Parker Hale Enfield P53 rifled musket.

[dromia]

Minie size is really dependant on the type of shooting you do.

If you are wiping tween shots then a tightish Minie at say 1 though under bore or less would work. If you are shooting a lot without wipng then a smaller Minie might be required.

Of course you should sign up at NOE, why wouldn't Al run this mould?

When there are ten people signed up on the GB thread he will make the moulds, your name would be five and we are half way there.

The Lee Minies do work and the Target dustbin bullet is pretty consistent but is not much use over 100yrd. Lee bullet designs are just fine the only problems you have with Lee moulds is that it is a pig in a poke as to whether it will work, whether it will drop at the expected diameter and even if it does these things they usually still need careful fettling to get to run, first step is to burn Lees instructions, there has to be a reason why they are cheap.

If you get a good Lee mould then they are to be treasured, my Oyvind Flatnes Lee special run Prittchet is one of these but it drops a tad too large for my purpose, it does drop to specification, as I have difficulty in getting decent 0.002" paper, good 0.003" paper seems plentiful. I do have an H&I style size die for my Vickers lube sizer on order so it should be made to work.

Steve Brooks is currently cutting me an adjustable length Prittchet in 0.564". 0.564" diameter plus two wraps of my 0.003" "cartridge" paper will give me a loading diameter of 0.576". Should be about right for regular wiping shooting.

[matdoodson]

To start with I'll only be shooting at 50m for fun. Might well get up to Bisley at some point for some longer range stuff.

Do you know how much the NOE mould will be? Will we get stung for import duty? I like the idea that it will replicate the original lead castings.

For $22 (and no import duty on this run) I've ordered one of the Lee Minie moulds to get me something to play with. I will be sure to burn the instructions upon arrival. I've read a few of your posts regarding Minie casting so will have a crack at producing some lumps to chuck down range!

[dromia]

I wish you luck with the Lee.

A look on NOE's website or forum will give you an indication of costs, it is down to the size of the blocks needed and the number of cavities.

Import duty depends on how lucky you are, for me about one in three packages from the US get stopped and duty and vat charged the rest just come straight through.

[matdoodson]

Thanks Dromia..

I've registered on NOE and added my interest to the list for the Enfield Prichett mould!

[dromia]

[dromia]

On the speculation on how the minie performs during ignition and the internal ballistitics.

The mass of the bullet holds it in place initially for the skirt to start sealing the bore, right thickness skirt and soft enough lead for the load being used, the bullet will also obturate over its length as pressure builds thus sealing and gripping rifling as it accelerates down the bore.

Regardless of exact process in time of how the filling of the rifling happens it obviously works.

Interestingly the Enfield rifled muskets had progressive depth rifling included after 1858, as do the original Parker Hale barrels, where the bore size is is constant for the length of the barrel but the depth of the groove get progressively shallower as you get to the muzzle thus constricting the bullet further and ensuring the grip and seal on the bullet is maintained.

Regarding the comparison of Minies to patched ball it is like comparing apples and oranges, however for accuracy the patched ball could and will hold its own with the Minie out to 100 yrds in rifles with non progressive depth rifling especially.

After that the patched balls poor ballistic shape and lack of mass means it looses velocity quickly.

But out to 100 yrds equal grouping is to be expected.

[matdoodson]

More useful insight to the newcomer!

Would you be able to recommend a ball mould for the P53?

[dromia]

Depends on patch thickness and bore/groove diameter.

Jeff Tanner will cut you a mould to any diameter up to 0.600" for twenty quid.

As I said the balls will perform better in rifles without progressive depth rifling.

[dromia]

As a starting point for patch ball I like a ball of bore diameter and a patch thickness of twice groove depth.

I prefer "dry" lubed patches to help build consistent start pressure and wipe 'tween shots.

Patch material needs to be robust and have a consistent thickness, I use linen off cuts of 0.012" thickness. I also use old ticking from horsehair mattresses and pillows at 0.014" thickness. 'Tween them I get a good fit for most of my guns.

The above gives a tight fitting ball and a suitably shaped starter and seating rod should be used.

However as in all handloading each rifle is different and you will need to experiment to find out what suits your firearm.

[matdoodson]

The things to learn with shooting are endless aren't they...?

I've been off researching how to measure bore and groove diameters. Currently my only measure device is a Mitutoyo Digital Caliper (an old set with an on/off button! I spotted that some people here haven't had good results with the new on/off-less models!!!).

Information overload out there! Which tools do people recommend for measuring bore and groove diameters?

Sounds like a .577 mould from Jeff Tanner (http://www.jt-bullet-moulds.co.uk) would be a good starter then. Rather conveniently I noticed he also sells 0.012" patches!

ps. understood that all of this may not necessarily be true for my individual rifle.