Looking for good minie for 3 band enfield

[butchs37]

I have been shooting a 3 band enfield now for about 6 months and casting my own minies out of pure lead. I currently using two molds right now a lee 575-500M which seems to shoot pretty good but a little hard to cast have been getting voids in them and even tried ladle casting and higher temps (850 deg) most of them come out good. Also using a lee 575-470M which i cant get to cast for
@#$% and the few i do get aren't very accurate. I was thinking of trying a lyman mold but need some advice on which one. I will mostly be target shooting from about 75 yo 100 yards. The three molds i am looking at are the 575494, 575213OS and the 575213. I am looking for a little more accuracy easier casting and using a little less lead than the lee 575-500.

[Walt-MT]

Butch,
Some thoughts from here:
Especially when casting large bullets, adding 1-2% tin to your pure lead can really help the fill out in many moulds.
In general - 575213 does well in the majority of repro muskets I have tried it in. However it is important to know the groove diameter of the barrel you are casting for; minies perform best when one to two thousandths less than that. We recently had a barrel that was nominally a .575 diameter measure out to .584. Finding a mould that cast that large immediately improved results on targets at 50 and 100 yards.
I'm not a big fan of the 575213-OS; which isn't to say it won't be fine for your gun. I actually prefer to try historic designs when I can.
The moulds you listed (except 575-494) drop bullets in the 500 grain range and work out to +/- 14 projectiles per pound of lead, so no real savings either way from my perspective.
You don't specify your load. We use real Black Powder only and generally find that 2F runs better in Musket length guns. 3F can work better for some barrel, bullet, shooter combinations. When you have your moulds throwing well, try shooting 3 or 4 targets with 45-75 grains of powder, increasing in 10 grain increments and see if one of these loads doesn't seem really happy.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck.
WA

[DIRT Farmer]

I have had good results with the 575-494 315 grn and 35 grns of fffg at 50 increasing to 40 grns at 100. the 578-675 at 405 grns for 100yds starting at 45 grns of fffg. when I get the lube right, they both will shoot all day with out wiping.

[oldhickory]

The Lyman 575213OS is a good design, and one of my favorites for accuracy. Rapine is no longer making molds, but his 575460 International style was very good, and easier to work with than Lyman molds. RCBS Hodgdon target molds are accurate and available in many different sizes to fit your particular gun.

You should get a mold that casts a slightly than larger than bore size boolit and use a push through sizer .001" smaller than bore dia. for best results.

[405]

I'll second the notion about adding a little tin and looking at the RCBS North-South Hodgdon style molds. RCBS offers these from .576" thru .584" at 416 to 419 gr. My Zouave really likes the .584" RCBS N-S minie. Lyman also offers a similar one called the Blue-Gray Target at .578" and 405 gr. The centering, attached base pin system in the RCBS mold is the bee's knees.

[oldhickory]

I trust you're shooting a repro? Check your barrel bedding first, the Itallian re-pops aren't really noted for close fit where it matters to a shooter, ( I've even had to re-bed English made Parker Hales).

A little Accura Glass, (about the same as a 1" ball) in the breech area may do wonders for your shooting. Tighten the breech screw good and snug, (not over tight) and the band screws just snug enough so they don't walk under recoil.

Good bedding, good proper size boolits with the right lube, and the right powder charge should keep you in the 10 ring.