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Thread: Pedersoli Minie Bullet

  1. #1
    YorkshireMan is offline
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    Pedersoli Minie Bullet

    Hi Everyone,
    I'm new on here & this is my first post.
    I'm based in England & my main interest is in shooting Civil War Ear Firearms & I'd like to start by asking for advice on Minie Bullets.
    Does anyone have any experience of shooting with the Pedersoli 620 gr .577 Minie Bullet?

    This is one shown next to a very old 'conventional' Minie.
    (I've had this one for about 30 years & I'm not sure where it came from)
    I've only shot the Pedersoli Minie at short range so far & I'm interested to know if anyone has shot them at longer range.
    I'm keen to know how the accuracy & trajectory compare to the slightly lighter conventional style.
    The Pedersoli bullet does have a longer 'bearing surface' compared to the nose, to catch the rifling, so this might help with stability.
    Any advice or experience of using these would be very welcome.
    Thanks,
    YorkshireMan
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    rkel870 is offline
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    That's going to hurt... on both ends. Even the "conventional" 515-520 gr Minie next to it starts to hurt after a few rounds with a stiff charge behind it. The conventional Minie takes about 40-48 grains of 3Fg powder to make it happy. It will shoot ragged holes, from the bench, at 50 yds with the appropriate charge, which you will have to experiment to find what your particular rifle likes. At 100 yds offhand you should be able to pour those into a 5-6 inch or better group. Goodluck and have fun. That's what I get out of all this black powder business a lot of testing and shooting. I guess it's not all bad then is it? Good Luck

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    CAGerringer is offline
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    Yorkshire Man,
    Jeez! That thing is huge! It's going to take quite a load to get that down range. I've never seen one of these, so I don't know how deep the recess in the bottom is, or how thick the walls are. Both will effect accuracy. It sort of looks like a Lee flat-nosed mold that I have, but even with the increased bearing surface...I haven't been able to make it work for me. Can you send a picture of the rear of the bullet?
    Charlie
    Old Dominion Dragoons

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    YorkshireMan is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by CAGerringer View Post
    Can you send a picture of the rear of the bullet?
    Charlie
    Old Dominion Dragoons
    Thanks to both of you for your replies.

    Charlie, a picture of the rear of the bullet is below.

    The rifle I have is a Parker Hale Enfield Pattern 1858 '2 Band' Navy. This one is a genuine Birmingham/England made model.
    It's in superb condition.

    I've been using 60 gr of Swiss FFg equivalent & also 60 gr of Pyrodex Select.
    Recoil is 'interesting' but accuracy seams good. I've only managed to shoot 'off-hand' at 25 yards so far & I've attached a target showing the results. I'm really interested to see how these bullets do at 300 to 600 yards. This should be possible in a few weeks.

    Cheers,
    YorkshireMan
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    jonk is offline
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    The shallow base on that and heavy weight reminds me of a slightly heavier version of the classic British Parker Hale bullet. With that one also, I had to use a fairly stiff powder charge to get it to perform. Different design entirely, but to get a heavy bullet moving enough to stabilize it isn't surprising you need a good powder charge.

    I have a 600 grain full wadcutter that is much the same also... no light weight powder charges need apply.

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    At 25 yards you'd best have them in an inch or smaller group to hope to hit anything at 600yards. I don't see the "longer bearing surface" providing anything to the accuracy with that tiny hollow base. I'd like to see a few you dig out of the dirt backstop to see if rifling is even engraved on that round???
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    geezmo is offline
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    YorkshireMan,

    I can't personally help, having never shot any of my muskets at 600 yards, but I'm sure the folks on the site below can help. You may or may not be aware of them, but they're from over in your neck of the woods. Seems like they know their stuff.

    https://longrangerifles.wordpress.co...militaryrifle/

    I hope this helps, Good Luck,

    Barry S

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    YorkshireMan is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by geezmo View Post
    YorkshireMan,

    I can't personally help, having never shot any of my muskets at 600 yards, but I'm sure the folks on the site below can help. You may or may not be aware of them, but they're from over in your neck of the woods. Seems like they know their stuff.

    https://longrangerifles.wordpress.co...militaryrifle/

    I hope this helps, Good Luck,

    Barry S
    Thanks Barry,
    I've had a look on the site & it seems really good. Its also given me a few links to get in touch with locally.
    "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
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    "A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
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    YorkshireMan is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by RaiderANV View Post
    At 25 yards you'd best have them in an inch or smaller group to hope to hit anything at 600yards. I don't see the "longer bearing surface" providing anything to the accuracy with that tiny hollow base. I'd like to see a few you dig out of the dirt backstop to see if rifling is even engraved on that round???
    Hi Pat,
    I’m fairly happy with the group at 25 yards. It measures 2 inches between the two outside holes. I’d probably do better if I hadn’t been on horseback at the gallop & wasn’t wearing boxing gloves.
    Actually, it was shot standing & unsupported, so I could probably expect to at least halve this group size if resting or prone.
    These Pedersoli Minie Bullets must be taking the rifling properly, otherwise the conical bullet would be extremely unstable in flight, would have dreadful group size & wouldn’t punch round holes in the target.
    In my experience, the small base cavity doesn’t really make much difference compared to the larger ones, particularly with the 5 groove rifling & the 1 in 48 inch twist of the 1858 Navy.
    Newton’s (abbreviated) Law of Motion includes - "an object …. remains at rest …. unless acted upon by a force."
    When applied to a muzzle-loaded bullet, the ignition of the powder applies a massive & sudden force to the rear of the bullet. The bullet is initially at rest & doesn’t ‘want’ to move. The heavier the bullet is, the greater the resistance to movement.
    Being soft lead & relatively malleable, the rear of the bullet will move first & the forward portion of the bullet will act as a ‘block’ to movement, until the forward direction force ‘works its way through’ the structure of the bullet towards the front.
    This causes ‘compression’ on the structure of the bullet, which causes it to ‘squash up against itself’ as it begins to move forward.
    This is the main force causing the bullet to expand into the rifling & the bigger the powder charge, the greater the force & the more pronounced this effect will be.
    The base cavity certainly helps, but is not the only factor causing the projectile to take the rifling.
    This is illustrated very clearly by the bullet used in the .451 Enfield Volunteer Rifle. These are typically 475-500 grains with a long bearing surface & a very high mass relative to calibre. It also has no base cavity. However, these bullets still take the rifling excellently with heavy enough loads.
    Cheers,
    YorkshireMan.
    "A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject."
    Sir Winston Churchill
    "A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril."
    Also Sir Winston Churchill

  10. #10
    CAGerringer is offline
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    Yorkshire Man,
    I was going to say I'd be a lot more comfortable if that cavity was 3 times as deep...but since you've brought Newton into it....

    Our shooting is quite different from this. We shoot lighter bullets, with deep cavities and thinner walls, at shorter ranges, 50/100 yards (like meters, only better) with much lighter loads. I shoot 38 grains of 3F in my Lorenz. As a matter of fact, I don't know anyone that shoots 60 grains. But as I said, we aren't pushing out 600 yards either.
    Thanks for the physics lesson, the pictures, and good luck.
    Charlie
    Old Dominion Dragoons

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