Minnie balls

[cayugad]

I got the LEE Molds and made up a bunch of .50 caliber 360 grain and .54 caliber 415 grain minnie balls. I thought these would be fun to shoot. The problem is the accuracy could be better shooting these things in a 1:28 1:48 and 1:66 twist rifle. I tried paper patching them to see if that would make them more accurate. I even tried teflon tape wrapping them to make them more accurate. I can hold them in a 4" group at 35 yards which is the furthest I have tried them.

Is there a trick to getting accuracy out of these. I am one of these people that like to shoot very small groups, and I could hunt with these yes, but I would limit the distance with them.

I also found light powder charges work best. Do any of you have experience shooting minnies? What is your secret?

 

[Zonie]

cayugad: Pardon me for asking, but what are you shooting them in? It would be helpful to know what the twist is (if you know, and even if you don't know, if we know what the gun is, someone here will be able to give us that information).

If your shooting a true "minie" style bullet (rather than a mini or a maxi or REAL etc) with the large hollow base, the accuracy can be really bad if the thin lip at the bullets base is damaged or not a full, even thickness all the way around the bullet. If this condition exists the base can "blow out" as the bullet leaves the muzzle and this can deflect/redirect the bullet in any direction.[url] Dr.Franklin[/url] W. Mann (" THE BULLETS FLIGHT ", (a good friend of H. Pope) found back in the early 1900s that very small errors on a regular cast bullets base could have a large effect on accuracy. IMO the effect on a minie can be much greater than Dr Manns findings.

 

[cayugad]

I have tried them in in line rifles with 1:28 twist, Hawkins rifles with 1:48 twist Hawkin rifles with 1:66 twist and T/C Renegade with 1:48 twist.

I am aware of the skirt problem on the minnies. For that reason I have kept the powder charge low. I thought if I kept the charge around the 60 grain range I would stand less of a chance of blowing the skirt out. I have tried them with the hollow center lubed and un lubed, taped and un taped. I can get them to shoot all right but nothing fantastic...

Thanks for your reply.

 

[musketman]

I am aware of the skirt problem on the minnies. For that reason I have kept the powder charge low. I thought if I kept the charge around the 60 grain range I would stand less of a chance of blowing the skirt out.

Too low of a charge is not good for minies also, you need to blow the skirt out to seal the bore, pressure leaking past the skirt will effect accuracy and reduce the performance of the minie ball...

Too much powder will blow the skirt out too much, giving the bullet a "BELL" shape, I will suggest upping your loads in 5 grain incrimantes until you find the best load, starting at 60 grains and go from there...

Please dont go past your max limits when working up loads...