Parker Hale and the Pritchett Bullet

[Klaus]

Good Morning,


I had some luck and got a Parker Hale Navy P1858
The serial number is #6680 seems this Rifle are built in the ´80
The Rifle is used and in good condition
A drop of bitterness occur because Land and Fields are re - rifled and the Bore Diamenter is actually .583
This work has been done by Ueli Eichelberger a Gunsmith from Switzerland.

I am looking for a Mould that would fit the bore.
All mould I have just for testing provided by some friend drops bullet to small .577 - .580

The only light in the darkness I seems to be a Bullet from a Winter Mould ( Customs mould)
This tool drops a heavy 4 GG by .578 but with a first driving and about .585

I am also interested in historical correctness and was looking for the Pritchett Bullet

BUT nobody here in Germany are shooting the Pritchett , they are using naked Minies .
Very heavy Slugs with 670 grs weight and four or more Greasegroves with a shallow basehole maily.
This heavy lead slug seems to have nothing to do with the basic using Minie or Pritchett Bullet of the old days.
But they works good.

Has anybody here some experiences with the using of Pritchett Bullets?


For my interest : was the use of naked Minie Bullets as we do today a common procedure in the old days ?
Maybe for Target Matchs ?

Thx for input

Klaus

[pietro]

.


Klaus, IMO your easiest option would be to use a Minie' boolit, as the thin skirt of the Minie' design will expand to grasp the rifling.

Alternately, you might be able to manually "bump up" the boolits from the boolit mold you already have access to.

The Pritchett boolit should be used with paper patches/wrapping, so the shooting diameter can be adjusted by the number of paper layers.





Here's a source, although temporarily sold out, for Pritchett boolit's: http://www.papercartridges.com/pritchett-bullets.html

A company called NOE makes/sells Pritchett molds: http://noebulletmolds.com





There's also something termed a "modern Pritchett":







We wish you the best of luck with your new toy. .


.

[fgd135]

I would think a minié that drops at .580" would be a good fit for this rifle, did you fire it? Seems like it would easily obturate to fit the bore when fired. Alternatively, Lyman makes a .585" minié which could be sized down to .582" or so.
Several custom mould makers could make a Pritchett for you in the diameter you want. Brooks Moulds can make a Pritchett mould pattern which could be easily paper patched to .580 or larger with the right types of paper; the NOE mould is available in .566".

[quilbilly]

It may not be historically correct but the Parker/Hale Enfield 58 I once had shot quite well with PRB and FFF Goex (about 50 gr) if memory serves.

[Good Cheer]

Good Morning,


I had some luck and got a Parker Hale Navy P1858
The serial number is #6680 seems this Rifle are built in the ´80
The Rifle is used and in good condition
A drop of bitterness occur because Land and Fields are re - rifled and the Bore Diamenter is actually .583
This work has been done by Ueli Eichelberger a Gunsmith from Switzerland.

I am looking for a Mould that would fit the bore.
All mould I have just for testing provided by some friend drops bullet to small .577 - .580

The only light in the darkness I seems to be a Bullet from a Winter Mould ( Customs mould)
This tool drops a heavy 4 GG by .578 but with a first driving and about .585

I am also interested in historical correctness and was looking for the Pritchett Bullet

BUT nobody here in Germany are shooting the Pritchett , they are using naked Minies .
Very heavy Slugs with 670 grs weight and four or more Greasegroves with a shallow basehole maily.
This heavy lead slug seems to have nothing to do with the basic using Minie or Pritchett Bullet of the old days.
But they works good.

Has anybody here some experiences with the using of Pritchett Bullets?


For my interest : was the use of naked Minie Bullets as we do today a common procedure in the old days ?
Maybe for Target Matchs ?

Thx for input

Klaus

Have you tried paper patching available .575 and .577 minies?

[Nobade]

Good Cheer, you beat me to it! Or alternately this might work:

http://moosemoulds.wix.com/mm2013#!i...ional-hb/c1haa

-Nobade

[Good Cheer]

Wow, the moose trashcan looks like it would be fun to load backwards and hunt melons with.




Been using paper in the .69 and fixing to start in an oversized .58 and a .62.

[Buckshot]

..............I too have a Parker Hale P58 Enfield Naval Pattern rifle, but the bore remains 'as issued'.



I really believe that your 2 best options for the least expense would be to order a custom mould, or to paper patch as some have suggested. I have tried patched Minie' bullets, but didn't really expend a lot of effort in that direction as the rifle shot so well without patching it seemed to be a waste of time. I did get a noteworthy improvement in accuracy with an old Zoli made 1863 Zouave 58 caliber. One reason for the Enfield not doing so well may be mechanical. That is, the P-H repro has the same bore form as the original which is 5 grooves of progressive depth. My theory is with the grooves being much deeper at the breech, and with the grooves being so much narrower then the Zouave (3 groove), that the Minie' bullet's might not have completely upset to fill the full depth of the grooves. As I said, just a theory and never followed up.

Another option and much more expensive would be to swage them, and in so doing they'd HAVE to be a Pritchett style with no lube grooves. That would entail paying for the swage dies, core mould, and would probably also require (and then again might not) a heavier duty press, then your reloading press.



On the right in the photo is a 580gr Pritchett slug, and next to it a 'Shot up the skirt' to show the base cavity, and the fairly narrow skirt. This mould was from a company named Rapine, that is no longer in business. On the left is the same slug, but notice the heavier skirt? I made a swage die to accept the original Minie' but made up a base punch to form the heavier skirt and a somewhat shallower base cavity. At the same time also adding a HP to the nose. The original thinner skirt might have been having issues because it never seemed to shoot too well for me.



Another modified mould (as described in the photo) shot very well, as in the photo below:



Info for the RIGHT photo: These 2 five shot groups were fired at 50 yards using the modified Lyman 575611 @ 624grs. Please forgive the Pyrodex group. I was given a can of it to try. Note the difference in accuracy and the increased volumetric charge required to equal the Swiss 2 Fg velocity.



LEFT: Another set of 5 shot 50 yard groups trying 2 different lubes. My Enfield has expensive tastes and will foul out beyond being able to load after 4-5 shots with Crisco. RIGHT: A 5 shot 50 yard group using the NEI 500gr Target Minie'. As you can see the rifle will shoot, and I hope you eventually get yours going, and shooting well!

.................Buckshot

[Klaus]

Morning,

thx a lot for your answers and advises

yes. i was playing with the thought to buy the NOE Mould but stopped this because i found no succesful information how accurate this patched bullets are and i would not waste my money at the end.
I was interested in History and historical correctness so far it is possibile but it seems that the information about the accuracy of the old days could not repeat with today equipment
As example: No one from our high class shooters are using Pritchett Bullets or the common Minie Style Bullet.
they all without exeption are using long heavy slugs in the range about 600 - 700 grs, droven by Swiss FFG or Wano Sporting Powder FFFg with excellent results (from 150 Points seldom 140 Points or less).
Yes i could go this easy way and buy a Mould like they use but i would go for the historical way...
maybe with a cheap Lee Mould 575 and patch them on to my needed diameter first.

Klaus

[pietro]

.

We have a saying, here: "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do", so I like that you intend do what's in your heart instead of following the crowd.

That's exactly how new discoveries are arrived at.

We hope that you will post a range report with the results of your efforts.

[Klaus]

.

We have a saying, here: "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do", so I like that you intend do what's in your heart instead of following the crowd.

That's exactly how new discoveries are arrived at.

We hope that you will post a range report with the results of your efforts.

Hi Pietro,

yes for sure

but i have a break right know and can visit my range over next week
so pls patient

Klaus