54 cal Mississippi

[Michael Bodner]

Got a new recruit spinning up.. He has a Mississippi in 54 cal.

What molds/bullet do all y'all use for YOUR Mississippi?

Thanks!

-Boots

[mike davenport]

it really depends on the barrel and bore size....
if its in the .535 to .538 the 533476 ideal or lyman minie will work
if larger, a custom mold from Rapine or Moose in either minie or the compression bullet style is an option
mike

[steve nelson]

Moose .538/395 old style. 40 grains 3f goex. Hoyt barrel.

[Robt. Propst]

Bootsie,

I do not have any of the Moose molds, but over the last 20 years of off and on with a Mississippi with a Hoyt reline in .54...

I have most often used the Rapine 534400 with great results, now with 39 grains 3f OE since I ran out of GOEX. May be hard to find this mold, but who knows.

The newer Hogden. 54 shoots very well, also with 39 grains OE 3f. It keeps the bore cleaner than the Rapine, and cuts a more observable hole in paper or cardboard. I think sutlers have it in stock.

Lyman 533476 in its stock form - no mods to baseplug- shoots well but up into the 50 grain range. Makes you miss the lighter charges of the first two molds.

I bought a modified 533476 with a thinner baseplug that really did well, but at the 45 3f OE grain range.

Bridesburg - Greg Eddington - made a .54 Gardner, which I never shot as well as the above three.

There is also a .54 Pickett Ball mold out there made by Lee, but I also think it was an Eddington design. I have it, but did not shoot it.

Jim Leinicke and Bill Weedman wrote a Skirmishing Ballistics Skirmish Line Article Sept-Oct 1995 Issue that really speaks to the Rapine and Lyman. Civil War Smallbores: .54 Minies. I got it in the reprints of Skirmish Line Articles at Docs Place.

[Lou Lou Lou]

Good information

[Michael Bodner]

Well, I made an aluminum plug gauge to accurately measure the bore: The gauge goes in at 0.533" The twist rate is 1 in 66...

Soooooo..

Who has been successful in getting a 54 cal Mississippi with a 1:66 twist rate and 0.533" bore to shoot accurately and repetitively enough for skirmishing? And again, what mold?


From everything I have heard in the past, a 1:66 twist is really for patched roundball. But if anyone has made these guns shoot, they'll be a member of N-SSA!!

Thanks

-Boots

[hobbler]

With a Lee type push through sizer it isn't difficult to take lubed Lyman #533476 all the way to 0.519" diameter.
Should be able to size .54 minies down to whatever diameter that may be needed for the Mississippi if (these days) you can get the sizer you need.

[Muley Gil]

With a Lee type push through sizer it isn't difficult to take lubed Lyman #533476 all the way to 0.519" diameter.
Should be able to size .54 minies down to whatever diameter that may be needed for the Mississippi if (these days) you can get the sizer you need.

See this thread:

Tom Crone Sizer (n-ssa.net)