Getting the best from my Parker Hale

[bisleyjohn]

I wrote ‘square’ when what I should have said was flat bottomed cavity with tapered sides. I still haven’t weighed them as they are 200 miles away at Bisley and, with the current lock-down it looks like it will be a while before I get back there!

Stay safe everyone.

 

[dave951]

I have a first gen Parker Hale, Birmingham. With RCBS Hogdon minies using the tall base plug, 42g 3f Swiss, RWS caps, beeswax/lard lube, it's just under a 2moa gun.

Of my muskets, this one and my PH musketoon are the only ones that will shoot the Lee wadcutter or "trashcan" due to size. My other muskets require minies sized to .580. Of the other Lee bullets, NONE shoot well in either PH, at least with any combination I've tried. They'll hold about 5in at 50yd but for target work, that's a non starter.

If you want to do some more experimentation, try this guy for a sample of different minies-
http://www.lodgewood.com/Bullets_c_7.htmlPat can send you a sample of whatever size you like and IIRC, he may be able to size them for you. He's an NSSA competitor and knows what is necessary to make a good quality minie.

As for powder, Swiss seems to be a good bit more "energetic" than standard Goex. I had to cut my charge levels about 15% from Goex levels to keep the POI the same. YMMV. Also make sure you're not using the garbage CCI caps. Go Schutzen or RWS.

 

[Heelerau]

Heelerau.....Could you tell me more about your lube recipe such as what percentage of beeswax to tallow you use. Do you use lamb or beef tallow?

Can you give me an exact or approximate amount in ounces of each to dip lube minies in?
Thank you kindly,
jwberns

Mate, I use 5 parts by volume beeswax to 1 part by volume unsalted lard. I have used this mix for donkeys years and it works for me both in winter and summer. I might add that I live in Western Australia and our winters are ver mild and our summers ver hot. I use the unsalted lard from the supermarket.

 

[jwberns]

Mate, I use 5 parts by volume beeswax to 1 part by volume unsalted lard. I have used this mix for donkeys years and it works for me both in winter and summer. I might add that I live in Western Australia and our winters are ver mild and our summers ver hot. I use the unsalted lard from the supermarket.

Thanks Heelerau........much obliged!

 

[Heelerau]

I might add this was one of the later recipes from Handbook for Hythe by Hans Busk, who is of the period when the Pat 53 was in service.

 

[dave951]

I might add this was one of the later recipes from Handbook for Hythe by Hans Busk, who is of the period when the Pat 53 was in service.

The mix here points to parts by volume based on environmental conditions. With a bit colder climate, try decreasing the amount of beeswax. Here in the US, northern tier states can have pretty cold winters. Southern tier can be similar to Australia with very hot summers and only very short periods of very cold weather in the winter.

Experiment and see what works.

 

[bisleyjohn]

Took the rifle out again today. Having read about swabbing between shots I thought I’d try it.

Spit first, Followed by dry.- hammer the bullet home.

Rubbing alcohol - hammer harder.

Group over a foot at fifty yards.

No swab = bullet almost seats with just t the weight of the rod. Six groups of five shots the last bullet seated as easily as the first without swabbing.

The groups could still be better but tighter than the swabbed ones and, of course, the nut behind the butt needs tightening.



first dry patch after 30 rounds. The fouling was slightly greasy.

does this mean my lube is good enough (as opposed to my shooting)?

 

[Griz44Mag]

Took the rifle out again today. Having read about swabbing between shots I thought I’d try it.

Spit first, Followed by dry.- hammer the bullet home.

Rubbing alcohol - hammer harder.

Group over a foot at fifty yards.

No swab = bullet almost seats with just t the weight of the rod. Six groups of five shots the last bullet seated as easily as the first without swabbing.

The groups could still be better but tighter than the swabbed ones and, of course, the nut behind the butt needs tightening.

View attachment 41222
View attachment 41223
first dry patch after 30 rounds. The fouling was slightly greasy.

does this mean my lube is good enough (as opposed to my shooting)?

When shooting the messy minnies - I never have to swab between shots. My accuracy looks just like yours.
When shooting round ball, I wet swab (once) after every 2 shots and can keep a 1.5" group at the same distance.
When shooting minnies - I use the .575 shallow skirt.
When shooting round ball I shoot a .575 round ball with a .015 mink lubed cotton patch.
It's fun both ways.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Took the rifle out again today. Having read about swabbing between shots I thought I’d try it.

Spit first, Followed by dry.- hammer the bullet home.

Rubbing alcohol - hammer harder.

Group over a foot at fifty yards.

No swab = bullet almost seats with just t the weight of the rod. Six groups of five shots the last bullet seated as easily as the first without swabbing.

The groups could still be better but tighter than the swabbed ones and, of course, the nut behind the butt needs tightening.

View attachment 41222
View attachment 41223
first dry patch after 30 rounds. The fouling was slightly greasy.

does this mean my lube is good enough (as opposed to my shooting)?

Have you ever tried a firewall John?
Please, for an experiment, next time you go to the range. Take some corn flour. Tip about 20gn or more on the charge and then add the bullet.

 

[rdlowe]

I’m a fan of paper patched Pritchett bullets because it was *the* battlefield bullet of the day. It works very well in that regard, where the standard is to shoot “minute of Queen’s enemy” with cartridges issued to you. (No load development?! The terror!) That’s not to say I don’t punch a bullseye now and again as well with a lighter load and a skirmisher bullet sized to .577, which my PH likes very much. Primarily though I enjoy my battlefield weapons in the context of recreating the loads the people who would have carried them would have been provided. I find it rewarding even if the dudes with 10x scopes on their ARs in the lanes next to me don’t get the point.

 

[Bad Karma]

I’m a fan of paper patched Pritchett bullets because it was *the* battlefield bullet of the day. It works very well in that regard, where the standard is to shoot “minute of Queen’s enemy” with cartridges issued to you. (No load development?! The terror!) That’s not to say I don’t punch a bullseye now and again as well with a lighter load and a skirmisher bullet sized to .577, which my PH likes very much. Primarily though I enjoy my battlefield weapons in the context of recreating the loads the people who would have carried them would have been provided. I find it rewarding even if the dudes with 10x scopes on their ARs in the lanes next to me don’t get the point.

Someday years into the future they’ll be laughing at the primitive AR shooters...

 

[rdlowe]

Someday years into the future they’ll be laughing at the primitive AR shooters...

It’s never too early to start

 

[bisleyjohn]

When shooting the messy minnies - I never have to swab between shots. My accuracy looks just like yours.
When shooting round ball, I wet swab (once) after every 2 shots and can keep a 1.5" group at the same distance.
When shooting minnies - I use the .575 shallow skirt.
When shooting round ball I shoot a .575 round ball with a .015 mink lubed cotton patch.
It's fun both ways.

I haven’t tried round ball, just the ‘Minnies’ from the Lyman PH mold. I try to keep the cavities consistent by resting the bottom plug on a piece of steel underneath the spout. I weigh them and chuck out any under average weight.

 

[bisleyjohn]

I’m a fan of paper patched Pritchett bullets because it was *the* battlefield bullet of the day. It works very well in that regard, where the standard is to shoot “minute of Queen’s enemy” with cartridges issued to you. (No load development?! The terror!) That’s not to say I don’t punch a bullseye now and again as well with a lighter load and a skirmisher bullet sized to .577, which my PH likes very much. Primarily though I enjoy my battlefield weapons in the context of recreating the loads the people who would have carried them would have been provided. I find it rewarding even if the dudes with 10x scopes on their ARs in the lanes next to me don’t get the point.

I’m putting together the kit I need to make up ‘battlefield’ paper cartridges using a ‘pritchet’. It’s now a winter project as I never seem to have the time to do everything. I’m thinking the later, longer bullet? Trouble is, at 75, if I don’t get it done soon.........

 

[bisleyjohn]

Have you ever tried a firewall John?
Please, for an experiment, next time you go to the range. Take some corn flour. Tip about 20gn or more on the charge and then add the bullet.

I will give it a try, but I’m definitely not swabbing between shots again. I think, my first dry cleaning patch coming out greasy, is an indication that my lube mix is about right?

 

[rdlowe]

I’m putting together the kit I need to make up ‘battlefield’ paper cartridges using a ‘pritchet’. It’s now a winter project as I never seem to have the time to do everything. I’m thinking the later, longer bullet? Trouble is, at 75, if I don’t get it done soon.........

The original .568 bullet shoots better in most guns, but the later .550 bullet loads more easily with fouling (battlefield consideration). Also, the .550 requires a full service charge of powder to grab the rifling, but we’re still talking groups in the 8” range at 100 yards. Your 2 band rifle has a faster twist, so it might work better than my 3 band gun with them. There are of course molds of all sizes too.

I really like the Brit method of loading and their cartridge design. It’s fast and effective.

 

[bisleyjohn]

The original .568 bullet shoots better in most guns, but the later .550 bullet loads more easily with fouling (battlefield consideration). Also, the .550 requires a full service charge of powder to grab the rifling, but we’re still talking groups in the 8” range at 100 yards. Your 2 band rifle has a faster twist, so it might work better than my 3 band gun with them. There are of course molds of all sizes too.

I really like the Brit method of loading and their cartridge design. It’s fast and effective.

My plan is to get the two papers, mike them then decide what diameter mould I order from accurate moulds. I sent them a drawing a while ago for a bottom cavity mould which they added to their inventory.

http://www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=57-999P-D.png
I’ll make my own base plug. My theory being that the hollow base will allow me to use less than service charge. Plan is to order the appropriate diameter bullet for paper patching, having ‘inadvertently‘ slugged my barrel (see the dry ball thread) If nothing else it will provide a talking point and hopefully make more money the next time I do a charity shoot.

I know that all this has been done before somewhere but I’m a bloke!

 

[jager43478]

Have you ever tried a firewall John?
Please, for an experiment, next time you go to the range. Take some corn flour. Tip about 20gn or more on the charge and then add the bullet.

If u are shooting minnies you need to size the bullet 1 to 2 ths. under bore size. You need to find out the bore size and go from there. In addition the base plug needs to modified . Moose molds sells a mold with this modification, plus you can get the gun to shoot with a lot less powder.

 

[gemmer]

I shoot with a N-SSA competitor who gets very good results with a Moose Wilkinson compression bullet in his two band Parker Hale.

 

[deadwaterduck]

And never any reason to stop!