minies for an Enfield and Springfield

[Steve Grentus]

I have many minie rounds at .577 cal which were for my Enfield which I sold. I recently purchased a new Springfield which I believe take .575 minies. Would the Enfield minies fit okay into the Springfield and not be a danger to shoot? Are they interchangeable? Sorry for the ignorant question but thank you to any who helps.

gh

 

[Zonie]

The answer to whether the .577 cal bullets will fit probably depends on the gun you own.

Some of the cheaper Italian rifled muskets have bores that can be different than the original .580 size it should be.

If the bore is truly a .580 like it is supposed to be, the .577 diameter bullets might be more accurate than the .575 dia bullet's you mention.

Many have found that for a rifled musket to shoot accuretly, the bullet should be about .002 smaller than the bore. The .577 would be .003 smaller which is better than the .005 smaller, .575 diameter bullets.

As for safety, both bullets are totally safe as long as you keep the powder load reasonably close to the 60-65 grain load that was originally used in the original guns.

As for the .575 diameter bullets you mention, these were intended for battle field conditions where stopping to wipe the bore to facilitate loading was not practical.

The thought was, make it easy to load in a fouled bore. Accuracy comes second in importance.

I say, give the .577's a try. You may be surprised at how well they shoot.

 

[ZUG]

I have a EuroArms Zouave that I purchased in 1998 new and a Chappia 1853 Enfield that I bought 5 months ago new. The Zouave bore measures .580" and the Enfield measures .583" one inch down at the muzzle. My Lyman Minie mold drops the 100% lead slug at .580". I made a sizer to size and true up the skirt to .579". This combination does shoot well in both of my rifled muskets - the Enfield loads a bit easier than the Zouave. If you want to know more about your rifle and Minies you need to measure your bore and measure your Minies.Hope this info helps :v

 

[snubnose57]

I have a Mississippi rifle that I think is really a .57 caliber, also have an Enfield in .50.
I ordered some .575 minnies from Dixie, but they were out of the sizing dies. read a tip online.
What I do is to take a Minnie to a flat table.
Take a flat piece of metal( I use my GI mess kit)
and press and roll the Minnie a little and check for fit. This works for the difference for both my rifle calibers.

 

[snubnose57]

Sorry, my Enfield is a .58

 

[old gunsmith]

To Ecco what Zonie mentioned, in my opinion, if the Minnie is soft lead and will fit in the bore and the powder charge is the original 60 grain service load, then it will be safe to shoot. Loading for accuracy takes a bit more work. The boys who shoot skirmish competition have evolved a method to be able to shoot multiple shots before bore fouling makes loading difficult; they tend to use undersized bullets (.575-.578 depending on bore size), lube the grease grooves with a fairly stiff lube adjusted for the ambient temperature to stay in the grooves, and then they fill the base cavity with a very soft grease like crisco or lard.They also shoot reduced powder charges of 30-40 grains. I think the theory is the a Minnie shot from a 1-72" twist with a 60 grain charge is not a very ballistically stable projectile so the reduced load helps stabilize things a bit and the crisco in the base in addition to helping control fouling in the breach probably also has a hydraulic effect that helps the base skirt expand more uniformly. Judging from how well those fellows can shoot, they must be on to something. OG

 

[Zonie]

Another idea behind using a soft grease in the hollow base of the slug is, when the gun fires, the heat partially vaporizes the grease leaving a coating of it down the length of the bore.

This layer of grease keeps the fouling softer than it would be without it.

That makes loading the next round in the fouled bore a bit easier.

 

[TFoley]

Sir, your nominal bore diameter is .58". That can, and does, vary between .566" and .590", depending on who made it, and when.

I shoot a Euroarms Springfield that likes a .580" and another that likes .570". Strangely enough they are less than a thousand serial numbers apart, and the tighter one is the older of the two. :hmm:

Just got to try - take Zonie's and Zug's posts to heart and try what you gots.

tac

 

[nkbj]

And no matter what model the makers claim to be reproducing an Italian replica may have three groove, five groove and four foot or six foot twist. Add all that in on top of the variations in bore and groove diameters and they are a tinkerer's delight!
:haha:

Fortunately over the years Lymans molds have been made in enough minie designs with base plugs that can be swapped around as to allow most anyone to find a bullet that will shoot accurately and perform satisfactorily for target or hunting. And good quality sizer dies (Lee Precision, Tennessee Bullets Molds, various sutlers) are readily available for building both lubed lead and paper cartridge (English style .55 - .56 smaller diameters) ammunition.

 

[ZUG]

I like the Lyman cast iron molds and I make my own base plugs for them when the standard supplied plug needs "tweaking" :wink: :v . I like sending that big chunk of lead down range at a gallon sized water jug :haha: :shocked2: .