I guess I am just going to have to try some of them 315 grain minnies your talking about. Although with the way this rifle shoots round ball, I really do not think I need a different projectile.

I was holding some excellent groups at 100 yards with the open sights the other weekend using 100 grains of Goex FFg a pillow tick patch with moose milk lube, and Speer roundballs.

A scoped monster rifle... I like the idea. Actually with a good concical I do not see why that will not shoot out to 150 yards with that set up.... My new flinter (T/C Hawkins .50 caliber) should be here any day now. I can not wait to shoot that devil.......

Im going to try to get some lead from old tires and cast some bullets with that before anything else, ill see if that helps any. I was told that the mold i use casted bullets that go with the enfield. they seem to do a good job, they enter the barrel well enough that one cant rattle them around but they go down rather easily with light force, i rarely need a ball starter. Does this sound like an apropriate fit or should it be much more snug.
Also, this talk of round shot, does the quality of lead matter all that much for rounds as they dont really need to conform to the barrel after firing to grip the rifling?

BP Moulds are generally made for pure lead. When you cast a bullet, the lead shrinks as it cools. Wheelweight lead will not shrink as much as pure lead, and bullets may be oversized because of that.

If you are using a minie style, they are supposed to be somewhat undersized, as the bullets expand into the rifling as they move down the barrel. They were developed so a soldier could keep loading as his rifle got more fowled in battle. Not the best situation for a one-shot hunting scenario.

I use conicals that engrave into the rifling at loading. They start a little hard, then slide fairly easily down the bore, but light to moderate pressure is required.

What is the rifling twist rate of your rifle? Are you using a minie bullet?

not exactly sure of the rate of twist, my rifle is the 3 band enfield shown here - http://www.euroarms.net/euroarms_net...netEnfield.htm (it didnt come with a manual) and the bullets came from this mould - http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product...oducts_id=8034

Wheel weights are again a much higher BHN then the normal lead your normally use to make your black powder bullets. Wheel weights run from 10-15 BHN and pure lead is 5 BHN.

It sounds like you have the right mold for the right rifle. Do you have a small mag light flashlight that will slide down the barrel of the rifle and slide back out? I bought a small one at Wal Mart and use it to check the bore of the rifle. It will slide down a .54 caliber and larger but not fit into a .50 caliber. If you dropped that down the barrel you could see if there is even rifling in the barrel.

If it is like the others on that page you posted, it would have a 1:48 twist which would shoot conicals and round ball. Those minnies you make should fit and shoot just fine.

The last couple things I would try is, get some JB Bore Paste and scrub the bore to smooth out any ruff spots. Last I would try shooting those minnies with as little as 50 grains of powder and see if perhaps they do not like to be pushed fast. This rifle is a real puzzle.

One other thing I see from looking at the site is....

the top rifle is an 1853 Enfield Rifle MUSKET. This musket part and the fact they do not list the twist of rifling for the top rifle makes me believe that it is a true musket.

this might have something to do with the lack of accuracy in the rifle....I am not that up on Civil War rifles....

One forum you can come to and get some answers is

Muzzleloading forum

there are people there that shoot only muskets and smoothbores like what you own. I am sure the would have much better suggestions then what I can offer you, and would welcome the chance to help you...

Im a little fuzzy on how this bhn scale works, but i get the feeling you believe this could be preventing the bullet from fitting the barrel after firing the weapon. Are you aware of any way to test the bhn of lead? I have about 50 pounds of the stuff and im reluctant to just throw it away and start buying the stuff at midway (avoiding that was kind of the reason i started casting my own in the first place, lol) Im also sure that the enfield can shoot accurately, based on some discussions ive had with reenactors ive run across. Thanks for all your help by the way, i realize this thread has gone on quite a bit.

My concern with the BHN of the projectle is the way the skirt on the minnie is expanding to engage the rifling of the barrel. If the lead your casting is too hard, I am wondering if the skirt is opening up enough to do the job.

As for ways to test the hardness of lead, take an equal amount by volume of a known lead and an unknown lead. Drop them into an equal amount of water, and the heavier of the two should show in the water level that rises to compensate for the lead. Lead being the heavier should make the water rise more.. should it not? I believe this was the archimedes principle. Therefore your current casted minnie VS a known pure lead minnie out of the same mold should be equal if the two know substances are equal themselves....

Someone also said you can take a known lead and using a vice exert equal pressures on a steel ball bearing and then measure the dent. The lead being the softer metal should dent more....

I took my .58 caliber out today to test different lubes that I make as to how they would effect accuracy. These tests were conducted at 50 yards off a bench. The rifle is a 32" open stock sights, Green Mountian Barrel shooting .570 Speer Round ball and a .018 pillow tick patch. I am rather happy with the results of the moose milk lube that I make as far as accuracy. This is a four shot group. Believe me, that little black square looks very small at 50 yards. That group is under an inch center of ball to center of ball. Actually it is closer to 3/4 of an inch group. I was very pleased.



Again, I encourage you to come to that other site with your concerns and questions. Not only would we enjoy having another person on the forum, but they are much more qualified to answer your questions then I am...

Until then keep trying combinatons. I sure wish I could help you out....

The 1853 is a rifle musket, not a musket. Probably three groove, shallow, and slow twist. I suspect your minies are just too hard to obturate properly, and strip the rifleing to a degree. Minie balls need to be as soft as possible (almost pure lead, or with just enough tin to cast well), otherwise the skirt doesn't expand enough to take the rifleing. Can't hurt to try a .570 patched round ball, either.

I'd like to thank the other posters here for explaining why I suggested you use another minie with less powder. Another reason other than proper rifling engagement with the correct BHN lead for suggesting a smaller powder charge is because replicas like yours were often designed like the originals... with soft steel barrels only meant to shoot charges around 50-80 grains.

Since your powder volume average was 85 grains of hotter, more powerful 777, that is the equivalent of 100 grains of Pyrodex or Goex Black... way-way too much powder there. That's why I suggested around 55 grains... which is the 67-1/2 grain equivalent to Pyrodex/Goex Black..... much more correct for your Enfield. I'm sure a new rifle manual would of outlined that so I'm not blaming you for "possibly" overpowering it. I stipulate the word "possibly"... cuz' I'm not 100% sure how your manual for that gun actually reads.