Minie Balls

[Henry2357]

Ordered some great Minie balls from TOTW , but some were out of shape (most likely handling) and some tough to start in the barrel. Ordered .575 for a 58 cal so ramming them shouldn't be a problem. Filed a few to get them to start but, hoping this is not something I have to do all the time..

My question, for someone who does not, and at this time really can't, cast their own, are the specific retail folks out there that make minie's and size them a bit better? And trust me, TOTW is one of my top retailers, but thought there might be others that cater to just pouring lead.

Thanks , Joe

PS, I guess for right now will just lube the grooves by hand until I figure things out.

 

[nkbj]

Those pliable skirts get pushed around in shipping.
Best thing to do is push them back rather than filing.

 

[Henry2357]

Those pliable skirts get pushed around in shipping.
Best thing to do is push them back rather than filing.

Plyers? I tried the top of another to form them, and it did, but it just opened up the skirt more.

 

[nkbj]

I use a push through type sizer now. Used to I would push them back out like with using the top of another one (or the curved front end of a pair of pliers) and then rolling them on a hard surface to form them back down. But all that sure is labor intensive.

 

[hawkeye2]

For your Pedersoli '61? The .575" balls will work but it's unlikely they are the correct size for your bore. When you get a chance you should measure your bore and then select a sizer die .001" smaller than that. A mini shouldn't be more than .002" under bore. Buy a push through die, lube and size. The sizer will straighten the skirt and you can sand the end of a dowel to match the cavity to push the skirt out as you size. When I hand lube I grip the nose with pliers and dip in melted lube to just over the groves. Google mini ball sizers but here is one source:
http://oldfoxtraders.com/TnMolds/accessories.htm

 

[Coot]

I cast my own so I cannot advise re one supplier being better than another. As others have pointed out, these soft lead skirts are easy to deform in shipping & handling. Neither filing nor pliers is a good solution. You need to get a sizing die correct for your specific bore size. You don't need to have a reloading press to use the die - held in a vice or simply inserted in a workbench hole or even in a 2x placed over a container & driven point first thru the die with a short length of dowel rod with one end turned (or whittled & sanded) to match the cavity in the mini. Results in perfectly sized minie with proper symmetrical skirts every time.

 

[ZUG]

I have a Remington 1863 (repo by Euro-arms) whose bore measure .580" @ the muzzle and a 1853 Enfield (repo by Chiappa) whose bore measure .584" @ the muzzle. I bought some old style minies with the thin skirt and the are as cast .585". My thick skirt Lyman mold cast a minie of .581" with my pure lead. I made a nylon sizer that will size the Lyman minie to .579"-.580" or there about's and round out the skirt if need be. The Lyman minie fits the Remington fine but I need to make a .582" diameter sizer for the minie to work well in the Enfield.
The sizer is in one of the attached pictures below with a minie in it.

 

[Henry2357]

Thanks Gents, allot good info.
Yes, its for my Pedersoli Springfield 61.
Looking around for the sizer (hand, have no press)
The selections for the premade minie's do have allot of offerings so, trying to get the best fit.

 

[Henry2357]

Zug, how did you make the sizer?

 

[Henry2357]

OK, Now I have myself looking into casting my own for the right size...can't be to bad right????
Another project to shoot this darn gun.... :surrender:

 

[BrownBear]

OK, Now I have myself looking into casting my own....

And so it begins!

Next thing you'll realize is how cheap and easy it is to having the right combo, compared to buying pre-mades and doing a whole lot of Rx to fix them.

You know you're over the edge when this thought creeps into your brain; "Heck, another new mold isn't all that much money, and I kinda wonder how it will work out...." :rotf:

 

[Henry2357]

OH BB, it bejan many yrs ago, so I guess this is just another side road to venture down. Besides, tough to find premades in anything else than .575. :hmm:

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Quick questions gang, if you have a Minie sized but .001-.002" less than bore diameter, how many shots can you get off before whaling on it? Isn't the point of the Minie to negate the fowling and slow loading of a PRB rifle? I understand we are going for maximum accuracy but do the remain easy to load over many shots?

 

[BrownBear]

A whole lot depends on the lube being used. It works if the fouling is soft, but hard fouling is just as big a problem for minnies as for patched round balls.

 

[hawkeye2]

You will actually get more fouling accumulating in the barrel as you increase the clearance between the mini and the barrel. We reduced the clearance from .002" to .001" on my wife's '63 after getting the barrel back from a Hoyt reline and she can now shoot an entire skirmish without the need to clean with wet patches. Lube is also extremely important, you need a fairly stiff lube with a lot of beeswax and fill the groves completely.

 

[Henry2357]

So a lube like mink tallow is not a good bullet lube?

 

[hawkeye2]

Mink tallow might be a good lube but if it doesn't remain solid at 80 degrees (higher than that down here) it won't work, it's only going to run and contaminate your powder.

 

[Henry2357]

Off to shop for beeswax and "borrow" some crisco from the cab...

I did try the rolling the balls between 2 boards and it does seem to make a better ball. It evens it around allot better.

But still leary about the .575's and the lead expanding enough to seal. Going to use a few grains more of a load. Will start with 65grs and go up a couple g's at a time if needed. We shall see.

 

[hawkeye2]

Crisco will work, olive oil is even better. The service load was 60 grains, 65 and up can be excessive and get a little tiring after 30 or 40 shots. Going with the assumption the minis are pure lead, the only thing that should be used, and the skirt isn't excessively thick (rare) you should get good expansion with less than 60 grains. Dig a ball or two out of the backstop and check the rifleing engagement. When you choose a bullet and get everything worked out you will find the most accurate loads are between 35 and 50 grains of 2f or 3f. Thirty nine grains of 2f will propel a 315 grain mini at 925 ft./sec. (chronoed) and is very accurate for me out to 100 yards but that's with a good fit and a good lube.

 

[Henry2357]

Thanks Hawk, are you saying mix the olive oil with beeswax?