Minié ball - Wikipedia
Small but Deadly: The Minié Ball
By Isaac Shoop ’21 When Claude-E’tienne Minié perfected the minié ball in 1849, it is doubtful he knew of the carnage that it would cause in the American Civil War some twelve years later. Ho…
gettysburgcompiler.org
you approach muzzle loading a bit differently
if your used to using a 7mm rem mag pushing 3000fps, and having a second shot by simply working a bolt action. the swap to the muzzle loader a bit of a change! one of my buddies just got his first muzzle loader, a 50 cal, he bought used he had zero idea on how to load it or shoot it and clean...
garage.grumpysperformance.com
The Bullet That Changed History
How the lowly minie ball made the Civil War an unrelenting gore fest.
archive.nytimes.com
Lee Precision, Inc.. Mold 575-500-m
Lee Single Cavity Mold produces a .575 diameter 500 grain Minie bullet.
Lee Precision, Inc.. Mold 575-500-m
Lee Single Cavity Mold produces a .575 diameter 500 grain Minie bullet.
its critical you select a Minie ball that's very close to the rifles bore diameter
calibers 45, 50, 54, 58 are the most popular and in my experience caliber 54 and 58 caliber,
have a huge advantage in their effect on game
over smaller lighter weight projectiles
AND one that will stabilize with the rifles twist rate.
powder charges must be heavy enough to expand the minie ball base firmly into the rifles bore but not higher,
as much higher pressure will flare the base destroying accuracy.
remember pressure is reduced as the minie travels down the bore,
and powder softening, and dissolving lube, on the projectile is critical to keeping the bore fouling minimized
Ive found that a cotton ball over the powder charge with a bore diameter ball of powder dissolving lube seated in the bore before the minie ball is firmly seated over the powder charge aids accuracy and removes fouling considerably
many black powder rifles use rifle twist rates too slow to accurately stabilize a minie ball,
as they are designed to use a patched round ball only.
its been my experience that because the black powder rifle velocity tends to be noticeably slower than modern firearms
effective ranges and impact energy tend to be shorter/ lower.
while its a P.I.T.A, its also a fact that most rifles don't shoot ALL mini balls equally well, in fact some mini balls won't shoot worth crap in some barrels , or with certain loads, used, in some barrels. so you'll need to cast or buy and try several, with different loads ,
before you can find out if a particular load works reasonably well in your rifle with its bore condition.
and rifle twist rate and rifling depth, lube used etc.
Lee 1-Cavity Original Minie Ball Bullet Mold 575-500M (575 Diameter)
Lee Precision 1-Cavity Bullet Molds are a great choice for reloaders looking for a quality mold at an affordable price. Lee machines their mold blocks...
www.midwayusa.com
very accurately with 60-70 grains of 2F powder, if the proper loading procedure and powder charge were used.
push the powder charge to 80 grains or higher and groups went from 2"-3" at 100 yards to over 2 ft in diam.
even limited to that 70 grain/mini ball max powder charge it was devastatingly effective on deer.
but you damn sure needed to know the range to hit a deer past 120 yards, as that mini dropped rapidly after that range
I felt like it was more mortar than rifle out at 150-200 yards, past that , range , making hits with that rifle, well, it was a wild guess at best
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