Parker-Hale two band musket.......new to me.....bullet thoughts.....

[Smokepole50]

I just picked up a fairly nice P-H musket rifle this weekend. Bootsie checked the barrel and it is measuring .578 so I am wondering about bullet types and bullet weights for this rifle. I have a RCBS 58-500 mold that is dropping bullets at .580 and 515-520 grains.

Will I be able to size down the RCBS bullets to .577 without damaging the grease grooves to badly??

Is this 517 gr long for caliber bullet going to stabilize well with light charges?

I have been looking at the Lyman 578-675 405 gr Minie Ball mold. It should be better stabilized by the 1:48 twist, being shorter in length and with the lower 40 gr FFF loads we use shooting targets. Does anyone use this bullet in a P-H??

Thanks, Smokepole50

[Maillemaker]

I assume this is a reproduction of the P1858 Enfield?

I have one made by Pedersoli. It has a 1:48 twist with 5 grooves.

I had heard that this gun required a heavier bullet because of the fast twist. In fact there was a Lyman 575213 bullet specifically modified to be heavier by shortening the hollow cavity. This became the Lyman 575213PH mold:

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/609127/lyman-1-cavity-minie-ball-bullet-mold-575213ph-58-caliber-575-diameter-566-grain-parker-hale-style

Unfortunately the mold is only available in .575 and like you, I needed a larger mold (mine shoots sized .578).

I tried my usual RCBS-Hogdgon bullet and got keyholes. My guess is it is too light and too short for the fast twist.

I got clover-leaf results once at 50 yards shooting an RCBS-500M sized to .578 using 60 grains 2F Goex. This is about a 535 grain bullet. I also had another traditional Minie mold core pin modified to be truncated like the 575213PH and it did fairly well. It is about a 520 grain bullet. I have not done extensive work-ups yet with it to be satisfied I have the optimal load though. Mostly because my P53 with Whitacre barrel shoots so well with less lead and less powder. I think I can make the P58 run but it will take more lead and more powder. Maybe it would be worth it for faster load times.

Steve

[Smokepole50]

Yes, it is a Parker-Hale reproduction carbine but it has a P-H marked barrel from Engalnd. A friend just gave me some Lyman 575312 OS bullets that are 422 grains and cast at .578 so I think I am gonna give them a try and see how the rifle shoots this evening.

[Muley Gil]

smokepole,

Do you have the musketoon/carbine with the 24" barrel or the rifle with the 32" barrel?

[Michael Bodner]

Gil,

It's the carbine/'toon...

-Mike

[Muley Gil]

Thanks, Bootsie.

I shoot one of those and it does well with the Lee trashcan bullet sized to .576" over 45 grains of Goex FFFg. It also does well with a 325 grain SWC over 45 grains of FFFg.