pedersoli 1861 springfield

[barnabus]

im thinking of getting a 1861 to play with and for some bench and off hand shooting. anyone here have any experience with this musket,bullet selection,lubing type and method and capable accuracy you could share. thanks

[carbine]

Pm sent

[Ozark mike]

All i know about em was they took that rifle adapted a trapdoor breech lock to it and it became the 1865 springfield trapdoor which later became the famous 1873

[Ragnarok]

Not a Pedersoli M1861 but a Euroarms M1861 that's like 2002 vintage. I bought it used a year or so back.

I really am not competent or knowledgeable with the three band .58 caliber rifle musket and have not shot mine just a bunch. I've been shooting mine with .570 patched round balls and 60gr 2FF with very good accuracy. Just started thinking about buying a mini ball mold and trying the bullets the replica rifle was designed for....

I've been using SPG or home-brew Emmert's lube greased patches and Hornady .570 balls plus some TC pre-cut patches that make a really tight fit requiring a starter rod and small mallet to get started. A 60gr 2FF charge of Graf & Sons BP and CCI musket caps blasts the patched ball to the target. This is the first load I tried in my used rifle and it works so well I've just kept shooting it as a round ball rifle.

I will say that the Italian M1861 replica is a large and heavy gun! Nothing petite or compact about it....

[carbine]

There are two band alternative to the 3 band springfield that are just as accurate and easier to control. About 3,000 musket shooters over in N-SSA.org. You can buy a used gun thats already set up.

[jaegerstutzen]

Barnabus, The NSSA is certainly the best place for info on the subject.