Tried a new Boolit today

[aspangler]

I just got a Lee 360 grain minnie mold and cast up some. I have been shooting the Lee 250 REAL and RBs. Tried 60, 70, 80 gr FFG in my TC Renagade (1-48 twist) and the best group I got was 3.5 in at 50 yrds. What am I doing wrong. This rifle shoots RBs and REALs in 3/4 in at 50 yrds. Using the same lube too. 1/2-1/2 beeswax and Crisco. If I can't find out what is wrong, I'll melt them down and pour up some more REALs.

P.S. It's a 50 cal.

[Odinbreaker]

Usually Minnie' are not as accurate as the PBR or solid. I used some in my 54 and they opened way up. I can shoot a Real very well at 50 yds

[mooman76]

Minies usually shoot better with shallow rifling. There are probably things you can do to help but I haven't used minies enough to find what works better. I'm sure someone will chime in with some things you can try.

[rodwha]

Maybe try a wad between the powder and projectile.

[OverMax]

I've never had much luck either shooting mini's out of my T/C s. (45 & 54.) Barrels just didn't like them for some reason or another. Maxi's a whole different story. As was PRB.

[fouronesix]

I have no clue how to get a Lee Improved Minié to shoot well. 3 1/2" @ 50 is not very shiny and that is about the best I could do with various load combinations with the Lee Improved in 45 and 58 cal.

Standard Miniés are different critters and seem to operate best within a fairly narrow range of load parameters with any given rifle. While the standard Minié rifle twist is slow, they can shoot very well in faster twist bores. I have a 54 caliber fairly deep 7 groove 48"-50" twist musket that consistently shoots around 1" cluster groups @ 50 yards with a Lyman 54 cal Minié.

In the 50 T/C, I've just stayed with proven/known loads of PRBs and Maxiballs.

[Maven]

"In the 50 T/C, I've just stayed with proven/known loads of PRBs and Maxiballs." ...fouronesix

Exactly right!

[curator]

First, be sure your minnie slugs have no voids inside the hollow base. That will cause them to shoot poorly. When casting hollow base boolits with pure lead, I add 1/2% tin to get sharper castings and run my melter at 800 degrees. Minnies need to be soft, but often the hollow base "skirt" will blow out on these if pushed too hard with heavy charges. A old-time "fix" for this is to load a half-measure (of your powder charge) of cream of wheat cereal on top of the powder charge. The COW acts like a wad in that it seals off hot powder gas and facilitates the expansion of the hollow base into the rifling. COW packed into the hollow base won't interfere with the boolit's flight unlike fiber or felt wads will. You will have to experiment on powder charge and amount of COW to get best results. The 1 in 48 twist in my T/C New Englander seems to shoot the Lee minnie best with heavier charges like 75 to 80 grains of FFFg. I use an old .44RemMag case as a measure for the COW as this amount seems to work best regardless of the powder charge. With this load a slip-on recoil pad is a wise addition.