carbine help please

[marv762]

my father purchased a james river made springfield carbine a couple of years back. he has never been able to get it to shoot a really tight group. it has the seven lands and grooves in the barrel. he has been using the 510 grn rapine bullet with swiss powder. he has tried 2f and 3f but it just will not settle into anything consistent. does anyone else have the same gun? any help would be appreciated. i was wondering about a different style and weight. thanks Marv jr.

[kowdok]

I may be prejudiced but I have shot a lot of different guns, ( Zouave, Springfield, Whitney, Enfield, Enfield Musketoon ) and have found that all will shoot extremely well with the Hogdon bullet with 3F Goex. Of course you have to find the sweet spot with the powder weight. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I am under the impression that the James River arms have a Hoyt barrel on them. Our 2 custom muskets, Springfield and Whitney, both have the Hoyt barrels ( not sure of lands and groove number ) and will shoot one ragged hole off the bench with 45 gns of 3 F Goex. Our son shoots a Euroarms Zouave out of the box with the Hogdon bullet with 38 gns of 3F Goex. He has been the top shooter on the team for the last 3 years. The Hogdon bullets for the Hoyt barrels are sized to .575. Hope this may help get you a starting place.

[Rich Foster]

Need more on the springfield carbine. Never new Springfield ever made a civil war Carbine. What work has been done to the gun? Glassembedded,trigger job, what lube are you using? I am considering it has a 1-60 twist so bullet and powder sounds right. Rich

[marv762]

sorry i should have said Richmond carbine. it only has a trigger job done. this is the only gun without a regular 3 lands and grooves he has. the 510 grn bullet i use in 6 guns and they all shoot a hole. his muskets shoot it also. only this carbine seems to not like it. he has used another bullet that was heavier, but same issue. i talked to him today about trying the hodgen. the other choice we are looking into would be send it to Hoyt for a standard reline job.

[Maillemaker]

I have this exact rifle, with a Hoyt barrel. It is glass bedded. It's my favorite gun to shoot.

Here is what I can achieve with it on a bench at 50 yards. This is 10 shots making a single hole except for one shot:

http://i.imgur.com/iuGB9XK.jpg

I did this with a .578 RCBS-Hodgdon bullet sized to .576, shot with 44 grains 3F Shuetzen, using Crisco/Beeswax lube.

You should be able to do better with Swiss which is by all accounts a superior powder.

Steve

[Rich Foster]

More than likely Hoyt cut the rifiling if it is 7 lands and grooves in that gun as he did most of James River Guns. Would have to see group and gun to out rule if not having barrel bedded is the cause of it. You could always talk to Hoyt at nationals and let him take a look at the carbine and bring the best benched group on paper. If something is wrong with the rifling that falls on his part he would fix it on his dollar. I don't think it is your bullet or powder. What is good about Hoyt he is not just a barrel maker but a shooter to. Good Luck, Rich

[pastore]

my father purchased a james river made springfield carbine a couple of years back. he has never been able to get it to shoot a really tight group. it has the seven lands and grooves in the barrel. he has been using the 510 grn rapine bullet with swiss powder. he has tried 2f and 3f but it just will not settle into anything consistent. does anyone else have the same gun? any help would be appreciated. i was wondering about a different style and weight. thanks Marv jr.

I have a James River Richmond carbine. I have only shot it at 50 yards so far. I shot it with the Hodgdon bullet without much success. I tried the short Rapine wadcutter with 45grs of 3f Goex, and it shoots around a 2 1/2 inch group offhand. I'm not sure how that bullet would perform at 100 yards.:D

[Ron/The Old Reb]

If there is any wind it will get blowen around at a 100yds. I have shot the 315 wad cutter on days that I had to hold on the edge of the black to drop them in 9, 10 ring. I remember one time that the wind was so strong at the fort that I had to hold on the edge of backer to get them in the black. Great Minnie if there is no wind. I stoped using it at a 100yds. went back to the International Minnie.