Originally Posted by
cayugad
The minni ball was never made for accuracy. It was made for speed of fire. All it had to do was hit any part of the person being shot at, or the fellow next to them, and the weight of the bullet did the rest. They were shot out of slow twist rifles 1-60 or even slower or a smoothbore. The common powder charge was 60 grains of slow burning 2f black powder.
If you shoot them too fast, you blow the skirt and they spray all over the place. If its a conical you want to hunt out of that black mountain magnum.. try a maxi ball. I think you'd be much happier. Even a REAL conical might do better. I have molds for both a 50 and 54 (or did I sell them?) and never cast bullets because IMO it was a waste of lead.
Dave, I'm sure there are some NSSA boys on other forums that would argue you into the ground on that, the minie WAS developed for accuracy and use in the newly developed rifled musket. It was designed so that the skirt expanded into the rifling when the charge detonated causing the bullet to spin making it much more accurate than anything previously used in large bore military firearms. The main problem was that it had to be used with a relatively low powder charge of 60gr or so to keep the skirt from fragmenting when they exited the barrel. There have also been several more modern designs that were developed for competition shooting with much thicker skirts that will withstand heavier charges. I'm with you though, for my money and in my guns, there are much better conicals available, but in the right rifled musket and in the right hands, the minie can be very accurate.
Caplock, you might want to follow Cayugad's advice. And I personally don't think your 1:38 T/C is ever gonna shoot those minies worth a rat's rear quarters either.
BPS