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Thread: Thin skirted minie ball mould advice

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    BoonieStomper is offline
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    Thin skirted minie ball mould advice

    Hello the forum! I have recently bought a Pedersoli 1861 Springfield. I have two minie ball moulds, both are Lymans. One is the 575213os, the other is the 577611. The bore mikes out at .578 -.579. I bought some pure lead from Rotometals. I have heard a good minie can have it's skirt bent by finger pressure, the problem is these moulds cast too thick of a skirt. I've seen pictures online of thinner skirted minie balls. What would younall recommend? I want to use the standard service charge of 60 grains so I can hunt deer w/ this gun. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Best regards, BoonieStomper

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    Jim_Burgess_2078V is offline
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    When I first started skirmishing I acquired both the Lyman 575213OS and 575213NS (new style) molds. The new style bullet has a much thinner skirt. I modified the base plug on the new style mold to fit the old style blocks (just a matter of cutting a new groove for the retaining ring) and that gave me an old style bullet with a thin skirt, about 400 grains. It shot real well in my Zouave rifle.
    Jim Burgess, 15th CVI

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    I would not worry so much about what your fingers can do, but how the gun shoots them when you work up a load.

    I've got a RCBS-500M bullet with a rather thick skirt. My my Whitacre-barreled P53 it shoots quite well with 48 grains of 3F Goex, but in my Pedersoli P58 it requires 60 grains 2F to work well.

    I'd make up groups of 10 cartridges starting at 35 grains of 3F and move up in 5 grain increments to 50 grains. See what gives you the best group.

    Steve

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    ian45662 is offline
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    I agree with what has already been said. Try them out first. If they dont do what you want my advice would be to do what has also been said above and look for a way to fit a core pin that will cast a thinner skirt. Me I like I thin skirted minie but I have never tried one with a thick skirt

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    Muley Gil is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by BoonieStomper View Post
    Hello the forum! I have recently bought a Pedersoli 1861 Springfield. I have two minie ball moulds, both are Lymans. One is the 575213os, the other is the 577611. The bore mikes out at .578 -.579. I bought some pure lead from Rotometals. I have heard a good minie can have it's skirt bent by finger pressure, the problem is these moulds cast too thick of a skirt. I've seen pictures online of thinner skirted minie balls. What would younall recommend? I want to use the standard service charge of 60 grains so I can hunt deer w/ this gun. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Best regards, BoonieStomper
    You mentioned using a 60 grain load. I presume your state requires this as a minimum load. A number of skirmishers have taken whitetail deer using their regular target load, which could be anywhere from 38 to 55 grains of FFg or FFFg.

    I really doubt your local game warden is going to be carrying around a powder scale. If you are really worried about that and your best load is less than 60 grains, carry a few plastic tubes loaded with 60 grains and a Minie to show to the warden. Just put your sighted in target load in a different colored tube.
    Gil Davis Tercenio
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    Great, great grandson of Cpl Elijah S Davis, Co I, 6th Alabama Inf CSA

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    Hmmmmmmmm! Thin skirt ........ 60 grains ............ blown out skirt???? Better check, especially after a shot or two when resistance/pressure increases..

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    Ibgreen is offline
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    I killed 2 deer this past season with the .577 moose Wilkerson over 70 grains 3F Goex. Whitaker barrel

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    What I'm aiming at here is in the quest for that ideal bullet/powder arrangement, one other variable that can enter into the equation, and cause erratic flight, is skirts blowing out -- especially on thin walled minies. Look at the originals - very thick skirts ahead of those big 60-70 grain charges. The guys of the 1860s knew what they were doing.
    So what I'm getting at, you may have found the optimum load/ optimum bullet/ optimum lube, et. etc., and still get an erratic shoot sequence. So I think one should always check out some of the rounds sent down range -- into something solft. In my mind, and based on my own experience - you better hit the "optimum" down around the 40 grain neighborhood, especially with the thin walls, for optimum RANGE consistency. We won't even start with the self'abuse feature of big charges.
    I asked my wife if she thought this was a normal post. She said "It is a typical." She did not a say a typical what.
    Last edited by Eggman; 03-19-2015 at 01:42 PM.

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    BoonieStomper is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eggman View Post
    Look at the originals - very thick skirts ahead of those big 60-70 grain charges. The guys of the 1860s knew what they were doing.
    Now THIS is interesting! See, I've never actually seen an original minie ball. I do know the original charge was around 60 grains, more or less, from my reading. I also had read that one MUST be able to deform the bullet skirt with only finger pressure, ot it would not work at all. Since I could not deform my minies w/ finger pressure, even w/ pure lead, I assumed I was doing something wrong. I saw pictures online of thin skirted minies , and thought that must be the solution, I must have bought the wrong mould!

    So what you and Mr. Maillemaker are saying is a paradigm shift for me! I want to use the 60 grains, purely for historical reasons. So it's time to start casting and start working up a load! Thank you all for all the advice! I knew I came to the right place for answers! Best regards, BoonieStomper

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    I hunt with my target load. Lyman 575213 thin skirt and 35grains of 3f Goex. Four years ago I hit a large doe in the side and it went through both shoulder bones and exited the other side at around 70 yards. Takes a lot to stop that 520 grains of lead once it's moving. The "historical" part is neat but why kill your shoulder.
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