I've been playing around with Minie's, but have not had good results with heavier powder charges. Yes, I know all the ins and outs and techniques of getting a minie to shoot. I also realize the 60 grain milspec load will kill a deer or elk, but I'd like a tad flatter trajectory, and I also hunt in a grizzly recovery area, so I feel better with a little more zip and boom in case I get in an argument with grizz.
Sometimes I get pretty good results with minies, but never consistent results. I've played around lately with plugging the bases of minies, which shows "promising" results, but not consistent. Yes, I realize it's not too hard to get the minie to shoot with 60 grains or less powder.
I'd like to shoot a minie, as it's much heavier than the R.E.A.L., but until I can get one to shoot consistently accurately, with at least 80 grains.....
So, I always wind up going back to the R.E.A.L. It's funny what differences powder charge, lube, and wads, and combinations thereof can make. I had been shooting the R.E.A.L. over 100 grains of BP, no lube, and a pure bee's wax wad under the bullet. This showed "pretty good" results. I fired one shot yesterday, checking to see if she was "on" with round ball, over 80 grains, which she had been shooting pretty good, and which she was already loaded with. Ball went so high and right that I would have missed any deer, and wounded an elk.
So, dug out a "plugged", waxed dipped mine, traditional 510 grain, over 100 grains, and she shot on elevation wise, but off to the right. Just off the right side of the plate. So I think, "okay, one more shot and if it goes in the same place I'll just hold left a bit. Boom! Second shot did not even hit the plywood. (about 4X3') Must have tumbled very badly.
So, I dug out one of my last two R.E.A.L's, got the bee's wax off it, lubed it with some lube I made that really improved the accuracy of slugs in my Remington Navy, reduced the charge to 80 grains, and forgot to use the wad. SHAZAM! Almost dead center on the plate, and the "perfect circle".
So, will cast up some more R.E.A.L.'s today, in a few minutes in fact, and see if I can repeat that shot, or at least keep it on the plate. I have a warm and fuzzy feeling though, that I've found perfection, for this rifle, at last. R.E.A.L., 80 grains fffg, no wad, and the magic brown lube.