Pedersoli 1853 3-band Enfield

I've struggled to find a Minie load that will stabilize in this rifle the few times I tried to shoot them. I started with two styles of Minies from the old and new style Lyman molds. My initial loads were with 65 grains of Pyrodex Select RS and Triple 7 in FFG and FFFG.

I was getting keyholes when I was able to even hit the paper at 25 and 50 yards. Thinking the bullets were mistakenly cast with an alloy rather than pure lead and the skirts weren't expanding, I upped the charge gradually. Still, no luck. I eventually gave up.

Today, at the advice of Ethan Ripplinger at Track of the Wolf (where I bought the Minies) I started with a much lower charge of 30 grains. He told me the larger charges were likely blowing out the skirt on the modern style Minies. The light charges of Pyrodex were not igniting well with RWS or CCI musket caps. More keyholes. I switched to the Triple 7 FFFG I had with me. 35 grains... more keyholes. 40 grains... BINGO! Round holes and groups on the paper!

As is common with this rifle, the groups were almost 12" high (and a few inches left) but I can correct that with some sight work.

I have the really nice bullet sizer and bullet greaser that Pedersoli offers. The rifle, and these tools, are of excellent quality. I'm glad I finally have them all working well together.

The next range outing will be to fine-tune the load. I'd like to use this big rifle in the deer woods this fall. I have this thing about somehow justifying each rifle purchase by using them to kill a deer at least once. The Enfield is the only rifle in the house (other than rimfires) that hasn't put venison in the freezer...

Alaska didn't have any units in the Civil War?

The looks and quality of that rifle have me itching to buy other Pedersoli replicas. All I need is the money to do it, and I'll be all set!

My Enfield has a 1:78 twist, so it BARELY has enough twist to stabilize a Minie. It is historically accurate, and later versions of the Enfield had a faster twist rate.
https://www.davide-pedersoli.com/sc...enfield-3-band-pattern-1853-rifle-musket.html

I think the first edition of the Lyman blackpowder book had high-speed photos showing a Minie skirt over-expanding/blowing out due to a larger-than-necessary powder charge. Too small a charge and the skirt won't expand to grip the rifling and too large a charge will cause it to over-expand or split open. Both will obviously cause tumbling and inaccuracy.

I tried using the Lyman 575-213 bulllets, both "old style" and new. The old style is 460gr. and shorter than the new version, which is 510 grains. With my rifle's slow twist rate, I'm guessing the shorter old style bullets are my best bet. Right now, all I have left are the new, longer and heavy ones, and I did manage to have success with them. I have a Minie ball mold that I haven't yet tried, but I can't remember off hand which one it is. I'll check when I'm in the basement.

AlexanderA said:

I have a Pedersoli 1861 Springfield repro. It's identical to my Euroarms 1861 from a few years ago. (Perhaps, even, the Pedersoli is not quite as well put together as the Euroarms.) Given that the tooling gets passed around from company to company within the Italian repro firearms industry, it's wise to assess each gun individually rather than going by the company's general reputation.

As a side note, the best and most authentic 1861 replica was made by Miroku of Japan. The Euroarms/Pedersoli comes second, and the Armi Sport (Chiappa) a distant third. On the other hand, Chiappa makes an absolutely excellent 1842, rivaling even the originals.

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Mike OTDP said:

A few tips:
1. Pure lead only. Minies are very, very sensitive to bullet hardness.
2. Get real black powder if possible. 3F. 40-45 grains seems to be the sweet spot.
3. Size bullets .001 below bore diameter. No more. The expansion on a Minie helps, but won't make up for an undersized bullet.

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Thanks!

1) I secured some pure lead to cast Minies with. I purchased some from RotoMetals and got some from a local roofer.
2) I live in rural, upstate NY and I've never seen real BP in a shop. I'll be on the lookout, though!
2) Check! My Pedersoli bullet sizer came with .576" and .575" inserts. My bore is .577" and I'm using the .576 sizer. The bullets I've purchased won't slide into the bore without sizing.

Edit: I just examined my bullet sizer. The two sizing inserts are 14.64mm and 14.66mm, which equate to .577" and .576". I'm using the .577" insert.

TheOutlawKid said:

Mr.desmobob....it seems to me that you have developed the black powder addiction.....i have a feeling that like most of us ur going to end up making ur own black powder at some point. If u do...hit up the castboolits forum in the black powder section. They have a huge sticky on it.

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I've had the addiction for years, but I'm one of those guys with too many hobbies. Interests come and go, but they always come back around at some point. I've had BP firearms since the 1980s. Every fall, when I get out the Hawken for hunting season, I get the bug. In the fall of 2016 I bought the Pedersoli 3-band Enfield. This fall, I bought the Uberti 1861 Navy. I have a feeling there will be a flintlock in my future in some upcoming fall...

Thanks for the tip on the home-brew black powder.

Mike OTDP said:

The other piece of advice I'd give is going over to the North-South Skirmish Association's BB. They're the experts with the rifle-musket.

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That's the first place I went after I first purchased the rifle. Nice bunch of folks over there....