sizing minnie's

[outlan22]

started to pour my own minnie and round balls for the 50 cal. was just wondering if others size their ammo prior to heading out. i have found that some of my minnies are a little out of round. should i just toss them back intothe melting pot or is it worth the hassle of finding the right sizing dies?

the round balls mold very well so no prob's with those.

chris.

 

[rebel727]

I don't see how they could be out of round unless the mold is defective. I cast .58 minies with a Lyman mold and I don't size them. The weight of the steel ramrod will push them down to the last inch or so.

 

[GreyWhiskers]

Chris,
could it be because they are dropped onto something hard when coming out of the mold? The bases are thin and easily deformed. GW

 

[outlan22]

when droping them out of the mold, i had a towel that was folded four times for them to land on.

:hmm: i think i am just going to re pour them ones that seem to be oversize, might have been operator error do to inexperiance on my part. :thumbsup:
hope the sun comes out

chris

 

[Runner]

Pour, wait ten seconds for lead to be pulled out of the sprue and into the bullet as the bullet begins to cool. Strike sprue and dump about three feet over a five gallon bucket of water. Sprue and bullet can both go in the bucket. When you retrieve them later, you have to wait until they are dry before returning the sprues and bad bullets to the melt. I often strike the sprue off on a piece of plywood just for that reason. If you use this method, you run the pot down and then fill it with sprues and rejects. Take a break while it all comes back up to temp. Any water trapped in a bullet will be gone before the temp reaches the point where that becomes very dangerous if you do it that way.

 

[rebel727]

I knock my sprue off in the pot and the bullet on a folded towel. Never had one get deformed or flattened from doing it that way.

 

[wulf]

I size all my minis. I also made a wooden dowel
with the size of the base in one end and a cross
blade to scrape all of the base edges equal. The
back of the bullet is more important than the
[url] nose..In[/url] my worthless opinion based on no facts
at all..

 

[paulvallandigham]

Wulf: I don't think that opinion is worthless at all. If the base of the bullet, including the skirt on a hollow base bullet is not flat, and square to the bore, the bullet is going to leave the barrel at an angle and go who knows where. In a rifled barrel, the bullet will yaw on its axis, lose velocity, and drift.

So, keeping the base of the bullet IS much more important that having a pretty nose on it.

 

[wulf]

THANK YOU...

 

[arquebus]

I do size my minies. I have yet to find a production mould that throws a truly round bullet. For a .50 caliber Minie I would recommend getting one of the Lee bullet sizers that screws into a loading press like a reloading die. They will custom make them for about $25, just measure your BORE size with a lead slug & order the die .001" to .002" smaller so that the minie will be a snug slip fit.

Wulf, your base uniformer sounds like a good idea, do you have any picturs you can post?

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

I size all my minies and it makes a huge difference in accuracy. I shoot a .577 bore Hoyt Enfield, and a Parker Hale .577 bore musketoon. I use a Lyman 575213 in the 2 band and a Lyman 575213OS in the musketoon. Both of these molds cast on oversize bullet. The 213 as cast varies between .5775 and .578. By sizing the bullets, I insure all bullets are uniform diameter. I use sizing dies purchased from Southwest Sutler. They fit in a standard inexpensive Lee Reloading press and include the sizing sie, push rod and locking
nut. I shoot about a 1,000 minies a year and this makes short work of a tedious job. The 2 band Hoyt prefers a .575 diameter bullet, while the Musketoon likes a .576. You wouldn't think a 1,000th of an inch would make much difference, but it does. A loose fitting minie has a tendency to lead the bore, while a tighter fitting minie doesn't.

Accuracy is all about consistency and sizing dies insure consistant bullet dimensions. By all means size your bullets.

 

[rebel727]

I cast my .58's out of a Lyman mold. Don't size them and can hit a 5 gallon bucket at 300 yds. almost every shot.

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

I find sizing makes a huge difference. I shoot in the upper 40's with sized bullets at 50 and 100 yards. For skirmishing we're shooting stationary trap clays at 50 yards and 6" ceramic tiles at 100 yards offhand. We don't have 200 yard musket competition in the N-SSA but in my club shoots we have 200 yard offhand matches for which we use 100 yard targets. Using a Lyman 575213 bullet sized to .575 I shoot in the high 30's offhand at 200. With the musketoon shooting a 575213OS bullet, I shoot in the mid 30's at 200.

Off a bench at 50 yards I can shoot one ragged hole with sized minies. A sizing die from Southwest is under $30.00 and I find they make an enormous difference in accuracy. I suppose like any other competitive shooter, I'm looking for an edge. For breaking clays sizing may not be necessary. But, for shooting paper, sizing can mean the difference between shooting a 44 and a 46. Since we select our A team by highest scores, I want to shoot the highest paper score possible, to insure a place on the team.

If you have any N-SSA shoots in your area check it out. You'll see some great guns and witness some outstanding shooting. We shoot everything from smoothbore musket to cartridge breechloader, provided documentation exist for that type of arm having been purchased during the war. (For instance, I don't think any R&S revolvers were ever fired in anger, but since they were purchased in quantities above 100, they are legal for competition)I can count the competitors in my region who don't size their minie balls. If you go to a skirmish, ask the shooters whether they size or not.

 

[rebel727]

Pretty good shootin. We don't have N-SSA shoots around here that I know of. I have been to a few in years past before I came here but never participated. I'm not much on paper punching. I mostly just shoot here around the house. Sizing may very well play a role in competitive shooting but I hit what I'm shooting at for the most part with my unsized minies. I can bust stationary clay pigeons offhand at 50-75 yds.and like I said I can hit a 5 gallon bucket most times at 300 but not offhand. I can hit it at at 200 offhand about half the time. I think I do pretty good for a dumb ol country boy. I did try getting into long range paper punching with centerfires but it just didn't excite me.(plus I wasn't very good at it) :grin: I like to see things happen when I pull the trigger.

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

That's why I think you'd like the N-SSA. In team competition all we shoot is breakables. Clay pigeons, clay pots, water jugs, ceramic tiles, etc. I think you'd love it. I belong to a Confederate team, (despite living in the northeast) and almost every other weekend there is a shoot or skirmish as we call them. Twice a year at the nationals in Winchester, Virginia 5,000 competitors will turn out to shoot everything from carbines to cannons.

I don't know my Mississippi geography very well, but the Deep South region just had a skirmish in Brierfield, Ala.Is that close by?

Sounds like you have a good shooting musket, and more importantly like shooting it. Have you glass bedded the barrel?

 

[rebel727]

Just looking at the map it looks like about 250 miles. I useta go to skirmishes up in Corinth, Ms and Shiloh, Tn. and once to Raymond, Ms which isn't too far but they don't fight where you can see it, just hear it. Don't really live close enough or have much time to go to any now. I've got an Arms Sport 53 Enfield and all I've done is file out the rear sight to get it on target windage wise. I've got an original Enfield made in 61, haven't shot it but a few times tho.

 

[Iron Jim Rackham]

Wow, that's a pretty substantial drive. I should mention the N-SSA isn't into re-enacting. We're a shooting organization, and while we wear uniforms for team competition, we don't attempt to explain the soldiers life or re-enact any campaigns. We just show up and shoot.

About the only modifications we are allowed to make to arms is replacing the front sight with a taller and thicker blade, and glass bedding the barrels. Because we shoot at 50 yards, the taller front sight allows you to shoot on the money at that distance. Glass bedding just stabalizes the barrel and allows for greater consistency.

I don't know other shoot locations in the deep south, but you might want to check out the North South Skirmish Association website and see if they have anything closer to you. Even if you don't want to enlist, the skirmishes are a great source for equipment and information.

 

[wulf]

I left a message on your Bio...I can't sent pics
but if you can give out your email address i can
send you a drawing..they really are quite simple
to make...So..it's up to you..