Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Greetings, proud 1858 Enfield owner, and sight questions

  1. #1
    Road_Clam is offline
    Team:
    Visitor (non-N-SSA Member)
    Member
    NA
    Join Date
    Dec 2019
    Location
    New Hampshire
    Posts
    3
    Region:
    Visitor

    Greetings, proud 1858 Enfield owner, and sight questions

    Hello gents,
    New member here and would like to extend handshakes and hellos ! I recently purchased a used and truly unfired Pedersoli 1858 Enfield. This is my first jump into antique military muzzleloaders and I am having a TON of fun ! I do have BP experience as i've been loading and shooting my 1874 Sharps 45-70 and i'm a pretty decent 600 yd shooter. So my first question that I can't seem to find any info on is how the rear sight leaf functions. I see the 5,6,7,800 yd hash marks yet I have no clue how to reference the moveable elevation notch. I also am wondering that when you have the rear leaf laying flat , at what distance is this zero ? Is this called the "battle zero" like on some other military rifles ? I'm also observing that when I shoot a 465 gr Minie ball and 60 gr of Goex FFG , my POI is about 13" high at 50 yds ? Thanks in advance for your help !

  2. #2
    PoorJack is offline
    Team:
    Palmetto Sharpshooters
    Member
    NA
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    NC
    Posts
    364
    Region:
    Carolina - North Carolina and South Carolina
    Congrats on the new acquisition. Most of us alter the sights a bit for best accuracy in competition. 13in high at 50 is normal. Best accuracy is generally with a minie that is .001 under bore size and about 60% service charge. My PH likes a RCBS Hogdon, 40gr 3f Swiss, RWS caps, beeswax/lard 50/50, it's sub 2moa load.
    "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition"
    Rudyard Kipling


    YadkinValleyRangers@gmail.com
    NRA Muzzleloading Instructor

  3. #3
    Rick R is offline
    Team:
    1st U.S. Sharpshooters
    Member
    12098
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Posts
    74
    Region:
    Western - Illinois and Wisconsin
    Good luck! I shot PH Enfields for years. Since the good Lord saw fit to include a neck in my compliment of body parts, I couldn't get down on the as-issued sights worth a darned. I dovetailed in a tall front sight then went to work on figuring out the rear sight. Somewhere on the timeline I made new rear sight with a peep drilled in it. With the tall front sight the rear leaf needed to be on the first step on the ramp. This gives you the fine tuning option of taking a little stock off the slide or adding a little shim stock.

    Best of luck, give N-SSA a competition a try some day. I suppose I should include a warning label because it can be addicting.

  4. #4
    Southron Sr. is offline
    Team:
    24th Georgia Volunteer Infantry
    Member
    3002
    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Gorgia
    Posts
    1,319
    Region:
    Carolina - North Carolina and South Carolina
    I highly recommend replacing your front sight with a dovetailed front sight, Any gunsmith with a milling machine can cut the dovetail in your barrel.

    S & S Firearms has a dovetailed front sight:

    https://www.ssfirearms.com/products.asp?cat=87&pg=4

    It is the one on the bottom left of the page.

    By tapping your dovetailed back and forth, you can "Zero" your windage.

    By filing it down, you cab raise your "point of impact."

    I also recommend filling up the "V" notch on your rear sight and replacing it with a "Partridge type" notch,as that makes accurate aiming easier.

    The P-58 was one of the most accurate rifles of the Civil War era. It was the preferred weapon of choice for Confederate Sharpshooters.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2004
    Location
    UK
    Posts
    100
    Region:
    Visitor
    Quote Originally Posted by Road_Clam View Post
    ... I do have BP experience as i've been loading and shooting my 1874 Sharps 45-70 and i'm a pretty decent 600 yd shooter. So my first question that I can't seem to find any info on is how the rear sight leaf functions. I see the 5,6,7,800 yd hash marks yet I have no clue how to reference the moveable elevation notch. I also am wondering that when you have the rear leaf laying flat , at what distance is this zero ? ....
    Please bear in mind that these comments are regarding the original sights, I would hope however that Pedersoli have followed their design. When flat it is set for 100 yards. When you get to the extended ranges, just align the top of the slide with the relevant yardage mark - you'll likely have to refine this though, and in the 19thC vernier gauges evolved that riflemen on the target range used to more accurately adjust the slide. The Enfield service charge was 2.5 drams (about 68 grains) with a 530 grain bullet. Also soldiers were taught to aim with a 'half-sight' - the foreseight tip mid-way between the bottom of the V and the shoulders. Raising or lowering the foresight could be done to fine tune aim for distance.

    Comments about shooting high at 50 yards are common, but likely to be expected given the 100 yard lowest setting and that probably many will be shooting with a full sight (foresight tip aligned with rear sight shoulders, rather than the half sight as intended - using a full sight the shooter is aiming high). Frequent advice is to change your foresight, but this often comes from shooters who are exclusievly shooting at short range. Given you're already shooting your Sharps at 600 yards, no reason why you can't take your Enfield along. In the UK the Muzzle Loaders Assocaition of Great Britain (MLAGB) has National Rifle Championship matches for Enfields at 200, 300, 500 and 600 yards - a club I am in has an Enfield Aggregate at 600 and 800 yards. I wouldn't change the sights until you've had more chance to use the rifle and also considered what ranges you're likely to be shooting at - raising your foresight may handicap you when shooting at longer ranges, losing sight calibration for the stepped ramp section of the rear sight. I use my original Short Rifle with its original sights at 50 - 800 yards.

    A couple of articles on my web site may interest you:



    David
    Last edited by dbm; 01-05-2020 at 06:02 AM.
    David Minshall - www.researchpress.co.uk - www.facebook.com/ResearchPress
    Firearms, long range target shooting and associated history

  6. #6
    Steve Weems is offline
    Team:
    Visitor (non-N-SSA Member)
    Member
    NA
    Join Date
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Kansas
    Posts
    247
    Region:
    Western - Illinois and Wisconsin

    Front site issue

    Many years ago I started out with the PH P58 and immediately replaced the original front site with a taller one. I knew nothing at that time about how the original sights were meant to be used and regret that I did not experiment with the original setup. That said the Ph P58 was very accrurate and a joy to take to the firing line. Good luck with yours.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Huntsville
    Posts
    3,733
    Region:
    Deep South - Georgia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas
    I also have a Pedersoli P58. It's a 3-digit serial number - one of the first out the door and it showed! A lot of the internal parts are left-over Euroarms parts that still have P-H casting marks on them!

    Anyway I did not have much like with the RCBS-Hodgdon bullet. I found best accuracy with the molds available to me to be the RCBS-500M with 60 grains 2F Goex.

    Like others, I never bothered to try to see if the stock site gradients were true or not - I fired with the lowest range setting and like nearly all rifles found it to shoot absurdly high at 50 yards. Rather than install a dovetail front sight, I cut a notch in the original front sight base and soldered in a piece of steel to make a new front blade that was taller.

    Steve

Similar Threads

  1. M.1858 Springfield/Richmond rear sight wanted
    By Dave Fox in forum Wanted/For Sale Items
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 05-06-2018, 10:21 AM
  2. Replies: 19
    Last Post: 10-30-2016, 05:08 PM
  3. Pietta 1858 Remington Revolver Front Sight
    By Kurt Lacko 7862 in forum Small Arms
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 10-22-2016, 12:17 PM
  4. Replies: 11
    Last Post: 01-27-2014, 11:06 AM
  5. 1858 2 band Enfield Rear sight
    By Fauch125 in forum Shooting Techs, Tips, & Tricks
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 04-24-2011, 01:15 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •