well i am considering a enfield rifle and this lee mold 575-500 so guys which rifle do you recomend

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midland man

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so guys I got hot on the idea of a enfield rifle and I have looked at several but no sure which one to get for deer hunting and backyard fun shooting targets and maybe go to some local gatherings to shoot with the guys! plus I like this lee mold as I use lee molds for years, MOLD 575-500-M lee 90481 is the one I like with the bullet nose bein pointed! so guys which rifle to get plus who uses this mold and hows your rifle like it? thanks, :)
 
Keep yer hair on, some of us are considered "essential" employees and are working lonnnng hours.

I shoot a Parker Hale P58 Enfield in competition. I use the RCBS Hogdon sized to .576, 42g 3f Swiss, RWS caps, beeswax/lard lube. This combo in my gun is a sub 2moa rifle. My other competition Enfield is a "musketoon" and shoots the same load with pretty much the same results.

Now to your question. What Enfield? Repop? Armisport? Euroarms? Pedersoli? Original? Parker Hale? These things matter. The bore sizes can vary widely especially in the one made in spaghetti land.

Some basics-
1) KNOW your bore size BEFORE buying any molds. For best accuracy, the minie needs to be about .001-2 under actual bore size and that doesn't mean what's stamped on it or what you THINK it is. VERIFY.

2) Use only real black powder. The subs have their own problems. Use a quality powder, not some reenactor grade crap. I shoot Swiss or Old Eynsford in competition.

3) Use good quality caps- RWS or Schutzen. CCI reenactor caps are for blanks are are garbage for accuracy.

4) When purchasing a mold, get a good quality one that you KNOW will fit your gun or better yet, get some sample minies from CWBulletman and then buy the mold for the bullets that work best. Generally speaking, ONLY one Lee mold I have works in any of my guns and it's not like I haven't tried. That one is the "target" minie that looks like a trashcan. It will shoot the lights out in my gun but gets unstable near 100yds so it's a close range only bullet. The downside of that particular Lee mold, they discontinued it in 58cal so I bought a couple backups on Efay because Lee molds aren't the best in quality. The Lee mold you mentioned will not shoot better than 12in at 100yd in my gun, a nonstarter for competition.

If you really want to know how to make a musket shoot, try hanging out with us in the North South Skirmish Association. We shoot Civil War era guns in competition up to and including artillery. Yes, we live fire Civil War cannons in a competition format.
 
My personal recommendation is to have a good old fashioned single ball mold with sprew cutter that you can keep in your rifles kit. Maybe i'm the only one who goes the extra effort to look for these, but they're a useful tool and were issued in the day. (these require good maintenance)
As for a solid modern mold to cast tons of shooting bullets for, yea just gotta know your bore. Fire some minies, then measure these to check out your bore diameter.
Correct on the suggestion to use only true black, gives you the best quality burn.
 
By the way, good on you for thinking about bullets but remember to HAVE a FLASK/Horn. These are essential for black powder firearms. But you probably know this already.
Just get a old good quality leather bag (possibilities bag) with a good selection of kit items (caps, patches, balls, mold, etc).
For cleaning, I recommend olive oil as the lubricate on moving parts, as this was what they used in the day.
 
You don't normally buy a gun to fit a mould, rather you pick a mould to compliment the gun. You want an Enfield, good. Survey the Enfield shooters to see what works best.
well I worded that wrong sorry about that guys but yeah I'm looking at some different ones just not sure which to get...
 
As a guy who shoots one in competition, before you get an Enfield, have you compared how they shoulder to a Springfield? The stock design is different and not for everybody.
 
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