75 Gr of RS 2f pyrodex.
Question if poi is 1.5 in high at 50 yds. What should I expect at 100? Assuming 70 Gr 2f load same bullet.

To get those TOTW heavy skirt minies to shoot well, you need at least 80 grns of 2F to get proper skirt expansion. My best results are with 95 grns of 3f for a 2" group at 50 yds. I forgot to state that I'm getting these results with a Pedersoli 1861.

 

[Texas Gil]

Good input. Looks like my guess was right. I think I’ll stick with the old style thin skirts for now. I’ll reserve my final decision to after the 100 yd results.
What results for you at 100 ?

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Try 20-40 grains first. No purpose in loading up hot right off the back.

 

[dave951]

Typically if you're about 1.5 high at 50, the group should be about 6 low at 100.

Get your minies from this guy-
https://www.lodgewood.com/Bullets_c_7.html
He's a fellow N-SSA competitor and knows what it takes to make minies shoot. Track are mainly round ball guys.