Pedersoli Enfield shooting

[ian45662]

My friend and I took his pedersoli 1853 enfield out again today. Seems like the more we shoot it the better it gets. We came up with a few different loads. 40 grains of goex 3F and 510 grain big minie produced groups about the size of the X ring along with 35 grains of goex under the rapine 315 SWC. We also shot the hodgon bullet with and without modified core pin. Although the modified pin did slightly better I think with more tinkering with the load we can get it in there also. If I remember correct they both liked 45 grains. It is also interesting to note that it seemed to prefer goex over Swiss. The worst groups would have fit in the 10 ring. His and my only real complaints are about the sights. I think we are going to have the rear sight filled and re cut so that it is more square instead of V and install a taller and thicker front sight.. All in all I must say that so far I am more than impressed with this firearms. Some of the groups were just a ragged hole

[John Holland]

The rear sight is an authentic replica of the original, which is a "battle sight" and not a competition grade sight.

[mpapajoffre]

I had some real good groups with my Pedersoli 3 bander today. It was about 45 deg out and it was a clear sky. Groups were shot off a rest at 50 yds. Ammo was my skirmishing load for my JRA Richmond. Hodgdon 410 gr minie with a load of 42 grains of Goex 3F. Lube was SPG on some rounds, and MCM on others. As you can see there are two distinct groups. The first, (upper), was shot using a 6 o'clock hold on the bull. The second one was shot aiming at the very bottom edge of the paper. I am going to need a taller front sight.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/markfare/IMG_20150222_205426387.jpg (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/markfare/media/IMG_20150222_205426387.jpg.html)

[Don Branch 12592]

Was the SPG & MCM used in both groups or is one SPG & one MCM?



I had some real good groups with my Pedersoli 3 bander today. It was about 45 deg out and it was a clear sky. Groups were shot off a rest at 50 yds. Ammo was my skirmishing load for my JRA Richmond. Hodgdon 410 gr minie with a load of 42 grains of Goex 3F. Lube was SPG on some rounds, and MCM on others. As you can see there are two distinct groups. The first, (upper), was shot using a 6 o'clock hold on the bull. The second one was shot aiming at the very bottom edge of the paper. I am going to need a taller front sight.
http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/markfare/IMG_20150222_205426387.jpg (http://s151.photobucket.com/user/markfare/media/IMG_20150222_205426387.jpg.html)

[mpapajoffre]

Now that I think about it, these groups were shot with SPG. These rounds came right out of my cartridge box.

[ian45662]

The bottom group looks very similar to the groupsy buddy was shooting with his enfield

[Fred Jr]

When I changed from the large Enfield bullet to the small Hodgdon bullet I had to increase the powder charge. I also went a thousandth larger. I believe it was that the smaller bullet needed more charge to make it expand into the rifling than the heavier bullet.

[Maillemaker]

What kind of sight picture did you have at 100 yards?

Was the top of the front sight at the top of the V notch in the rear sight, or at the bottom?

Steve

[mpapajoffre]

I had the front sight buried in the bottom of the rear sight.

[Maillemaker]

I think this is really going to have an impact (hah) on the Traditional Musket guys which require unmodified sights.

I've been reading Henry Heth's treatise on target practice and they *started* shooting at 100 yards, moving out in range as their individual target ranges permitted.

And a hit for them was a 6-foot-tall by 2-foot wide (and wider, and longer ranges) target. Anywhere on the target was a hit.

It's going to be tricky to hit even a 2-liter bottle at 100 yards with unmodified sights. Hitting a clay pigeon at 50 moreso.

Steve

[John Holland]

The good thing about the "Traditional Match" is that it presents an even playing field.