Suggestions on working up a load

[melnic]

Hello all,
I'm not a Skirmisher but hope to get to that one day in the coming years.
Not new to Muzzleloading and have 3 I want to finally do some load development on and looking for some suggestions here.
I have run pin gauges through them to get bore diameter.
What I have
Original Springfield 1863 Bore .582
Original Springfield 1863 Bore .581
Traditions Enfield 1853 Bore .577

I have molded up from soft lead Moose Moulds (About 150 of each)
.580-466 Trashcan Hollow Base Mould
https://moosemoulds.wixsite.com/mm2013/trashcan-hb
.580-450 Old Style Minnie Hollow Base Mould
https://moosemoulds.wixsite.com/mm2013/minnie-hb
These molds come out with relatively thin skirts and deep hollow with skirts at about .055" vs say .070"-.090" like I"ve seen from other molds

I have the Lyman 578675 Mold also w/ the Thin skirt insert from Northeast Trading Co. But don't have any molded up at this time.

I have sizers for .580,.578,.577,.576

Local to me I can get Goex 3F which I plan to use.

So, I'm looking for a starting point of which bullet sized to what diameter and what loads of 3F to start off with (what increments?) for the first few range trips (when things open up).
I will likely start with one of the Springfields.

Tub of MCM Lube



Thx in advance for any help.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Try both moulds in the two springfields, unsized.
try 40-60 grain loads in 5 grain increments. Take best load and try 2 grains on either side to see if that improves load.

[Maillemaker]

What Lou said.

If your bullets in pure lead actually drop at .580 (and just because the mold says it does doesn't mean it will), then you might get away shooting them in the original Springfields unsized.

I typically move up in sizers in .001" increments until the bullet doesn't fit, then back down one sizer. But since your bullet is (supposedly) .580 you can't go up any bigger than that. (Well, you can, with swaging, but I won't go into that).

Like Lou said, I typically go 40 to 60 grains in 5 grain increments, 5 shots in each group size.

Most of my muskets shoot 45-50 grains 3F, though I don't use full-size minie balls very much. I've bot a Pedersoli P58 (1:48 twist) that so far only likes a big heavy bullet with 60 grains 2F powder. I don't shoot it much because I have other guns that shoot less lead and powder and so are cheaper to shoot.

Steve

[melnic]

Thx for the input so far.
Should I swab between changing charge volume?
Or do I need to take some fowling shots before I start up the load testing?
I have been using the sizer to take the lube off, but even in the larger bore Springfield, an unsized minie has some high spots that it won't slip in easily w/o sizing.

[Maillemaker]

Should I swab between changing charge volume?
Or do I need to take some fowling shots before I start up the load testing?

Each load group should be it's own independent test with the only variable being the difference in charge.

So if you start your first group with a clean barrel, then all subsequent groups should start on a clean barrel.

If your first group starts with a clean barrel and then a fouling shot, then all subsequent groups should start on a clean barrel with a fouling shot.

Each charge group needs to be conducted the same way so that you can accurately compare load group to load group with no other variable introduced.


I have been using the sizer to take the lube off, but even in the larger bore Springfield, an unsized minie has some high spots that it won't slip in easily w/o sizing.

If your bullets do not consistently load without sizing, then size. First, especially in competition, you don't want to be fumbling around with a bullet that doesn't want to load. Second, sizing provides a measure of uniformity to all of your rounds.

Steve