Moose Old Style problem

[William Schoenfeld, 1386]

I have a 575450 OS from Moose Moulds that I am having a problem with finding the proper load. Any help on this would be appreciated.

[EPPS1919]

44gr 3f Goex It works for me in 4 different Muskets

[ms3635v]

Dutch,

I shoot 40 grains of GOEX 3F in my two band Springfield (Whitacre barrel) with the Moose 575450 OS and it works very well.

[jonk]

I have a rapine 580460OS (basically the same just a little heavier b/c it's fatter) that does great with 48 gr of 3f.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Do your other bullets work OK? Check the muzzle. My musket needed to be crowned and it was difficult to see even under magnification.

[ian45662]

Who made the barrel?

[William Schoenfeld, 1386]

The bullet works in other guns Lou and the barrel is only 2 years old which I had from Bobby Hoyt. I have a Rapine old style - little heavier and I use 44 grains of 3 F Goex in it and no problems. This is the only bullet that I have had problems with and I have tried it in 5 different barrels. Go figure! Thank you all for your replies.

[jonk]

i assume you tried lubing the base vs. not? I have noticed that this bullet is a little low on the lube capacity in the grooves, and it fouls harder and faster than the others i use... which is why I use it for 100 yards only.

[William Schoenfeld, 1386]

Jonk I use Lem's lube on it and I have no problems with it in other barrels when using Rapine old style. For this particular bullet I am having problems with it and it has good lube on it - fills out perfectly.

[John Holland]

If you are filling the groove/grooves the bullet can not work as per the design. The grooves are required to compress upon themselves. If they are full of grease they can't compress, thus a group that resembles a pattern rather than a group.

[jonk]

John, if you're thinking of the Wilkinson, you are absolutely correct. If you're referring to the grease grooves in a conventional bullet, I think you'd start a big argument with that statement.

[John Holland]

You're right! I had just had a conversation with another party about the Wilkinson and apparently my brain was still stuck on it. Thanks for the correction!

[jonk]

I always thought a cool project would be a very slightly minie-d wilkinson. Just a tiny cup in the bottom to hold a little extra lube, not to really serve as a base that expands, just a little lube cup. Given 2 of my 3 muskets get crusty fouling even with all lube grooves filled unless I also lube the base, shooting the wilkinson as is would make me nervous. Though in the third gun it would probably be ok. I suppose as they sit, if someone had issues they could always store them nose up in the tubes and dip the noses in a real soft lube but that would get messy loading fast.

[Carolina Reb]

Greg Edington did make a dished base Wilkinson, but I don't know if the mold saw production. It weighs about 420 grains. The only problem is that it is a long bullet and only the part right at the V groove is bore size, so it's easy to bend the nose over when loading. When loaded right, it is a tack driver. Filling the grease groove with lube does seem to keep the bullet from collapsing cockeyed as it's loaded. Hydraulic action pushes lube out to the bore when the groove collapses on firing, which really scrubs fouling out. These things shoot very clean. My Merrill carbine loves them (sized to 0.56", which is pretty extreme). Since it's a breechloader the bullet doesn't get whacked when loading.

[Maillemaker]

I always thought a cool project would be a very slightly minie-d wilkinson. Just a tiny cup in the bottom to hold a little extra lube, not to really serve as a base that expands, just a little lube cup. Given 2 of my 3 muskets get crusty fouling even with all lube grooves filled unless I also lube the base, shooting the wilkinson as is would make me nervous. Though in the third gun it would probably be ok. I suppose as they sit, if someone had issues they could always store them nose up in the tubes and dip the noses in a real soft lube but that would get messy loading fast.

Of course, doing would mean a core pin, which means single-cavity mold. The thing I love about the Moose Wilkinson is it's a double-cavity mold and with no core pin you can really crank out the bullets.

What kind of powder are you using? When I was trying Shuetzen 3F, I got horrible fouling. Loading the Wilkinson became very crunchy after just 3 shots. Went back to Goex 3F and it loads easily for a dozen or so. I'll never use Shuetzen again.

Steve

[Don Dixon]

When Greg Edington was still working with his bullet designs, I gave him some suggestions. And, he very kindly sent me one of of the dished base Wilkinson (auctually Lorenz) molds to play with. It shot very well, but was difficult to cast well, just as the Minnie design is. Given the number of reject bullets, I saw no advantage to it. I never put any lube in the bases of them. PAll putting lube in the base of any bullet -- Minnie or otherwise -- does is muck up the powder, weither it is one of Greg's bullet designs or a standard Minnie. Use good lube in the lube grooves. The people who shot these things for real did not fill the bases with Crisco or other cra*p.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V