577 Snider with Round Ball?

[tmanbuckhunter]

I have heard of that problem elsewhere (maybe on the British militaria forum?) so it seems well known and common. Only two resolutions I know of- either use a slightly smaller diameter RB or a case with a thinner wall. The least expensive brass case alternative I think is the shortened Magtech 24 ga brass shot shell case. You can find them for about a buck apiece from various outlets at full length and not sized. Or for a little more $, already trimmed and sized from Buffalo Arms.

An off chance possibility would be to apply a small amount of lube to the outside of an already loaded round and run it up into a Snider sizing die a little at a time to see if it could be "massaged" enough to chamber.

Martyn at X-Ring services has fair prices on formed 577 Snider brass and it is made to order.

[Michael J. Spangler]

So I loaded my first rounds tonight. I love the simplicity of loading these old cartridges. Seems everyone has a variation and they all work.

Primed cases
Dropped 50 grains of FFF
Seated a salvaged 20 gauge card
Dropped a 45/70 case full of cream of wheat
Used my drill press with a spacer to seat the round ball firmly into the COW

I only loaded a few as it’s time to settle down for the night but I can’t wait to load the rest and shoot this old beast next weekend.

[Michael J. Spangler]

Oh ya! That'll work. Guaranteed it'll blow smoke and make noise. The only downside I've found with filler like COW or cornmeal or similar is some doesn't get blown out the barrel. No issue if a few granules are left in bore, it's the ones in the chamber that can leave little cosmetic dents in the case during subsequent shot.

Interested in range report. Consistent sight picture is alway difficult with these old guns. Sometimes a fine bead in the center of a relatively small bull and sometimes a fine bead right at the 6 O'clock edge line on a larger bull give the best sight picture. Depends on my eyes that day and/or the sun angle I guess.

I’ll be updating everyone for sure.

After playing with all kind of loads and dies and bullets in so many cartridges and trying to get things just right it felt good to toss some of this ammo together.

[armstrong]

picked up a Snider years ago in a trade...never did anything with it...looks like I better dig it out and try some of these recipes...

[Steppenwolf]

I have found the roundball load the easiest and best to fireform new brass. And surprisingly the roundball load can be very accurate in a Snider. However, there are two very different Sniders out there. The MKI/MK IIs are conversions of the 577 Enfield muskets and the MKIII is a purpose built Snider that while still 577 caliber actually has a 48" faster twist 5 groove bore. I have a MKIII short rifle with the 48" twist so whatever I load or report is specific to the MKIIIs. The original conversions being of Enfield musket origin- will have slower twists and older technology barrels of iron and could even be laminated as with some of those of eastern origin. The MKIIIs will be of more modern steel and will be so marked.

This morning I fireformed a few pieces of 24 ga Magtech brass using a roundball load. The Magtech brass shotshell is designed to accept a large pistol primer. A large rifle primer will work but it stands a skosh proud so is not ideal. This morning's load was about 65 gr of ff BP, 1/8" felt wad, 1/2" foam spacer, 1/16" lubed felt wad, thin patch and .562 RB. Once the filler stack was loaded, laid a thin cloth patch over the mouth and pressed the roundball down into the case until snug against the top wad... the top of the ball ended up just below mouth rim level. Put a small dab of lube on top. Shot 10 rounds at 50 yards and the group was a nice circular cluster of about 1 1/2". Overall that is about the average of the best groups I and this rifle have been able to shoot at 50.

Here's a pic of the various bullets I've tried in the Snider.
L-R... RCBS N-S hollow base Minie, Accurate 445 B flat base Snider, Lyman 20 ga hollow base slug, Lee hollow base Minie, .562 RB, Lee solid base REAL.
The target is one of the better 50 yd groups shot with the RCBS N-S Minie

Is that the .605 dia. Lyman 20ga hollow base slug?

Thanks
Kevin