US Model 1841 Mississippi shooters! I need shooting advuce for my Mississippi rifle

[rcbloom2]

Like the title says, I need some help. Round ball diameter? .54 Hoyt barrel. I have a .530 mold. Too large? Has anyone tried shooting .54 Burton balls? What patch material thickness? How many grains has proven to be successful for you? 75 grains? 3Fg, 2Fg? I need help finding a load that has worked for other Mississippi shooters. I am an 1861 shooter. I have worked up a load with a Whitacre barrel. 5 shots at 50 yards and 3 holes just above the 10 ring on a 50 yard target. Bullets going through the same hole. I have been shooting muzzle loaders for 47 years. I can talk about this stuff all day. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance to my US musket shooting gun nuts. Ron. Las Vegas Muskets. Retired NRA Training Counselor in all disciplines, Life Member NMLRA.

[mike davenport]

Ron
if you are shooting a round ball:
start with 60 grains of 2ff or 50 grains of 3 fff powder- the .530 ball will work - you will need to start with a 10K patch- i would lube it or use a teflon coated patch- if its a Hoyt barrel- its rifled to shoot a burton or Minie ball

for the Minie- look for a lyman or ideal 533476 mold or a rapine, challenger or older RCBS hollow base mold- the bore should be .537 and you want to be 1k under bore size
i shoot 38 gr of goex FFG behind an older ideal 533476 with good results

Moose also makes a "Wilkerson" round that will work very well with the hoyt barrel.

where are you located?
mike

[Tom Magno, 9269V]

Hi Ron - what is the purpose for your shooting, hunting, targets, competition, both?
A round ball w/patch will work, and is more than adequate for hunting - but the reproduction barrels are rifled optimally for a conical minie ball. What is your bore diameter? Size a minie .001-.002 under bore for best results.
I shoot an original Mississippi with a Hoyt lined barrel of 7 grooves. I shoot a Wilkinson compression bullet over approx 42 grains 3Fg (real black, not synthetic black) with excellent results for target competition. For hunting I shoot the same round over 60 grains 3Fg and get great hunting-level accuracy to 100 yards easily. If you decide on a Wilkinson, do not resize it in a lube-sizer, it will pre-compress the bullet and it will not expand properly in barrel and will keyhole. Use a push through sizer and only dip lube the compression ring with melted lube - do not fill it with lube as it will not compress during shooting.

Good luck!

[Kevin Tinny]

Hello, RC:
Please look at your PM's.
Smiles.
Kevin Tinny

[gemmer]

Like the title says, I need some help. Round ball diameter? .54 Hoyt barrel. I have a .530 mold. Too large? Has anyone tried shooting .54 Burton balls? What patch material thickness? How many grains has proven to be successful for you? 75 grains? 3Fg, 2Fg? I need help finding a load that has worked for other Mississippi shooters. I am an 1861 shooter. I have worked up a load with a Whitacre barrel. 5 shots at 50 yards and 3 holes just above the 10 ring on a 50 yard target. Bullets going through the same hole. I have been shooting muzzle loaders for 47 years. I can talk about this stuff all day. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance to my US musket shooting gun nuts. Ron. Las Vegas Muskets. Retired NRA Training Counselor in all disciplines, Life Member NMLRA.

If it's a Hoyt barrel and rifled for a minie, I would expect that Bob put progressive depth rifling in it. If so you may need a smaller ball/patch combo to start it in the shallow rifling at the muzzle. The conundrum is that at the breech end you'll have a windage problem that will burn patches because of the deep rifling. A lubed .58 cal fiber cushion wad behind the ball will fill the grooves and help prevent patch burn through.

[Carolina Reb]

Did you tell Bobby how you want it rifled? If he did it 54 cal, he may have done it for round balls. I don't have a Mississippi, but shoot a Hoyt lined 1803 Harpers Ferry, 7 groove 1 in 50 twist. It shots 0.530 round balls with 0.010 patches extremely well using 60 gr. of GOEX FF. I dip patches in melted beeswax/olive oil until they stop fizzing and lay them out to cool. Same lube as CW breechloaders. The barrel stays clean and accurate, and you could pick up the patches about 10 yards out and reuse them.

[rcbloom2]

Ron
if you are shooting a round ball:
start with 60 grains of 2ff or 50 grains of 3 fff powder- the .530 ball will work - you will need to start with a 10K patch- i would lube it or use a teflon coated patch- if its a Hoyt barrel- its rifled to shoot a burton or Minie ball

for the Minie- look for a lyman or ideal 533476 mold or a rapine, challenger or older RCBS hollow base mold- the bore should be .537 and you want to be 1k under bore size
i shoot 38 gr of goex FFG behind an older ideal 533476 with good results

Moose also makes a "Wilkerson" round that will work very well with the hoyt barrel.

where are you located?
mike

Thanks for the reply and advice. Saves me a lot of time and powder. It is Hoyt barrel. I live in Las Vegas, a refugee from police state NY. No N-SSA teams here.

[rcbloom2]

If it's a Hoyt barrel and rifled for a minie, I would expect that Bob put progressive depth rifling in it. If so you may need a smaller ball/patch combo to start it in the shallow rifling at the muzzle. The conundrum is that at the breech end you'll have a windage problem that will burn patches because of the deep rifling. A lubed .58 cal fiber cushion wad behind the ball will fill the grooves and help prevent patch burn through.

Thanks for the reply and advice.

[rcbloom2]

If it's a Hoyt barrel and rifled for a minie, I would expect that Bob put progressive depth rifling in it. If so you may need a smaller ball/patch combo to start it in the shallow rifling at the muzzle. The conundrum is that at the breech end you'll have a windage problem that will burn patches because of the deep rifling. A lubed .58 cal fiber cushion wad behind the ball will fill the grooves and help prevent patch burn through.

Thanks for the reply and advice. I will have to look for .54 wads?

[rcbloom2]

Did you tell Bobby how you want it rifled? If he did it 54 cal, he may have done it for round balls. I don't have a Mississippi, but shoot a Hoyt lined 1803 Harpers Ferry, 7 groove 1 in 50 twist. It shots 0.530 round balls with 0.010 patches extremely well using 60 gr. of GOEX FF. I dip patches in melted beeswax/olive oil until they stop fizzing and lay them out to cool. Same lube as CW breechloaders. The barrel stays clean and accurate, and you could pick up the patches about 10 yards out and reuse them.

Thanks for the reply and advice. I will have to ask Bobby how he rifled it. Now i have an excuse to have two. One for round balls and one for minies.