Please help me troubleshoot my 2 band Enfield.

**Hal** · 02-05-2019

8 BHN is WAY too hard for minnies. I had sorted out some stick on wheel weights and was calling that "Pure" until I had properly sized minnies keyhole. A hardness test showed those stick-ons to be 6 point something, and THAT was too hard. You need to be down about 5. Order a pig of PURE lead from Roto-Metals. They are something like 60 lbs and I think they will on occasion offer it with free shipping. You will be surprised how quickly you can shoot up a pig of lead.

A very unscientific rule of thumb (As strength varies from person to person) is to try to squeeze a minnie's skirt and see if you can egg shape it. If you can, it's probably soft enough to expand into the rifling.

**Bruce Cobb 1723V** · 02-05-2019

Yes, That is the early, 1st English made stamp with the finish in the stamping.

**JW 5875V** · 02-05-2019

Barrel removal, Remember that each time that you take the barrel out of the stock,
you will have to fire several rounds (10 - 15 ) to get the
gun barrel back into "Battery".
Then it will settle in and start to show group potential.

Jim W. 5875V
Allegheny City Guards

**Obi2winky** · 02-06-2019

Thanks for emphasizing the importance of getting pure lead. BHN 8 was definitely not a squeezable hardness. Once I have some money saved up, I'll get some. Seems like I need to stock up when I make it to nationals.

Jim: thanks for the info about settling in the barrel to the stock. I guess I won't be removing the barrel unless I want to throw half-pound worth of lead each time... haha

I received my pin gauge and it was too big (0.586) by quite a lot. So the good news is that perhaps my Enfield is not so out of spec after all. This time I ordered gauges 0.578~0.580. It won't come in til next monday... This hobby has definitely is teaching me patience.

**newrib** · 02-06-2019

Looking at your groups reminds me of when I started shooting my first Parker-Hale. My first musket was a Zoli Zouave that shoots great. I was disappointed with the groups from the Parker-Hale until I read the musket accuracy tips found on this very forum. After reworking my rifle a bit it will shoot a 2.5 inch 100 yard 5 shot group any day. First thing done was to full length glass bed, the trigger was reworked to 4pounds or so and a dovetail was added to the barrel for a tall front sight.
Best of Luck on your journey !

**bobanderson** · 02-07-2019

Originally Posted by Obi2winky

I received my pin gauge and it was too big (0.586) by quite a lot. So the good news is that perhaps my Enfield is not so out of spec after all. This time I ordered gauges 0.578~0.580. It won't come in til next monday... This hobby has definitely is teaching me patience.

Order a .575, .576 and a .577 right now and save yourself some time. Travers will probably let you return anything you haven't opened. You will need them in the future on other projects.

Whip them out at a skirmish and you will impress your friends, be nominated Ordnance Sergeant and probably be considered one heck of a guy.

**Obi2winky** · 02-12-2019

Pin gauges have arrived! It turns out the 578 go gauge just snugly fits in the bore. 579 will not. So this means I size my bullets to 577 correct?

Since I don't have a lot of molds to try out, no immediate access to pure lead, only outdoor accommodations for casting at my home, I think I'm going to order some bullets from Pat K (http://www.lodgewood.com/Bullets_c_7.html). The ones I thought that would be worth trying were RCBS Hodgdon 578, Parker Hale 58560, and Lyman 575213AV. Any recommendations other than that on what's available on his list?

Btw, is the Lyman 575213AV mold still sold?

**Lou Lou Lou** · 02-12-2019

.577 correct

**Rick R** · 02-12-2019

Most definitely start over with the pure lead. Don't make any decisions based on hard lead results. It can take a bit of time to get really good at casting and you want to make your decisions based on good representations of what your mold can do. You might want to get someone to cast a few for you unless you think you can make perfect rounds.
If you get air holes in the base on say 1 out of 10 you'll have air holes in the other 9 but just won't see them unless you cut them which I used to do until I gained confidence in the process. I used to use a coleman stove and an iron pot but changed to a propane turkey fryer burner. I use an open top ladle which lets me pour fast. I don't get any visible holes or wrinkles.

I used a PH 2 band for many years with great success for many years.

-Worked the lock to 3 1/2 lb pull (polished all friction surfaces, shimmed the tumbler, lightened the sear spring)
-Glass Bedded
-Dovetailed in a tall and wide front sight
-Added rear peep sight.

I used Lyman 575602 with 47.5 GR Goex FF. Lubed with Alox in the grooves and a small dab of white Lithium in the base. Balls were sized to .575 but I don't recall my actual bore size.