Minnie in a smoothie

[tenngun]

Didn’t they make a minie for smoothie? Used in the early days when rifles were in short supply

 

[SlidePicker]

Didn’t they make a minie for smoothie? Used in the early days when rifles were in short supply

Those were for smoothbores that had been rifled, to modernize them. Conical bullets need spin stabilization.

 

[tenngun]

I know that one, I was just thinking they tried a conical for smooth
I’m not a conical shooter but seems they had an experimental bullet whose name started with an N

 

[bud in pa]

You could try the Brenneke method, screwing a couple of fiber wads to the base with a wood screw.

 

[tenngun]

After thinking about it I’m thinking Nestor bullets?

 

[Grenadier1758]

The "Nessler Ball" was developed as a stopgap measure to increase the range of smoothbored muskets. It was a hollow based slug with thin skirts to fill the bore on firing and a heavy nose to hopefully stabilize the bullet to minimize tumbling in flight There are a couple of good threads on the Nessler Ball here in the Forum.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/more-nessler-ball-shooting.135749/#post-1898202
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...dy-to-try-them-out.117151/page-3#post-1877272

 

[GBG]

FWIW,

Although not legal - but definitely lethal - gun launched arrows (called sprites or springalds) are some of the oldest firearm projectiles, and they fly reasonably straight from smoothbore cannon, hand gonnes and muskets.

I doubt they had "hunting accuracy" but they were good enough for battlefields and naval warfare up to the 1600's. I think there is some discussion of this subject in The Gunner: Shewing the Whole Practice of Artillery (1628) by Robert Norton.

I have a copy of The Age of Firearms a Pictorial History (1957) by Rober Held which mentions gun launched arrows. IIRC their primary use was as incendiary weapons against thatch and wood structures on land, and ship's sails at sea. However, some had lead balls or ovals cast around a shaft behind barbed iron points. These were apparently for anti-personnel use.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/cannon-arrows.80010/
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/arrows.40554/
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/showtopic.php?tid/192749/

 

[JackP]

My experience with them in a smooth bore is that hit sideways or what ever direction they choose.

Jack

 

[tenngun]

The "Nessler Ball" was developed as a stopgap measure to increase the range of smoothbored muskets. It was a hollow based slug with thin skirts to fill the bore on firing and a heavy nose to hopefully stabilize the bullet to minimize tumbling in flight There are a couple of good threads on the Nessler Ball here in the Forum.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/more-nessler-ball-shooting.135749/#post-1898202
https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...dy-to-try-them-out.117151/page-3#post-1877272

That’s it, I recall reading about them, but know nothing about them except they didn’t seem to work

 

[smoothshooter]

Anyone ever tried a 58 cal Minnie in a smoothie? I’m curious if the skirt will expand enough for descent group at 50 yds. Like 6 “ @ 50.
I’m thinking put a card on top of the Minnie to hold it in place on top of 80 gr 3f.
What’s your guess?

Non-starter.
Bullet will start to keyhole before it goes 10 yards most of the time. Will miss a gallon milk jug beyond about 20 yards.
Minies were meant to only be fired in rifled barrels.

 

[Ballshooter]

Well when I get my .58 Kibler smoothbore built, I am going to try a Mini ball.

 

[tenngun]

Is there not an inherent ‘arrow stability’ in a heavy head and light tail

 

[Walkabout]

I have 10 gauge slugs for my 10 gauge musket/shotgun. They're essentially minieballs, but 700+ grains! I haven't tried them yet, but I'm sure they'll pack a heckuva punch on both ends.

 

[smoothshooter]

Didn’t they make a minie for smoothie? Used in the early days when rifles were in short supply

The Nessler Ball. The profile was a lot like a modern Foster-type shotgun slug.
Was not as commonly issued as regular ball loads.

 

[smoothshooter]

Is there not an inherent ‘arrow stability’ in a heavy head and light tail

Only with the Nessler Ball.
The .69 Minnie is heavier and the center of gravity is too far to the rear to get the Badminton effect.

 

[pheenix99]

No I had some plastic 58 cal sabots. I shot them loaded with a 45 roundball out of a Parker hale musketoon.

I picked up some 58 cal sabots the other day. Mainly to play around with at the range. Got a few 230gr bullets I load in one of my unmentionables and some .451 RB for my next range trip.

 

[Stantheman86]

Lee Slugs are nearly identical to a Nessler Balle , except for the "rib" but all of the Foster slugs are basically a Nessler type projectile.

When properly sized , Lee slugs shot very well out of a .69 smoothbore.

Getting them to hold lube was a problem and I was not able to find paper thin enough to allow them to actually be used like I believe they were supposed to be, with a greased paper cartridge and rammed down wrapped in the paper.

After a few shots loading became sticky. I actually got one stuck, before I made sure to size the next batch to .680.

I had fun playing around with them but I think round ball cartridges are just easier and I can shoot them all day without a problem.

Nessler balls saw a very short service life from the 1850s to the 1860s with various European armies. I don't know if the inventor of the Foster slug copied the Nessler or it was just coincidence but they are nearly identical.

Whether or not the Confederates actually used that "NC Nessler" as was reproduced with a mold by Era's Gone or if it was just something that was produced for a short time and never really used, we'll never know. These did not work well at all when I shot them, and I fired a lot of them.