Love the Lee original Mini

[MontanaS]

There original mini mold for .575 diameter casts a very nice bullet which has proven to be very accurate in my 62 Richmond replica. I am consistently hitting a pie plate at both 50 and 100 yards from shooting sticks. I've been using a bees wax, neats foot oil and murphy's soap mixture for the lube.

[Buckshot]

...........Several years back a shooting buddy of mine named Bob (3 Band Bob) showed up one Tuesday at the range with a new to him 3 band Enfield repro. This one had been imported by Lyman (probably in the 70's?) and it was a very nice reproduction. I do not recall if we ever hunted proof marks to find out where it was made. If we did the result didn't stick. His rifles he normally shot was a 69 cal M42 that was a repro of a rifled conversion, and a 1st model M1855 Springfield.

What did, was how accurate it was. One afternoon we alternatly took turns, he on one side of the bench and me on the other shooting that musket. We were shooting at a 200 meter gong (11"x14") and hitting dang near every shot. We were shooting the Lee 505gr Minie', using Crisco as the lube (in the base cavity only) and 70.0grs of Goex 2Fg. He'd load and fire, then hand it to me. I'd do the same and hand it back, and that rifle barrel got HOT.

I have never before experienced a more pleasant, egar to please, and infallible muzzle loader. We shot it like that until we ran out of caps. Bob had had an almost full 1 lb coffee can full of those Lee's, and when we were done there were just a couple left. We never had to pull the nipple, nor did we have to wipe the bore or scrape the breechface. I couldn't believe it but maybe a month later he told me he'd sold it to a mutual friend. I asked why and he said 2 reasons. One was that it was just too accurate and there was no mystery in it (huh?) and the 2nd was that they had never been issued to the Marines during the Civil War.

Since he'd been a Marine I guess that meant something to him. He sold it for $500 and as much as I craved to have that rifle, I just couldn't see my way clear to pay that. At the time a 2nd Gen Parker-Hale from Navy Arms was about the same, so I bought one of their P58 2 band Naval Pattern rifled. While it is a nice rifle and equally as accurate it does have a bit of Bob's apparent 'Mystery', as I sure can't fire it for 60-70 rounds without somekind of cleaning taking place, nor does it favor the good ole 505gr Lee as well.

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

[oldhickory]

I've used the LEE 505 in the past and wore out 2 molds volume casting before getting a Lyman 575213OS. Not that much more accurate than the LEE, but I've yet to wear out a Lyman.

[chuebner]

While the Lee traditional Minie shoots OK out of my Zoli Zouave, the Lee target Minie shoots great (<2" at 50yd). Mine likes 55gr. 2F GOEX, bullets pan-lubed with my version of Emmert's lube.

charlie

[PA Shootist]

I just got a new mold for the Lee .50 cal old-style Minie boolit. It cast beautiful boolits from the second one dropped out of the mold; I made 4 lbs. worth from pure lead; they were just perfect-looking, and the self-centering hollow base worked well, the boolits dropped right out. The mold closed up self-aligning way better than any previous Lee molds. And the nose-pour sprue cut-off was sturdy and cut cleanly, the bullet noses all uniform. Best of all the accuracy is superb from my old side-hammer percussion rifle and 70 gr FFg with 1-48" twist. But the problem: reloading a second shot without cleaning is difficult at best, dang near impossible really. The as-cast dimension seems to be .500". If it were .005 smaller it would help. There are no sizing dies to size to .495" or even .490". I thought that was the basic idea of the Minie ball, a slight undersize for reliable easy reloading, even a fouled bore, and the expansion of the skirt would accomplish the bore seal. Anyone out there with any experience or suggestions? I had to thoroughly clean the bore to push subsequent bullets down, which wouldn't be possible under field conditions.

[mooman76]

PA Shootist
I have wondered the same. I can continue to load without cleaning but it is hard to get the Minies down. I have a 575 Lee and it works great in my 58, I can shoot all day. The minie for the 54 is also slightly smaller. I have thought of having a sizer made to like .495 or so to see haow it would work. I even got several lee 50s in the minie, the target and traditional and all are the same.

[saz]

Anyone compared the improved minnie to the traditional? Anything +'s or -'s to either design? I have shot quite a few improved minnies out of my Kodiak 58 and it loves them. I am gonna buy my own mold when I get back, but I am wondering if anyone has done a comparison between the improved and traditional.

Just to throw in another question, does anyone think the "target" minnie would be ok for hunting? I dont see why not, but I havent seen a boolit from one so I dont know what the nose looks like.

[mooman76]

Saz,
I see no reason you can't use a target minie. Flat out it's a big boolit either way. The target minies have a flat nose similay to a wadcutter and the sides are similar to a Lee tumble lube bullet. With a flat nose won't be as aerro dynamic but a ML looses energy fast anyway. I haven't compared the two and don't even have both in the same caliber but my 58 really isn't quite the right twist for a minie anyway but it does shoot the Traditional minie exceptable enough for hunting up to 100 y.

[59sharps]

I just got a new mold for the Lee .50 cal old-style Minie boolit. It cast beautiful boolits from the second one dropped out of the mold; I made 4 lbs. worth from pure lead; they were just perfect-looking, and the self-centering hollow base worked well, the boolits dropped right out. The mold closed up self-aligning way better than any previous Lee molds. And the nose-pour sprue cut-off was sturdy and cut cleanly, the bullet noses all uniform. Best of all the accuracy is superb from my old side-hammer percussion rifle and 70 gr FFg with 1-48" twist. But the problem: reloading a second shot without cleaning is difficult at best, dang near impossible really. The as-cast dimension seems to be .500". If it were .005 smaller it would help. There are no sizing dies to size to .495" or even .490". I thought that was the basic idea of the Minie ball, a slight undersize for reliable easy reloading, even a fouled bore, and the expansion of the skirt would accomplish the bore seal. Anyone out there with any experience or suggestions? I had to thoroughly clean the bore to push subsequent bullets down, which wouldn't be possible under field conditions.

s & s firearms,
www.northeasttraderco.com
their is also a guy that will make one along w/ top punch to fit a lubersizer when i find is info again i will send it along or you can go to the N-SSA board someone their will know.:cbpour:

[Buckshot]

[QUOTE=PA Shootist;551566] The as-cast dimension seems to be .500". If it were .005 smaller it would help. There are no sizing dies to size to .495" or even .490". QUOTE]

............I can make you a Lee push through type die for $21 + $2 shipping, any ID you want.

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

[Chad G]

How do you lube these Lee Mini's? I have TC natural lube, Alox liquid, and can use crisco! I just don't know how or where to put the lube. Does it go in the hollow base it is not the liquid. I wold like to not use the liquid alox, having used it on my other castings the mess is more than I care to deal with.

[mooman76]

You can wipe it on the outside of the conicals. It is messy though, I just keep a rag handy to wipe my fingers off with.

[59sharps]

crisco just put it in the base if beeswax olive oil mix. assemble yourround then dip it in the warm mix. I usea cup warmer plate. and an inside out side luber.

[PA Shootist]

I was wondering what the consensus would be, to resize the as-cast Lee Minie which comes out at .500, down to .490? That way it should be relatively easy to push the boolit down the bore whether clean or fouled from a couple shots. I believe that was the original design intent; the soft skirt should seal the bore when pressurized from the shot. Only other thought, if the .490" represents the bore diameter, it should stay in place when seated in a clean barrel, should it not?? I will gladly get the offered sizing die, just need to specify a size.

[mooman76]

Depending on the particular gun 490 could be too small. The skirt needs to flare out enough to seal the bore. I myself was thinking more like .495 myself but then again if 490 is too small you can ream out the die more but you can't do the reverse and change 495 to 490. In My 50 cal guns they are all real close to the same and the bullets come out to about .501-.503 and i think taking down to .495 would get them down the barrel just fine.

[cwskirmisher]

Those of us shooting original or repro civil war rifle muskets for competition size our minies .001-.002 under bore diameter (not groove diameter). We have no trouble at all getting them down the barrel and retaining good accuracy after 10 rounds or more rapid fire. Key is pure soft lead and good BP lube to keep fouling soft. I shot a friends minies in my gun and they were .005 undersized, and still shot just fine and accurately. But if you use max loads (>100 grains) you could blow a skirt, with a whistling bullet that will land who knows where, or worse leave the bullet base/skirt in the barrel.
I shoot .54 and .58 cal, and my minies are sized .539 for a .540 bore and .579 for a .580 bore. Using 45 grains of 3F, they both shoot very accurately to 200 yards. For huntng I up the charge to 60 grains of 3F, and the 500 grain slug will fell any big game in north america including Elk.

[59sharps]

Those of us shooting original or repro civil war rifle muskets for competition size our minies .001-.002 under bore diameter (not groove diameter). We have no trouble at all getting them down the barrel and retaining good accuracy after 10 rounds or more rapid fire. Key is pure soft lead and good BP lube to keep fouling soft. I shot a friends minies in my gun and they were .005 undersized, and still shot just fine and accurately. But if you use max loads (>100 grains) you could blow a skirt, with a whistling bullet that will land who knows where, or worse leave the bullet base/skirt in the barrel.
I shoot .54 and .58 cal, and my minies are .sized 539 for a .540 bore and .579 for a .580 bore. Using 45 grains of 3F, they both shoot very accurately to 200 yards. For huntng I up the charge to 60 grains, and the 500 grain slug will fell any big game in north america including Elk.

yep me to see ya at the nationals :drinks:

[cwskirmisher]

yep me to see ya at the nationals :drinks:

Yes Indeed!!

[shooter575]

Glad to see a few more skirmishers on this BB. Been chasing this bunch around since the old Shooter.com days. See ya on sutlers row.

120 NWT
4114V

[TCLouis]

One may want to try DoALL "Tool Saver" as a lube with the Minie. Works well with real BP, who knows (OR CARES) about any of the wannabe powders.

[cwskirmisher]

according to their website and the MSDS, Tool Saver is a petroleum product. In my experience, any petroleum based lube used with BP forms a hard sludge fouling that after a few shots reduces rifle accuracy to a smoothbore at best, and at worst cannot get rounds down the barrel without pounding them down. Cleaning up later is a real chore.
Beeswax/Tallow or Beeswax/Crisco mixture has never been bettered in my humble opinion when shooting with BP. Fouling stays soft, cleanup is a breeze with just some warm soapy water. Cheap to make at home too.
My 3 cents worth. If it works for you, great - stick with it.