1 in 48 twist

[varsity07840]

I'm looking for suggestions on what style/type of minie would be suitable
for a 1/48 twist.

Thanks in advance.

Duane

[hp gregory, 9128]

what caliber. im far from an expert on this stuff but what i have seen over the years is that a faster twist would be good for heavier bullets but since a minie has a hollow base that can change things some.
i have found with a slower twist a gun may have a wide sweet spot for powder charges. a faster twist may have a much more narrow sweet spot.
the best way to work up a load is to get a number of differant types of minies from friends. size them for a slide fit and start with 40 grains of 3f goex. work up or down from there and see which bullet groups the best. each gun has its own personality so you need to find out what it likes.
hp gregory

[varsity07840]

.58 Hoyt reline. I'd ask Bob but he's out of town.

[R. McAuley 3014V]

This an Enfield or Springfield, short gun or long gun? A 48-inch spiral usually requires a heavier bullet so it doesn't trip over the rifling. For example, a 315-gr Rapine wadcutter with 40-gr of Goex triple fine is a bit light for a bullet but it performs almost the same at 50 yards as a 470-gr Lee ashcan with 60-gr of Goex double fine, but the wadcutter falls short at 100. The heavier ashcan is good at 50 and 100, but with 60-gr of double fine is rather punishing to your cheek. At 50-55-grs, I often got 50% keyholes, but no keyholes with 60-grs. It might work as well with 40 to 45 gr of triple fine, which exerts a higher chamber pressure especially over the first half of the barrel, but if you're shooting a short gun, don't look for a lighter recoil. Long guns have an advantage over short guns upon account that the pressure is distributed over a larger area so has a lower recoil.

[varsity07840]

It's a 25" Richmond carbine. I like the wadcutter. It shoots well in my .58
Mississippi with 45 gr. of 3F. It's also a reline, but I'm not sure about the twist(I should check that). I'm thinking the wadcutter may be too light/short
in the carbine, but right now it's the only mould I have for a .575.

Duane

[R. McAuley 3014V]

Just made the transition from the 405-gr Hodgdon bullet to the 315-gr wadcutter in my M1855 Rifle and C.S. Richmond Carbine (both 1:72) with 40-gr FFFg at 50, and 48-gr at 100 (with same sight picture). In saying that I just made this transition, I might take this opportunity to clarify that I had previously shot an original 1860 Tower rifle for upwards of 20 years, and had primarily used the Lee ashcan with it along with the 60-grs of FFg. Although I had begun using the Hodgdon bullet with a lower charge of FFFg in the 1860 Tower, when an opportunity arose to buy a ’55 rifle, I bought it with the intent of using the ’55 as a companion to the Richmond Carbine. But then I didn’t get to shoot the new rifle for the first 18 months, and didn’t have an opportunity to even break a round much less to sight it in before the next National. So, when I shot it for the first time during the team matches, it did amazing well with the Hodgdon bullet. I didn’t get to shoot it again until the next National when I decided to switch over to the Rapine wadcutter and a new untried powder charge. That charge proved a perfect load with my cold shot on the clay board (a dead-centre hit), followed by four more consecutive hits. I don't get to the firing range much to practice because its about 90 miles round trip to the nearest place I can shoot, so maybe if I could practice more, I might could be a better shooter. But do try the 315-gr wadcutter with say 35-grs of FFFg, and see how that does, then try the same with 40-grs and see if there is any improvement.

[R. McAuley 3014V]

What make barrel is on your C.S. Richmond Carbine? Obviously, it's not one of the Italian made production barrels in that Armisport's Richmond is 1:66 while Euroarms is 1:72, so if yours is 1:48 it must be a reline or custom barrel (i.e. James River, Hoyt, Whitacre, Weiss, Large, etc.).

[Southron Sr.]

I have a P-H Naval Rifle (with the 1 in 48 twist) that shoots very tight groups (read: 'One Hole' @ 50 yards, off the bench) with the Hodgdon 405 grain bullet and 42 grains of FFFg Wano.

In 1858 the British Navy adopted the two band, Enfield Naval rifle. It used a 1 in 48 twist with 6 lands and grooves. They found that with the British issue 530 grain Pritchett Ball it shot wonderful groups-better in fact than the regular 3 Band P-53 Enfields with 3 land and groove rifling! In 1860 the British Army adopted their verson of the Naval Rifle, it used the same barrel, just iron furniture instead of brass-otherwise both rifles were identical.

In 1863 the Army of Northern Virginia tested all the rifles then in service and discovered that the two band Enfields with the 1 in 48 twist were the most accurate, expecially past 500 yards.

Confederate sharpshooters were therefore armed with these two band Enfields and were issued British made ammunition, and often wreaked hovac on Yankee soldiers at long range.

I see no reason why the Lyman 575213 (old Style) or the Hodgdon made bullet mould that throws the shallow base "Parker-Hale bullet" wouldn't shoot well in your rifle.

GOOD LUCK!

[R. McAuley 3014V]

In 1858 the British Navy adopted the two band, Enfield Naval rifle. It used a 1 in 48 twist with 6 lands and grooves. They found that with the British issue 530 grain Pritchett Ball it shot wonderful groups-better in fact than the regular 3 Band P-53 Enfields with 3 land and groove rifling! In 1860 the British Army adopted their verson of the Naval Rifle, it used the same barrel, just iron furniture instead of brass-otherwise both rifles were identical.


About 25 or so years ago, I bought some of the Pritchett minies that came off the wreck of the blockade runner Minho out of Charleston Harbor, and was curious to see how they might group when shot from an original Enfield. Maybe it was because the paper patch portion was missing, I may as well have been using a piece of sewer pipe with the group they produced off a bench. Needless to say, if they had not been so cheap at the time (maybe 5 cents a piece), I might would not have shot original minies, now that the same minie sells for about $6 a piece or more. Someone may one day find those spent minies buried on that land and think there was a unknown and undocumented civil war skirmish there?

[varsity07840]

What make barrel is on your C.S. Richmond Carbine? Obviously, it's not one of the Italian made production barrels in that Armisport's Richmond is 1:66 while Euroarms is 1:72, so if yours is 1:48 it must be a reline or custom barrel (i.e. James River, Hoyt, Whitacre, Weiss, Large, etc.).

I assume you're asking me(Duane). It's a Hoyt reline, .577 bore.