Shooting Military rifles like they were designed to be used

[Stantheman86]

I don't want to come off as a "Gatekeeper ", an Elitist or a snob. People can use their firearms any way they want. I nor anyone else has the right to "tell" anyone how to use something they paid for and own.

I have just seen , over the years, countless videos , some from "Experts" , loading military muzzleloading rifles with patched balls, loose Minies, etc etc

I highly recommend, using these weapons the way they were designed to be used and were actually used in their military service .

I have the technical skills of a rock and if I can lube and size Minies, and make paper cartridges, anyone can. It adds SO much to the enjoyment of these firearms .

Being able to put on a cartridge box with 50 cartridges, and a cap box, and just shoot one after the other is just something special that I will never get tired of.

There was no one else around so I had fun shooting at the target at various ranges, I'd fire one at 100, then walk up about 10 yards and load and fire another one. Or just stand at 25 and fire 10 rounds into the target.

Having all your ammunition on you , is not only historically correct but just more fun.

50 .577 Minies down the pipe, no wiping, no cleaning , if I had 50 more I'd have fired those too.

25 yard target. Just to be transparent. I'm not that good at 100.

 

[ORBushman]

Nice looking rifle and good shooting!

 

[dave951]

I have to agree. There are lots of "experts" on utoob. Get the minie system right and you can shoot till you run out of shoulder, daylight or ammo, all without wiping out loss of accuracy.

 

[TDM]

@StanTheMan, you and my oldest Son would get along great. He is a stickler for the proper use of military muzzleloaders. From cartridge making, stowage, loading, and shooting. Only occasionally will he let me handle and fire his Springfield and Enfield.

However he has no problem “borrowing” my stuff!

 

[ORBushman]

However he has no problem “borrowing” my stuff!

Funny how that works! My son must have went to the same school!

 

[APG]

I like shooting my reproduction military 1861 Springfield rifle. Using paper cartridges that I make myself. 55 grains of 2Fg and a 500 grain minieball that I cast myself. Don't have the cartridge box but I will shoot a whole lot before cleaning the bore. The range I shoot at won't allow me to steadily move forward, but I see that would be fun. Especially getting so close I could use the bayonet.

 

[Stantheman86]

Nice looking rifle and good shooting!

Thank You

 

[Stantheman86]

I have to agree. There are lots of "experts" on utoob. Get the minie system right and you can shoot till you run out of shoulder, daylight or ammo, all without wiping out loss of accuracy.

These "historians" will tell you that it was hard to load the 1861 Springfield in battle with a powder horn and a round ball.......

Or the people who ask me how often I swab the bore between shots because they swab the pipe in their Hawken every other Maxi-Ball, I'm like the Minie Ball does it's job and lets me shoot all day without touching a single cleaning patch until I'm done or out of ammo

I have run out of all or any of those, at one time or another. I put so many Minies down the pipe of my ArmiSport CS Richmond that my shoulder turned purple . I wasn't able to even shoot any more, with just a T-Shirt and that metal buttplate, after over 60 Minies I physically was done. I've also gotten so into the zone of loading and firing cartridges that I basically realized I was shooting in near darkness.

 

[Stantheman86]

@StanTheMan, you and my oldest Son would get along great. He is a stickler for the proper use of military muzzleloaders. From cartridge making, stowage, loading, and shooting. Only occasionally will he let me handle and fire his Springfield and Enfield.

However he has no problem “borrowing” my stuff!

My entire adult life I've been shooting military cartridge rifles, I used to do the John C. Garand matches and all that, plus I fired pretty much exclusively surplus ammo through everything and in some cases I had to, for a certain match .

So when I got back into muzzleloading after being away from it since the 1990's , I felt like I had to have the complete experience and shoot the military muskets and rifles the way they were used in service. I have loaded with loose Minies , and probably will again but it's not the same, at all.

 

[Stantheman86]

I like shooting my reproduction military 1861 Springfield rifle. Using paper cartridges that I make myself. 55 grains of 2Fg and a 500 grain minieball that I cast myself. Don't have the cartridge box but I will shoot a whole lot before cleaning the bore. The range I shoot at won't allow me to steadily move forward, but I see that would be fun. Especially getting so close I could use the bayonet.

Your cartridges look a lot better than mine, I like those. I kinda get lazy and just put mine together with glue and the paper, with a dowel. I don't cast my own Minies but my "bullet source" guy casts them for me and they drop out of his mold at about .580 so I can size them to .577 or .575 depending on which rifle I use them in, after I hot dip them in lube.

I can roll 50 cartridges in about 3 hours if I really get into it and don't get distracted.

The cartridge boxes make them easy to transport to wherever I'm shooting, and I usually don't wear it, but today I did. I usually lay it on a range table if I'm not walking around on the range. My club doesn't care if you shoot in front of the firing line as long as no one else is shooting obviously . I think I'd be entertaining any onlookers if I speared a target with a bayonet

 

[ord sgt]

My experience with M/L military rifles came with recruitment into the N-SSA. Had a three band Enfield (sold) and an Enfield musketoon (still have).
Paper cartridges and cloth patches were not allowed on the firing line, due to potential fire hazard in the dry grass. Plastic tubes are used instead. Premeasured powder charges poured into the tube and capped by your favorite minie, loaded into a cartridge box and a pouch full of musket caps and paper or breakable targets down range make for a day of shooting.

 

[kh54]

Well now I’m inspired. When I got my first ACW reproduction about four years ago (a Parker Hale p1853) I made cartridges but I then got lazy and just used loose Miniés. I’ve been making my own paper Sharps cartridges and revolver cartridges so I think I’ll crank out a new batch of musket cartridges for my next day at the range. I like your style @Stantheman86!

 

[Stantheman86]

I had been getting lazy, but using a flask, powder measure and loose Minies just didn't seem right

 

[TFoley]

Well now I’m inspired. When I got my first ACW reproduction about four years ago (a Parker Hale p1853) I made cartridges but I then got lazy and just used loose Miniés. I’ve been making my own paper Sharps cartridges and revolver cartridges so I think I’ll crank out a new batch of musket cartridges for my next day at the range. I like your style @Stantheman86!

Did you ever pass me or Mr Minshall the serial number of your rifles? If not, I'd be grateful if you'd do it when you think of it. Also, if you take the barrel out of the stock, a clear pic of the proof marks would be very useful, in order to put a date on it/them.

TIA

PS - this goes for ANY owners of Parker-Hale firearms, and if you've already done it. many thanks.

PPS - I'd also be grateful is somebody could tell me how to get rid of the strike-through that plagues my posts.

 

[Calum]

'morning,

Fully agree, and honestly, that's part of the reason I laugh at the NSSA - greatly reduced loads, special sights, NO! Use it like it was meant to be used. Although I'll admit that for the Sharps, I make the early war clip tail cartridges vs the later flat based cartridges.

Mike

 

[dave951]

'morning,

Fully agree, and honestly, that's part of the reason I laugh at the NSSA - greatly reduced loads, special sights, NO! Use it like it was meant to be used. Although I'll admit that for the Sharps, I make the early war clip tail cartridges vs the later flat based cartridges.

Mike

And you'd be wrong. Just because we don't use 60g 2f doesn't mean it's a "greatly reduced" load. Here's the facts- most guns don't perform their best at maximum or service charge load. Next- most N-SSA guys use Swiss, widely acknowledged to be "hotter" than regular Goex. SO that 45g Swiss charge is about the equivalent of a 50g Goex charge. Now factor in that we use 3F instead of 2F and that's about the equivalent of another 3g of "regular" powder. So in reality, that "greatly reduced" load used by a N-SSA shooter is about the equivalent of a 53-55g charge of regular Goex 2F. I hardly would characterize that as a "greatly reduced" load. Past that, the minie will not engage the rifling properly if pressure levels aren't adequate, again, mitigating against a "greatly reduced" load.


Quit spreading misinformation.

 

[kh54]

Crisco in the base of your Miniés anyone?

 

[gemmer]

'morning,

Fully agree, and honestly, that's part of the reason I laugh at the NSSA - greatly reduced loads, special sights, NO! Use it like it was meant to be used. Although I'll admit that for the Sharps, I make the early war clip tail cartridges vs the later flat based cartridges.

Mike

I wouldn't laugh at the N-SSA if you saw how well their members shoot their weapons. They're masters at getting the best out them accuracy wise while exercising safety rules. Have you ever seen what they can do with artillery? What special sights are you referring to. Taller front sights? Civil War soldiers used to make wood extensions to their rear sights for higher elevation and drilled peep holes in the sight leafs. The firing line at Fort Shenandoah is a quarter mile long. The thought that thousands of paper cartridges going down range could start a grass fire has merit. Sharps cartridges are a different animal and behave differently in the chamber. However, if you're using clip tail cartridges, you're have a potential unsafe condition caused by accumulated powder under the forestock. As far as reduced loads go, the idea is to hit rather small targets with consistency rather than man sized ones that don't require the same kind of accuracy. They're "killing" clay birds and ceramic tiles, not people. BTW, I'm curious as to what type of rifle musket you're shooting. If it's an Enfield and you're not using Enfield cartridges with a Pritchett bullet, then your not using it as intended.

 

[kh54]

BTW, I'm curious as to what type of rifle musket you're shooting. If it's an Enfield and you're not using Enfield cartridges with a Pritchett bullet, then your not using it as intended.

Did the North import English cartridges? I've never read that they did and I can't believe that they wouldn't have been using Burton balls in standard US arsenal cartridges in their Enfields. So maybe only Pritchett bullets were intended, but not generally in use by Union troops?

 

[ord sgt]

Crisco in the base of your Miniés anyone?

No thank you. Been there, done that. Won't repeat again.