1853 Enfield

[Mustangpalmer1911]

Looking for recommendations for a mini ball mold for a 1853 Enfield. Prefer lee but not a must.

[oldhickory]

I always liked the Lyman 575213OS myself, the trick now is getting one big enough. I also favor the Rapine 580460 International, (.580X460gr.) very much like the 575213OS but with a heavier skirt and a small flat in the hollow base.

You'll need to size your boolits .001-.002" smaller than land dia. for best accuracy, so get a mold that casts larger than bore dia.

If you're thinking of paper patching these like original British issue, you'll have to cast the smallest .58 boolit you can and swage it to about .565" then patch it, outside lube the patch, and load in cardboard tubes. Too much work for me, I'll stick with the Burton method.

[Southron Sanders]

I have been shooting rifle-muskets since 1968 in N-SSA competition.

IF you have a replica P-53 and want it to be "all that it can be" you have to do the following:

(1) Glass bed the breech section of the barrel. Unfortunately, most of the Italian repros have way too much wood cut away in the breech section. This allows the the barrel to "flop around" when the arm is fired, which kills any chance of exceptional accuracy.

(2) P-53's shoot best with a TIGHT TANG SCREW.

(3) Ideally, you want a 3 to 4 pound trigger pull. Unfortunately, if you try to get into working on the lock and screw up, it then has a tendency to catch on "Half-Cock" when you try to shoot it. Limit yourself to polishing the inside of the lock plate with Fine Grain Emery paper until it is "mirror bright." Same with the lock parts that rub against themselves when the lock cycles and then lube it. You can cut down the strength of the Sear Spring a bit.

(4) The advice given in the post above about the size of your Minie Balls is good advice follow it.

(5) Replace the nipple that came on the musket with an AAMPCO NIPPLE. They are made out of Berrlium and 500% better than regular steel nipples. Dixie Gun Works sells Aampco nipplies-JUST MAKE SURE YOU PURCHASE THE ONES WITH THE CORRECT THREAD SIZE FOR YOUR MUSKET.

(6) Developing an Accurate Load -Generally every P-53 is different. Load up five cartridges with 42 grains FFFg black powder, five cartridges with 43 grains of FFFg, five cartridges with 44 grains of FFFg right up thru 58 grains.

Shoot each set of cartridges off the bench at 100 yards to find which load delivers the TIGHTEST GROUP. After you find that load, then you can adjust the sights to be "Dead On" for that load.

Cast your Minie Balls OUT OF PURE "Soft" LEAD ONLY. Weigh all of your bullets and separate them into different "Weight Lots" As for the Minies that are too light-realize that they have air pockets in them and throw them back into the pot to remelt.

Check out:

www.n-ssa.org/

The N-SSA's Bulletin Board has a lot of good information on it about shooting Civil War Era weapons.

[GRININ, BAREIT]

Bernie Rowell at Old West Bullet Mold can make an accurate copy of the original.
Grinin

[Baron von Trollwhack]

The RCBS 58-500-M is an excellent mould with a mechanical base pin. It works well and the minie's were very accurate in my rifles.

BvT

[montana_charlie]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=16