Round Ball in Pedersoli 1861 Springfield?

[Panzerschwein]

Hello everyone!

Well, I've been in the market for a black powder rifle/musket for some time now. Flip flopping back and forth between guns, I think I've finally settled on a Pedersoli made Springfield 1861 musket of .58 caliber.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Pedersoli-Springfield-Caliber-Musket/1389473.uts

But, there's a catch. I want to shoot round ball through this gun.

Why not Minie balls?

Because I don't cast. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I literally have no room to safely do it. I live right in the middle of town, in a small 1-bedroom apartment. I have no garage, no porch, really no place at all to cast Minie balls.

Commercial Minie balls are 'spensive, no doubt... expensive enough that I wouldn't be able to shoot the rifled musket as much as I would want to, which would be fairly often. What I've found though, is that I can get .57" cast lead balls for about $0.20 a pop from Track of the Wolf. That I can afford.

So the thing is this weapon has a 1 in 72” twist rate of the bore. Is that going to be appropriate for a patched round ball load? Will I get good accuracy with this, or is that rate designed for the Minie ball only?

This is an important question that must be asked at this time. I am stuck in this apartment for some time, so won't be able to move somewhere where I can cast. But, someday, no doubt I will begin casting my own Minies for this gun.

So if anyone out there could please help me on this, it would be greatly appreciated. If you've got one of these Pedersoli guns, have you tried round balls and how have they shot?

Thanks so much everyone, your help is greatly appreciated!!

 

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Rifle muskets and Minie balls tend to go hand in hand, but you should be OK with .570 round balls coupled with .015" thick patching (100% cotton), either pre-cut or pillow ticking strips.

I'd start with 50 grains of FFG, either GOEX black powder or one of the substitutes, Pyrodex or Triple Seven, if genuine black powder is not available.

Work your load up in five or ten grain increments, 50, 55 60, 65 grain loads.
Clean between shots for accuracy.

Your barrel is 40" long. The following info is from Lyman's Black Powder Handbook, c1975. The test gun is a "Zouave" barrel, 32" long with the same twist, 1:72". Ball diameter was .560 & patch was .015"

50 grains GOEX 2FG gave 944 FPS & 515 F/P (Foot Pounds of Energy)
70 grains GOEX 2FG gave 1,115 FPS & 718 F/P
90 grains GOEX 2FG gave 1,238 FPS & 885 F/P
110 grains GOEX 2FG gave 1,352 FPS & 1,056 F/P
180 grains GOEX 2FG gave 1,737 FPS & 1,739 F/P (Max Load)

I recommend working the load between 50 & 70 grains of FFG powder for target work and 70 to 90 grains for hunting.

Hornady also offers a swaged .570 RB in a fifty round box.

Hope this helps,

Buck

 

[Panzerschwein]

Thank you so much, Buck!

I just need to see if round balls will shoot straight in this gun, since I don't have the proper environment to cast Minies... yet.

 

[Hellgate]

One drawback on the 58s (I own 4 of them) is they vary in bore diameter so the .562, .570, & .575" dia balls might be needed. If you use the smaller ball a thicker patch will be needed. A real tight fitting ball and a thin patch will foul quicker.

 

[Curator]

Rifled musket repros have a lot of bore diameter variation as Hellgate says. My 1861 Pedersoli has a "groove" diameter of .592". It has a "bore" diameter of .584" using a pin gauge and three rifling grooves of .004" deep at the muzzle. I could never get it to accurately shoot ANYTHING I could buy commercially.

Not wishing to rain on your parade, You can probably get a round ball to shoot with reasonable accuracy if you can find one the right size and use a tight patch. I have found success using a .585" (custom mould) ball and .016 pillow ticking patch. That combination is a bit difficult to load but can shoot 4" groups at 25 yards. I can get slightly better accuracy using two 20 gauge (.595 X.125") over powder wads under the ball. Track of the Wolf offers a large assortment of ball sizes and one might be just right for your gun.

 

[4v50 Gary]

What Hellgate suggests. Patch that roundball. Don't expect optimal accuracy though. I tried it once with an Enfield musketoon and did really bad.

 

[PapaG]

I won many matches as well as taking a second at the nationals in the musket class shooting round balls out of a musket. Worked much better than minies.
Load: 60 grains of FFg, card wad on powder (optional), .570 pure lead ball, .012 ticking patch lubed with our old blend of water/water soluble oil/Lestoil and peroxide. One wet/one dry wipe between shots.
Even had blocks to put Redfield sights on for bench matches.
Round balls rock in muskets. Twist is perfect for them.

 

[Panzerschwein]

I won many matches as well as taking a second at the nationals in the musket class shooting round balls out of a musket. Worked much better than minies.
Load: 60 grains of FFg, card wad on powder (optional), .570 pure lead ball, .012 ticking patch lubed with our old blend of water/water soluble oil/Lestoil and peroxide. One wet/one dry wipe between shots.
Even had blocks to put Redfield sights on for bench matches.
Round balls rock in muskets. Twist is perfect for them.

Glad to hear this. I'm still a mite confused though as some have said they haven't gotten good accuracy with balls of the round kind.

 

[Mike OTDP]

Depends on the rate of twist. Round ball rifles use a very slow twist. As the fineness ratio increases, the twist rate to stabilize goes up. A lot of Minie rifles used significantly faster twist rates. And patched round balls usually require experimentation for best performance.

FWIW, I moulded Minies for years in a 1 BR condo.