1861 armisport blues

[iron brigade]

i have a .58 musket that is giving me the keyhole blues. this musket was used in skirmishing and thats is what i'm going to do with it i hope.
lyman 5752130s is keyholing and giving me a 4 foot group. the bore measures .579 so where can i get a mold to fill this bore? looking for the lee ashcan mold if someone wants to part with theirs. the musket is already bedded and front sight is raised as well, but barrel still lifts out of stock when tightening the screw. HELP!!

[Shooter]

You .don't mention your powder load.
50 Gr. of fff shoots most minies well in 1:48" twist

[59sharps]

I would go w/ the RCBS Hodgens mold. Can be gotten from northeast trader. also get the replacement base plug and sizer he sells. John will be in Va. next week at the NSSA nationals so he may be hard to get a hold of now. If you Bore is 579 I would consider go w/ the 580 mold and size down. I have both 580 and 584 my 580 comes out about 578. 584 drops them about 582.
I use 42grn 3fffg goex and Diamond back. If using swiss I can drop it down to 38.
do not over tighten the screw. I also glass bedded mine.

[iron brigade]

for powder i tried from 40-70 grs of 2ff and some 3fff. 59sharps: where can i get sizers for these minies?

[405]

First, like others have said, you need to get a mold that drops a minie that is very close to bore size... even a little engraving when you load is usually not a problem so no need for a sizer. Use soft lead and don't over-do the charge. The only way you'd need a sizer is if you get a mold that drops a minie so fat with an alloy that is too hard you can't load it. Usually a near pure lead minie, even if it is a thou or 2 larger than bore, can be started easily. Get a mold that drops a fat enough minie, start at 40-50 gr FF and see what happens. I also use an RCBS N-S mold for my .58. I got the .584" size and it engraves slightly on loading but that was the only way for me to get best accuracy.... and it IS accurate.

[sturf]

If you are a skirmisher, why not post on the N-SSA board? Bullet is too small. Lead is too hard, etc. Get a Repine old style mould (578460 or 580460. Use around 43 gr of Goex 3 f. You are looking an accurate load, not something to stop a bear.
Joe B, 3rd N C Art.

[sturf]

Lodgewood has the dies that you need.

[Rebel Dave]

Use only pure lead. Size the minnie .001-.002 thousanths under bore size. Use only natural black powder lubes, in the grooves. You can also use lube in the hollow base, this will keep fowling soft, while firing.

If you don't use pure lead, you will be constantly fighting that one irratating flyer (or key hole) that will show up 2-3 times out of 10 shots, or less. Pure lead is important in minnies. Thats what makes them acurate. The hollow base must expand "EVENLY" as it starts out the breech to the muzzle at the time of powder ignition. Only pure lead will allow this constanly.

Minnie size relation, to bore size, is the next important factor. If you have a lube sizer now (lyman or RCBS), you can get sizing dies from Lodgewood Mfg in Whitewater Wi. or from S&S firearms in NYC. Did you use a pin gage (bore pin) to check your bore,??. If not go to a Machine shop near you, just take the bbl, and ask them to check it for you. After determining bore size, size the pure lead minnie 1-2 thousanths under bore size. A good sized minnie will let the weight of the ramrod, almost load it for you. You can drive to Lodgewood, and get your bore checked, as they have bore pins. Lodgewood will be hard to get a hold of for the next week as the NSSA Nationals are next week, and they will be going. S&S will be there also.

You should be able to use 45-50 grains of 3FFF blk powder, and get a good load worked up, if the above are correct. RCBS and Lyman both make good Minnie molds. The RCBS Hodgdon mold is a good one, most who shoot it, use the after market base plug from North East Trader, but as stated John will be at the Nats also.

What unit do you skirmish with, ??. The NSSA, or the ACWSA, here in Wis. I am in both, and skirmish in Wis., and Ill. I am going to the nationals next week, in Va.

Pm me for more info.

Rebel Dave aka Dave C.

[iron brigade]

thanks for the info Rebel Dave and others who responded.
i will be joining the 2nd wi vol inf and shooting at the outagamie rod&gun club on june 11th.
my 13 year old son and a friend will be going as well. 2nd wi is in the ACWSA i believe.
the musket is fun to shoot, but for competition i need it to shoot accurately and then some.
as an aside my great-great grandfather was in the 1st wi heavy artillery stationed in chattanooga/lookout mountain during the war. maybe i'll see you at the skirmish.

[59sharps]

for powder i tried from 40-70 grs of 2ff and some 3fff. 59sharps: where can i get sizers for these minies?

http://northeasttradeco.com/ as oters have said pure lead and .001 under

[curator]

Lee makes a minie bullet mould that casts .578. That works great in my rifles with similar bore (grove) size. Use pure lead with possibly 1/2% tin added for better mould fill out. Cast hot:800+ degrees and cull any bullets that have a void in the base cavity. 50 grains of FFFg is a good load in my 1853 Enfield and 1861 Armi Sport. I lube with a 50/50 bee's wax/lard mix to keep fouling soft.

[iron brigade]

still got the blues after two days of shooting. i bought the above lee mold and used the recipe of beeswax/crisco and it shot better but nothing to brag about. 6" high and about 4" group.
can't understand why this thing is so inconsistant. wow. have to ram the ball down- i mean i put a towel wadded up and really beat the ball down. the 575213os is 3feet high and to the left, huh? gotta be kidding me......

[59sharps]

still got the blues after two days of shooting. i bought the above lee mold and used the recipe of beeswax/crisco and it shot better but nothing to brag about. 6" high and about 4" group.
can't understand why this thing is so inconsistant. wow. have to ram the ball down- i mean i put a towel wadded up and really beat the ball down. the 575213os is 3feet high and to the left, huh? gotta be kidding me......

it has to be undersized first round should almost drop to the bottom under the weight of the ram rod. it will never shoot if you are pounding them in. And as stated pure lead. should need no more than 48 grn of 3fffg. most it not all of these guns need sight work and trigger work you want a trigger pull of about 3 1/2 lbs. For 50 yards I needed to add to the frount sight to bring the point of imact down. I would not weary about point of impact now I would work on the group first then play w/ the sights. if your bore is 579 you need to size the minnie 577 to 578. get the RCBS Hodgens mold! I can send you some rounds sized 577 and 578 if you want to try them.

[iron brigade]

absolutely! i would be indebted to you.
btw, this musket was used by a skirmisher, the front sight has been replaced with a higher brass sight and the barrel channel is glass bedded as well as a dandy of a trigger.
i'm gonna have to mic one of the lee .578 minies, the last couple of inches is the worst when ramming the ball down. the 575213 goes right down nicely but won't shoot worth a darn.
i have to get this thing shooting by june 11th, thats when the skirmish is.

[59sharps]

absolutely! i would be indebted to you.
btw, this musket was used by a skirmisher, the front sight has been replaced with a higher brass sight and the barrel channel is glass bedded as well as a dandy of a trigger.
i'm gonna have to mic one of the lee .578 minies, the last couple of inches is the worst when ramming the ball down. the 575213 goes right down nicely but won't shoot worth a darn.
i have to get this thing shooting by june 11th, thats when the skirmish is.

Did you drop a bore light down it? If the last few in's is the problem you may have a lead build up. or a blown skirt sitting there. Do patchs want to stick at that spot?

[iron brigade]

i have looked in the bore with a small strong flash light and looks good. will look again when i have more time. thanks