do loaded minnie balls move

[Muley Gil]

The N-SSA folks shoot fairly tight mini's for accuracy's sake. In my experience, the ball sliding was never an issue after thousands of rounds. A tight minie and proper lube seems to work fine to keep it in place.

IIRC, the British Minie ball load for the 1853, 1856, 1858 and 1861 Enfields was a .562" in a paper cartridge and the tail was torn off and the entire round, paper and all, was loaded into the muzzle.

 

[Texas Gil]

Interesting. Do you know what the standard load for for the Springfield 1861 was?

 

[Okie Hog]

The .50 caliber 370 grain store bought Maxis came off the powder several times. The rifle is my TC New Englander.

Quit that bullet and began using the 320 grain Maxis which stayed on the powder. The skirt of the 320 grain Maxi is larger.

 

[Whitworth]

My range is slightly down hill and I put a lubed felt over wad the bullet in my Whitworth. They easily slide down the the wiped bore on their own so I figure they will slide out too.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yes, they do move. In my early days in this game I loaded REALs into my TC 'hawken' for hunting. At the ml deer season, like Sept. and Oct. the mornings can be quite cool but warm up to mid-80s by noon or so. The steel barrel warms at a different rate than the lead minie. And, with the minie being lubricated it can, and does, easily slide towards the muzzle when the rifle is carried muzzle down. This is an extremely dangerous condition if you shoot with the bullet half way up the barrel. I quickly gave up the practice and have used nothing but patched lead round balls ever since. For hunting, there are advantages to the prb, you do not need big heavy minies.

 

[senseisugarbear]

I'm just going to dispense some information , and how I gathered it . So if you dont agree DON'T kill the messenger. I owed a Gun shop for 26 yrs. While doing so We started and Sponsored a Black Power Club.I got to see all kinds of things,The tight Bore / loose bore thing Sent me to Remington, As it was a unmentionable.Upon talking with their Gunsmith 2 things came up ..are you sizing your bullets? tight =DO, loose= DON'T..The second point was bore size. He stated that most production shops use a rifling button 5 times. #1=very loose ,#2 = loose #3 =perfect #4= little tight #5= very tignt. This all made sense to ME. I hope I conveyed it in an Understandable way. We all cast our own balls and bullets loaning & trading moulds, We stopped sizing bullets.I was always under the impression that the tight start on any load was ENGRAVING the rifling into the bullet. I personally have never seen a bullet move in a barrel, BUT that doesn't mean it can't happen...Myself , I'd get it figured out (paper patch, unsized bullets.) or not shoot the gun without re ramming before my shot. The bullet moving away from the powder= a potential blown up gun...Be Safe>>>>Wally

 

[Stantheman86]

My Parker-Hale 1858 2 band rifle has a .577" bore and I size my Minies to .576". No movement.

We also have progressive depth rifling with our Parker-Hale rifles and a few thumps can expand the skirt into the rifling to help hold it in place.

 

[Stantheman86]

Walking around with a Minie in a rifle-musket is using the rifle for something other than what it was intended to do. These weren't hunting rifles or woods loafing guns.

Pretty much every military musket, and rifle, was designed to be loaded upon contact with the enemy and immediately fired. Even the paper cartridge round balls can move up in a barrel.

Like was said, goes down easy, but comes out easy.......

When the British got ambushed in The last of the Mohicans, the Officer in Charge was yelling "Prepare your Firelocks!" and Make Ready, because none of the men were loaded and would not have likely been loaded on the march because no contact was expected. Similar scenes in Glory, they loaded when they expected contact.

 

[Stantheman86]

Interesting. Do you know what the standard load for for the Springfield 1861 was?

60 grains of 1.5f will most closely replicate the standard load, with a .575 Minie (Burton Ball) . Or 2f since it is easier to find.

 

[Texas Gil]

60 grains of 1.5f will most closely replicate the standard load, with a .575 Minie (Burton Ball) . Or 2f since it is easier to find.

Did the load call for stuffing the minnie wrapped in paper down on the load? Thanks

 

[dave951]

Did the load call for stuffing the minnie wrapped in paper down on the load? Thanks

No. The prelubed minie was "packaged" as a paper cartridge. The soldier would tear open the cartridge (holding the ball part in his teeth), pour the powder in the barrel, then put the ball in without paper and ram. So no, a load in the ACW would not have been paper patched like the English ammunition for the Enfield. During the ACW, it was noticed by the Confederates that the P58 with the English ammunition gave superior accuracy and it was reserved for the "snipers" of the time rather than the average soldier. That was with the Pritchett bullet and it was effectively "paper patched"

 

[Texas Gil]

Thanks

No. The prelubed minie was "packaged" as a paper cartridge. The soldier would tear open the cartridge (holding the ball part in his teeth), pour the powder in the barrel, then put the ball in without paper and ram. So no, a load in the ACW would not have been paper patched like the English ammunition for the Enfield. During the ACW, it was noticed by the Confederates that the P58 with the English ammunition gave superior accuracy and it was reserved for the "snipers" of the time rather than the average soldier. That was with the Pritchett bullet and it was effectively "paper patched"

Thanks very informative.

 

[Muley Gil]

We also have progressive depth rifling with our Parker-Hale rifles and a few thumps can expand the skirt into the rifling to help hold it in place.

When I load, I pour in the powder, put the Minie in the muzzle and push it down on top of the powder, followed by a moderate "thump"-raising the ramrod about 6"-8" and giving it a light toss downward to seat the Minie.

 

[Rifleman1776]

We stopped sizing bullets.I was always under the impression that the tight start on any load was ENGRAVING the rifling into the bullet. I personally have never seen a bullet move in a barrel, B

My limited experience early in this game was with a REAL in a TC 'hawken'. It did seem to engage the rifling on loading and it did slide forward. Nebber again.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

I hunt with my 1861 2 band rifle loaded with 70 grs 3f and I've wondered if the minnie will move away from the powder after carrying it around all day.
Anyone think its a good idea to put a card on top of the bullet?

It really depends on how the mini fits! I will never forget going to a target shoot and a man had his rifle loaded. He was standing holding the rifle on a downward angle, with the mini protruding out the muzzle. The gang let him know of the issue.
You have brought up a good point for all to ponder.
Larry