I need help please!! Enfield 3 Band Rifle musket

[12thSouthCarolinaCSA]

I am a long term civil war reenactor that has recently gotten into shooting live ammo. I am by no means an expert and need some help. I own an Armi Sport 1853 Enfield, and I shot a .58 cal. mini ball. I was shooting at about 50 yards and, I soon noticed that the rounds were tumbling in the air, leaving oblong hole in which you could see the lead mark of the 3 rings from the round. I have used it for many years in reenacting and have put about 3000 blanks through it in that time. I have had people tell me that the bullets were too small for the gun and that the reenacting blanks have destroyed the rifling in the gun. What is the problem? Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Matt Lindeman

[Damon]

Hi,
It sounds like you projectiles were undersized. The should be a slip fit and it is better to see if someone local has a set of plug gauges to check.

Did you clean well after use? Can you still see the three lands and grooves of the rifling?

Someone more experienced will have more help I am sure as the guys and girlsvandvthis board are great in helping anyone.

[Bob Lintner]

Sent a PM to Matt

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

In my experience, tumbling rounds mean the lead in your minies is too hard. Lead used for minies needs to be pure so the skirt can expand to meet the sides of the rifling in the barrel. If your lead is soft, then the rounds could be too small. Most shooters use minies that are one or two thousanths of an inch smaller than the size of their bore.

Hope this helps.

[Maillemaker]

The first thing to do is make sure you have bullets that are sized to your bore. You should just be able to insert them in the barrel.

You will almost certainly want to use a sizing die to size your bullets after casting to insure consistency and true roundness.

As was pointed out, make sure you are using pure lead so that your bullets are soft and the skirt can expand.

With a clean, unloaded arm, it can be helpful to get one of the small AAA sized mini-mag light flashlights and drop it down the barrel so it is shining out the barrel. Look down and you should be able to see the condition of the bore. You want smooth and shiny, with well-defined grooves and lands.

Steve

[ms3635v]

Matt,

Also check the crown on the muzzle of your musket. A poor crown can cause the minie to tip as it leaves the barrel potentially causing a keyhole.

[Michael Bodner]

No body mentioned powder load... If you're using too little powder, you won't expand the bullet skirt enough to grap the lands/grooves.

You should be starting with around 42 grains of 3Fffg. Don't know what you were shooting for reenacting...

-Mike