TalShiar

Hi, i own a Euroarms reproduction of an 1853 enfield, .58 calibre. I have had little success at making it shoot where i aim, however. The spreads at 25 yards can be anywhere within 1-2 feet (it seems to deviate far more on the vertical axis than horizontal) and im lucky much at 50 yards. Ive been told enfields aim a bit high, though my problem is not connected to any problem with the sights. After repeated firing i can find no discernable pattern, and varying loads do not seem to help. At the moment i have used 70-100 grains of ffg triple 7. Ive cast the bullets myself using a rapine .577 bullet mould and i always lube the bullets before firing them. I also have ran patches down the barrel between firing to try to clear any fouling... nothing seems to have helped and i find myself baffled. Thanks for your time.

Triple Se7en

Try some of these in 315 grain with 55-60 grains 777.

Click Here For Warren Minies

cayugad

Triple Se7en... do you shoot those warren minnies out of your Green Mountain Barrel with any accuracy? I have shot some of the bigger minnies out of a LEE mold and they were all right but nothing to write home about....

If they would work I might even try some.

cayugad

Did the enfield have rifling or is it a musket barrel? Have you tried a patches round ball out of the rifle. If I remember right, a friend had an old springfield rifle we were shooting roundball one afternoon with. At 100 yards we could hit a gallon milk jug as I remember. We were shooting patched round ball with a very low powder charge....

TalShiar

Triple 7, do you think its a problem when i cast the bullets then? Is there any obvious way to tell if they are disfigured or unsuitable for firing. The batches ive made have had no serious problems, they go down the barrel snugly but easily enough, some small blemishes to the surfaces can be seen - mosly small scratches, but nothing serious or disfiguring. Not exactly sure of the weight, ive been melting down shotgun pellets for lead and then lubing them well before firing.

And it is a rifled barrel. sorry i didnt mention that earlier.

cayugad

I am not sure of the BHN of shot pellets. I think they are around 12 BHN. Pure lead is 5 BHN for the most part. You might be casting a harder bullet then you think. Also if your water cooling them at all, your increasing the BHN that way also.

You probably have a 1:48 to 1:70 something twist in that rifle. It might be a 1:48 twist, and you mentioned it is a .58 caliber. I think I would get some pillow tick patch and some .570 swagged lead ball and try shooting patched round ball and see what kind of group you can get. Your rifle might not like the minnies or conicals your casting. You could buy some conicals also and try them like T-7 suggested.

A .58 caliber round ball is a sledge hammer for hunting. The ball weighs 284 grains, put about 70-100 grains of powder behind that and you have a real powerhouse in the woods for taking anything you want to shoot.

Roundball generally out to 100 yards are very accurate. This might be another suggestion for you. I shoot a .58 caliber with a 1:70 twist and with round ball this thing is a fantastic shooter with 100 grains of Goex FFg behind the patch....

TalShiar

i was somewhat worried about the material that the pellets were, but i have had trouble locating lead otherwise (seeing as how environmental concerns seem to be forcing it farther and farther out of the common market) Is there any way to tell exactly the consistancy of the lead i have?

Ill definately look into round shot (I confess i never considered them to be very accurate and ive never seen anyone shooting round either), though ive talked to a few people who claim they got great accuracy with the enfield with conicals, so i think its rather likely that any problem that applies to the minies would carry over to roundshot. Thanks for the thoughts

Triple Se7en

Cayugad

The 315s shot as well as the 460s shot bad! My lube is different than yours... 50% Wonderlube 1000 and 50% Cabelas Muzzleloader Lube (white stuff).... melted together - stirred - applied.

I recently spent alot of time getting the Buffalo Maxi-Ballets 405 HPs to fall into a nice 4" bullseye area circle at 100 yards only to find out yesterday that my gun smith removed the fixed rear sight to install the new scope base for the 58 using the rear sight screw & the tang screw. With my eyes, I don't expect a 4" circle out in the woods with possibly no gun rest to use, so the idea to install a scope made sense. Now I have to find a way to use the see-thru rings to make it work when the weather's bad & I can't see in the scope. He supposedly also installed a nice 1" thick Sims Limbsaver pad on it also.

UncleNorby

I would say that the bullet is the culprit, though I would also try pyrodex. Either the bullet is failing somehow, or is a design that the rifle does not stabilize well. Either way, change bullets. It may be the size (diameter), but you say they fit snugly and load well. I'm not familiar with the exact design, but if its a minie design, try a solid base bullet.

The vertical stringing makes me wonder if something could be up with the stock. I would expect more of a random "grouping" if it were just related to the bullet. Maybe try a shim between the underside of the barrel and the end of the forestock, something like a piece of a business card. Try one thickness then two. If it makes no difference then take them out and try something else.

cayugad

I buy my pure lead for casting from Midway USA. I also got a batch just last month from a plumbing supply house. If the bullet design you are using is not working then you need to find one that will. You said you have tried different powder charges. The minnies are a slip fit projectile made to shoot well from a dirty barrel. Do you get better accuracy as the rifle gets fowled?

If your minnies are real loose fit (as mine are) here is what I did. I took some white teflon tape and wrapped the minnies with a couple layers. I then lubed the tape and shot them that way. The tape increased the diameter of the minnie and made them engage the rifling better and hence the accuracy got much better.

Otherwise get some different .58 caliber conicals (not minnies) and try them. I think Hornady makes some.