Any Rifled Musket Shooters here?

[Mike Weber]

These have been one of my favorites for quite a while I have several of them including an 1841 Mississippi Rifle,an 1863 Richmond Musket. and a 1853 and1858 Enfield Musket replicas. I also have several Cavalry carbines and Artillery musketoon replicas. My favorite is my 1861 Enfield musketoon, I use this one for hunting during BP season and I've taken deer and elk with it.
Are there any other Rifled musket shooters here?

 

[BigG]

I thought about getting one of those Springfield type in 58 caliber but the gun safe was a little full so didn't. A few years back a friend was big time into the civil war and he had one and it was fun to watch him propel that shotglass sized slug down the range complete with the reek of actual black powder. Had a trajectory about like a mortar... Beautiful gun! I believe he called it an Enfield. This was in VA, BTW.

 

[4v50 Gary]

I've got 3 English made Parker Hale Enfields. 39" standard rifled musket (I've never fired), 33" short rifle (sharpshooters' choice) and the 24" musketoon. I'm going to take one of them out to experiment with. Recently I bought a Panther Primitive pup tent that I'll be setting up at the range. I'll be shooting from inside as a "sound suppression" test.

Read a strange passage in Bartlett's book, Military Record of Louisiana, where he mentions the 5th Co. Washington Light Artillery unlimbering with 50 yards of a Yankee camp at Shiloh and blasting away. The Yankees stayed in their tents and shot back and dropped a lot of Johnnies and their horses. Funny thing is that the battery sees a white smoke but doesn't hear the "bang." It could be that the tents acted as some sort of acoustic barrier but I want to find out.

BTW, I've a 3 band Colt too but I'm not a re-enactors. I just like these older guns.

 

[Blackcloud6]

I have am Armisport 1853 Enfield. I shoot it occasionally and like it it. My wife likes it too and she's a pretty good shot with i.

 

[Iggy]

Good luck

You are likely to die of smoke inhalation in that tent..

I love black powder, but there is a limit...

 

[Mike Weber]

Gary:
My Enfields are also Parker Hale's and they are my favorites of the .58 cals. I also have an original P53 Converted to .577 Snider Rimfire. And a Parker Hale Whitworth sort of in a different class than the rifled muskets though. I've made a pretty good accounting for myself at the 300 yrd. range against guys shooting custom Sharps and Remington rolling blocks. I used to be a reenactor but don't have anyone to play with in my neck of the woods. So I'm building a flinter to play the buckskinning game.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Had a chance to buy a Snider conversion but passed on it. It was in very good shape but I figured I'll never shoot the thing since ammo is scarce (in my neck of the woods).

BTW, lots of Enfields (probably Afghan/Pakistani) are showing up in Afghanistan and our boys are bringing them home. Afghanis have doubled the price and are delighted that Americans love their old guns. If it weren't for those islamic extremists, the Taliban and other anti-Americans, I'd go to Pakistan just to visit their gun makers.

Whitworth? Mike, do you cast conical or hexangonal bullets and size them afterwards? Curious and I have a Romano hexangonal bullet mold myself. Going to have to adjust the front sight as it throws about 8" to the left at 75 yards. I've a friend in Nevada who has two binder full of info on Whitworths. One is on their cannons and the other on the rifle.

 

[Mike Weber]

Gary:
I've heard rumors of a Snider convervion breech that is centerfire along with a set of brass forming dies. I don't have any detailed info on the cartridge conversion. I can still get the Snider ammo but I have to order it from Australia and the ammo is very spendy.
For the most part my snider conversion is a wallhanger now due to the ammo being so hard to get.

I have seen some of those Pakistani copies of Enfields and even Webley revolvers and it is amazing what they can accomplish with hand tools.

On the Whitworth mold mine is hexagonal rifled but some of the replicas are rifled for conicals. I am using a hexagonal Whitworth mold #CA8010 from Dixie Gun Works. This casts a 575gr 13/8 long .451 Diameter bullet. The mold set includes a hollow base forming tool and a top punch. These bullets come out of this mold so consistantly that I do not need to size them. Of course this particular mold is a lot more expensive than most shooters would be willing to pay for a mold at around $240.00 and is pretty much an exact replica of the original Whitworth mold system.

Those Whitworth field guns were probably the most advanced artillery piece of their time. I've only seen one original Whitworth field gun. I have played around with the 3 inch ordnance rifle and the Napoleon a bit. I've still got a mold for the 3 inch ordnance rifle, My biggest bullet mold.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Thanks Mike. If you don't get Rifle magazine and can't get access to one via a buddy, let me know & give me your snail mail addy. The Jan-Feb. 2003 issue has an article on Joseph Whitworth and his gun.

 

[thisaway]

Yes!

I have an Pattern '53 Enfield repro rifle-musket and a US M1863 Springfield repro rifle-musket...but my favorite shooters are my muskets. I have a US M1842 repro (.69 cal.) and a "Short Land" pattern Brown Bess flintlock (.75 cal!). I have a blast (no pun intended ) when shooting buck-and-ball loads.

 

[BigG]

I have that 75 cal Brown Bess musket by Pedersoli. Very impressive from the business end (around 12 ga or so).

 

[4v50 Gary]

BigG - Using cartridges and a sharp flint, what the highest rate of fire you can do in a minute? Both with or without a ramrod? I'm curious as to the rate for each.

 

[BigG]

Gary, this has been a curio to me up to now. I wanted a nice accent piece for the mantel. Sorry I can't be of service in this. That 75 caliber sure makes for a HUGE punkin ball!

 

[thisaway]

On that "Mail Call" show on The History Channel they had a Rev War reenactor try to fire the regualtion "three shots per minute". He did so, and it took him exactly 60 seconds to fire his three aimed rounds. He used his ramrod, so that way can be done. As for without a ramrod, I have no idea.

 

[4v50 Gary]

Thank you Thisaway. I'm curious because I read conflicting accounts and not having a musket (I'll probably get a Trade Gun or fowler someday) I've never had a chance to experiment with it.

 

[thisaway]

4v50Gary,
You're certainly welcome, sir.

 

[Bottom Gun]

I shoot an 1864 Springfield. Very accurate but tends to shoot high (8-10" at 100yd).
I talked with another guy who says his does the same. Were these muskets designed to shoot that way?

 

[Mike Weber]

Gary:
I just wanted to let you know that I recieved the Whitworth article today and to thank you again. My Whitworth mold is similar to the one casting the two hexagonal bullets on the far right in the picture in the article, with the exception that my bullets are slightly longer and 35gr heavier than these. My mold is a combo mold and bullet swage. I mostly use the rifle for punching paper,but I do occaisionly bring the rifle out for SASS buffalo single shot side matches shooting silhouettes. I'm usually pushing the bullets with 75 to 80 gr FFg GOEX. You would be surprised at how well this rifle stacks up against the Sharps and Remington rolling block rifles that I shoot against in these matches. Especially out at the 300 yard line. I would not be the slightest bit afraid to take the Whitworth out after deer or elk. In my state you have to choose between either using blackpowder or modern firearms when you pick up your license. I had just finished building a Mauser in .338 Win Mag this year. So I left the smokepoles at home and took the Mauser with me this year.