Enfield 61 carbine , getting better

[Enfield Musketoon]

Well the struggle with the Parker Hale made 1861 artillery carbine continues.

With the lack of good soft lead here in Alaska. ( yeah odd ) I bought a couple hundred Minie' bullets from the Civil War Bullet Man.

This 24 inch carbine is not as easy to shoot for groups as is a regular long barreled Zouve or Enfield.

Originally I tried some tight fitting Minie that I was using in my old Italian made Zouve.. They shot groups the size of a turkey platter at 50 yards from the carbine..

I was also stuck using crappy CCI ( re-enactor musket caps) ,,, BUT last Sunday a friend of mine gave me two tins of very old ALCAN musket caps. Made in Alton Il. They work......

So I hit the range with some Lyman OS Minies sized to .576 and some thick skirt Rapine Minies also sized at .576.

With a clean bore the weight of the steel ram-rod is enough to darn near seat these Minies. Of course that changes after one shot.

I played around with Swiss 1.5 F and Goex 2F.
The sweet spot so far seems to be between 55 and 60 grains by volume. And this carbine really prefers the Lyman OS.

So far the best I can do at 50 yards, kneeling is a 2.0 inch group with the Lyman OS. 4 in 1.25 inches and the last round out to 2.0 inch

The Rapine heavy skirt Minie bullets were a 5 inch group. The first 4 shots in a 3.0 inch group with the last round flying out.

The sight is fixed for windage and of course it shoots a little off to the left...

I tried 60 grains of Swiss 1.5F and it was a much hotter load than Goex. The group centered, but I was getting odd flyers from what was a super good group. I think the hotter load is making the bullet skirt deform from the muzzle blast.

I am starting to think that .577 might work a little better than .576. I am spit patch or dry patch cleaning between shots.

I should add that my trigger pull is horrible....

 

[renoman]

I'm working with one of these aswell.
I'm getting comparable results to you ,sizing to 575,and not cleaning between shots,using between 50 and 65 grains of goex 2f.Still experimenting
Rcbs 500m mini,and the best results so far with a lee minie that I've shortened the base plug on to resemble the Parker hale minie.
I've just got a Lyman mold used that the previous owner has shortened the base plug on.I think it's too short,but haven't shot it yet.
I've also just got a lee round ball .562,might be too small but for $20 I wanted to try it.haven't shot that yet either.
I will keep you informed.
Oh,the trigger responds well to allittle polish and lube,still heavy but smooth and consistent

 

[Jumpshot]

I bought a couple hundred Minie' bullets from the Civil War Bullet Man.

Is that a person or the name of a business? I googled it and didn't find anything.

 

[Jason Lewis]

two things, check the bedding of the barrel to the stock, and make sure you have even tension on your barrel bands and tang bolt.

second, if you are getting a 2" group at 50yrds, you're there with the artillery carbine. go forth and make smoke.

 

[Jason Lewis]

many NSSA shooters get good accuracy with 35-45grn charges of swiss 3F with the OS bullet.

 

[Enfield Musketoon]

Try Patrick Kaboskey,262-363-4625
[email protected]

Tell him that Alex in Alaska said to call. His bullets are perfect.... not a bubble or wrinkle in the bunch...

 

[Enfield Musketoon]

There is a little wiggle space even when the rear screw is as tight as it can go....

Maybe I will try shimming the barrel and bedding the stock by the rear screw.....

I wish I knew how to do a trigger job on this thing.... It has a 12 pound pull.....

 

[Jason Lewis]

it's not all that difficult, I suggest you check out the NSSA forum, they can explain it far better than I can.

 

[Enfield Musketoon]

What says the peanut gallery ,,,,, Should a minie have a little more friction going down a clean barrel than darn near falling down the hole?
I was able to push a powder-less minie back out the bore by snapping three or four caps. No powder, just caps.....

 

[Wes/Tex]

Too loosey-goosey by far! :wink:

 

[59sharps]

.001 -.002 under bore. mine liked 48 of 3fffg w/ lyman os. 42 w/ the hodgens minnie goex powder.

 

[Bob E]

One thing I didn't see mentioned was your bullet lube. Having the grease grooves properly lubed is imperative when shooting these minnie ball guns both for accuracy and trouble free reloading. Cheers! Bob E

 

[Rokon]

Try Lee's R.E.A.L. bullet. It really delivers in the carbine.

 

[Jason Lewis]

too loose.