I shot the .562 round ball. I just didn't force them down into the case so much as I 'wedged' them in there. They aren't seated all the way in, just kinda sitting on top. They don't come out and you have to use pliers to pull one.
I shot the .562 round ball. I just didn't force them down into the case so much as I 'wedged' them in there. They aren't seated all the way in, just kinda sitting on top. They don't come out and you have to use pliers to pull one.
Thanks Hal! I can't wait to get my mold!Originally Posted by Hal
Thanks for your input!
Shooting a piece of C.W. history is just nothing but the BEST!
Was reading, approx. 53,000 made of a 100,000 contract.
Mine is 33,000.
All matching numbers!
She's been used and abused, but I LOVE her!
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Last edited by 2horses; 10-23-2018 at 05:27 PM.
My first breechloader was a Burnside, and I’ve had a few more since then.
If the breechblock serial number matches the rest of the gun, cartridges should fit fine and not leak. If the block has been replaced, there can be problems.
The brass cases from 30 years ago did not fit the chamber particularly well. They would blow out the case mouths with heavy loads. That said, I still have some of those old cases and they have been loaded well over 50 times. The newer cases fit great and will last many years of skirmishing. If you are planning to skirmish with it as your primary carbine, invest in brass cases.
I have fooled with round ball loads and never had much luck. Four or five shots would hit right next to each other, then a round would go completely wild.
The Rapine Burnside bullet (and its clones from other mold makers) shoots better in Merrills than Burnsides. It’s too light. My best results have been with bullets around 400 grains. Accurate Molds makes several Burnside molds. 56-390, 56-450 and 56-450BN work well. 56-450BN is a hollow base and you have to make the base pin, so it’s not exactly easy to get working. Longer bullets may hang up when closing the action. The 56-450 has this problem with some carbines. If that happens, take out the breechblock guide screw on the right side of the frame. That allows the breech to open a little farther.
An issue that sometimes come up is that the barrel grooves were individually cut. Some can be deeper than others. One carbine I worked on had one groove that wanted a 0.562” bullet. Bullets that big won’t fit in a cartridge. A soft cast hollow base bullet is the only way to go if you have this problem.
The other consideration with Burnsides is the weird stock. It doesn’t hold like any other carbine. You really need to shoot it a lot to get good with it. When I was only shooting a Burnside, I did pretty well with it. When I was shooting it as a backup, my hit times went way down.
Overall, it is a fun carbine on the line.
Sounds like the Ideal 557456 minie was made for the Burnside.
Although he is located in England, just let him know what size mould you need, pay him and he will airmail the mould to you in a week or so. I have purchased several moulds from him and am very happy with his moulds and service:
http://www.ballmoulds.com/
Thanks for the TIP!
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I've slugged my 5th model Burnside and found it to be .560 max (bottom of groove to bottom of groove). THATS why one shoots a .562 roundball - but it doesn't want to fit well into a brass case (.556 I.D.) and will swell the case mouth if forced. So I used an adjustable reamer to get .562 I.D. -- a touchy job so I 'hand reamed' it with a shop-made case holder. (piece of 1/2" copper plumbing tube with a couple slits in the end and a pipe clamp on the outside to tighten the holder onto the narrow lip behind the 'swell' near the case mouth. Yes, the case mouth is very thin after this (had to sand slightly so as not to cut myself on the case mouth), but I also lathe cut .030 wide copper rings from the copper tube, then soldered them behind the 'swell' at the case mouth so it will properly 'fill' the semi-circular profile near the case mouth when the action is closed. I had to solder .030 #8 brass washers onto the base of each case to get the Overall case length up to 1.870 +/- .005. This also fits my action and fully seats the sliding piece holding the nipple when the action is closed. Soooo, a conical round needs to be at least .001 larger than the maximum bore size, ergo .562 is also good. This is why so many burnside conical rounds don't shoot well - they don't swage properly to the bore when fired and there is too much blow-by. Accurate molds are .560 O.D. - but if the mold is heated-up good, they can come out .561, which will be OK. The longer one is too big to chamber properly, so I milled off some from mine and the results are better (but still not there yet). The bullet weight is now 415 grains (was 435), but I believe that something around 390 - 400 grains will work better. BTW, my .452 roundball load is with 37.5 gr. 3F (drop tube), with a styrofoam wad pressed over that, and a dab of lithium grease - all in the black at 50 yds. I'd like to try the nylon tubes .... why not?
Accurate Molds LLC makes a great mold for the burnsides, Sigle Cavity cost me 81.50 shipped to my door. It casts a very nice bullet. You can get different sizes, I went with the .562 based on having slugged the bore with some .562 Burnsides I had bought online.
Daryl Noonan
NSSA # 14002
12th Regiment US Regular Infantry
"You see in this world there are two types of people my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig!!"
Stumbled upon a Lyman #557456 recently and was wondering what the design was may have been intended for. Was it for the Burnside?
That's probably for something like a Greene bolt action rifle. It's probably too long to chamber in a Burnside. The Accurate Molds 56-390A generally works very well.
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