Minie Balls

[ZUG]

Zug, how did you make the sizer?

I have a lathe and the nylon stock so I can make any size sizer I need. They can be made out of brass or steel but for me the nylon works well and easy to machine quickly. This is not a sizer but a picture of a muzzle being crowned - you get the idea ---.

 

[hawkeye2]

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

Yes, just melt the beeswax in a double boiler and stir in the olive oil. Let it cool to room temperature and see if it is too soft and adjust as needed. You don't have to add anything else to the lube.

 

[varsity07840]

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.

I like that 315 Rapine minie. I shoot an original .58 Mississippi previously owned by Doc Chambers. It came to me with a Hoyt reline. 45 gr of GOEX 3F and that minie is a winner.

 

[hawkeye2]

I tried the 315 Lyman but went to the Rapine as the skirt is thinner and the mold is a lot easier to use.

 

[ohio ramrod]

Any one with a metal lathe can make a simple sizer, you just need a piece of stock, steel will last "forever". Brass or even nylon will work.All you need is a hole bored the correct diameter to push the mini's through. I make mine with a counter bore to assure they are lined up straight. A taped "step" down to finish size between the counter bore and final size to prevent cutting the edges.. I like a nylon "Push rod" to force the mini's through. Simple for a machinist to make and a steel one will last for several thousand mini's. :idunno: :idunno: