Space Cowboy
09-12-2011, 07:17 AM
Hello Shooters,
I wonder how many of you shoot Lorenz originals on competition? I bought mine about a year ago, and spent a lot of time on the range finding a good bullet, and a good load for the gun for 50 m and 100 m. I know that the Jägerstützen (carbine version) was not issued to civil war troops, but maybe the following video can be interesting for the full size Lorenz rifle musket shooters also.
After searching for the right bullet, I ended up with making custom molds: a copies of the original compression bullet. The following video is the end of the trail. The original Lorenz bullet was 0,2 mm smaller than the land to land dia of the bore (bore: 13,9 mm, bullet dia: 13,7 mm). These bullets were shot with tallow-beeswax lubricated paper patching. The construction of the Lorenz cartridge was very simmilar to the Enfield cartridges: the powder was on the top of the ball, and after pouring the powder into the bore, the soldier loaded the bullet with the paper wrapping. After pushing it down to the powder, he hit the bullet with the ramrod a few times, to help the expanding into the rifling.
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MxRK5ujg7A8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I have now two molds ready: one is casting the original bullet diameter (13,7), the other is casting a 13,9 mm bullet, that I size to 13,88 to match my bore. For the later you can see the results in the video. The first will be used to reproduce the original paper cartridge with maximum historical accuracy. The data is collected from the original 1854 and 1857 manuals and reglemets. I already did some tests to reproduce the original 375 m/s muzzle velocity for the paper patched bullet.
According to the 19th century test, the Lorenz was one of the few rifle muskets capable of hitting a man size target up to 300 schritts (220 m) without moving the rear sight. The Enfield and Springfield trajectory was much higher because of to the heavier bullet, and less muzzle velocity, so these two rifles left a safe area on the battlefield within the 300 m range, where the bullet was flying above the head of the advancing enemy. The Lorenz bullet had a flatter trajectory that stayed in the 180 cm height within this distance. The only other military rifle I know that could do this was the Swiss M 1851 Feldstutzer.
So enjoy the video, and if you have comments, suggestions on shooting the original Lorenz, please share them.
Best regards,
SC
I wonder how many of you shoot Lorenz originals on competition? I bought mine about a year ago, and spent a lot of time on the range finding a good bullet, and a good load for the gun for 50 m and 100 m. I know that the Jägerstützen (carbine version) was not issued to civil war troops, but maybe the following video can be interesting for the full size Lorenz rifle musket shooters also.
After searching for the right bullet, I ended up with making custom molds: a copies of the original compression bullet. The following video is the end of the trail. The original Lorenz bullet was 0,2 mm smaller than the land to land dia of the bore (bore: 13,9 mm, bullet dia: 13,7 mm). These bullets were shot with tallow-beeswax lubricated paper patching. The construction of the Lorenz cartridge was very simmilar to the Enfield cartridges: the powder was on the top of the ball, and after pouring the powder into the bore, the soldier loaded the bullet with the paper wrapping. After pushing it down to the powder, he hit the bullet with the ramrod a few times, to help the expanding into the rifling.
<iframe width="560" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MxRK5ujg7A8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I have now two molds ready: one is casting the original bullet diameter (13,7), the other is casting a 13,9 mm bullet, that I size to 13,88 to match my bore. For the later you can see the results in the video. The first will be used to reproduce the original paper cartridge with maximum historical accuracy. The data is collected from the original 1854 and 1857 manuals and reglemets. I already did some tests to reproduce the original 375 m/s muzzle velocity for the paper patched bullet.
According to the 19th century test, the Lorenz was one of the few rifle muskets capable of hitting a man size target up to 300 schritts (220 m) without moving the rear sight. The Enfield and Springfield trajectory was much higher because of to the heavier bullet, and less muzzle velocity, so these two rifles left a safe area on the battlefield within the 300 m range, where the bullet was flying above the head of the advancing enemy. The Lorenz bullet had a flatter trajectory that stayed in the 180 cm height within this distance. The only other military rifle I know that could do this was the Swiss M 1851 Feldstutzer.
So enjoy the video, and if you have comments, suggestions on shooting the original Lorenz, please share them.
Best regards,
SC