.69 Minies

[hobbler]

Does anyone here use a .69 minie without lube grooves?

[hobbler]

I've been looking at recovered relic bullet photos on the internet and have seen a .69 design with no lube grooves, hence the curiosity.
Does anyone know what arms the design without lube grooves may have been used with?

[Maillemaker]

I'll need to check Round Ball and Rimfire, but I know that grooveless .58 caliber expanding balls were used with "Enfield" style cartridges. They were designed to be fired with the paper from the cartridge still encasing the bullet. They were essentially paper-patched bullets, with the paper carrying the lube.

I don't know if they made Enfield style cartridges in .69 caliber.

Steve

[hobbler]

Here's a picture of one.
http://sgtriker.com/images/pulledtower.jpg

[Maillemaker]

Chapter 14 of Volume I of Round Ball to Rimfire is about .69 Caliber and Larger Rifle Muskets.

It has a picture of a grooveless .69 caliber expanding ball. I have scanned the chapter but do not find any mention of where those were used. My guess is still that they were used as paper-patched bullets in an Enfield-style of cartridge. The diameter of the one shown is .675" in diameter. I will have to read the chapter in more detail to figure out if they say more about them.

Steve

[rcbloom2]

I'll need to check Round Ball and Rimfire, but I know that grooveless .58 caliber expanding balls were used with "Enfield" style cartridges. They were designed to be fired with the paper from the cartridge still encasing the bullet. They were essentially paper-patched bullets, with the paper carrying the lube.

I don't know if they made Enfield style cartridges in .69 caliber.

Steve

Enfield, British-made cartridges used the Pritchett bullet that was usually .56 to account for the lube that the assembled cartridges were dipped in. The Brits had a Sepoy revolt in India because of these cartridges. The lube was made from lard or beef tallow, both no-no's in their religions.

[Maillemaker]

Actually, the lube was made from sheep tallow, so neither beef nor pork was in the mix. But the rumor started anyway.

Steve

[gmkmd]

It may have been for the pattern 1851 Enfield, which was the predecessor to the pattern 1853 Enfield, but was .69 caliber (actually I think .72 caliber).

[hobbler]

Got one set of 575213A blocks without a plug.
A fella might bore out such to make slick sided slugs for the big brothers.
Maybe the 68569 base plug would fit it... Hmm, don't know. I'm gonna look at that.

[hobbler]

Available plugs' diameters measure .648" for #68569 (modified to fit my .696" bore) and .687" for the blunt round nose paper patch mold made from #57730.

Eh, neither of those would be easy to use.:(

[hobbler]

Found an original Lyman base plug that's .552" diameter.