1853 enfield curiousity....

[Matt Wolff]

Anyone else fire a 53 enfield live?? I fire my 61, 63 springfield alot, as well as my 1859 sharps (all repros) and when firing they all seem to fire pretty straight. But the enfield, seems to have a big arch upto the first 50 yards before straighting out. Anyone else notice such a behavior with them?? :dunno:

[A. F Medic]

Anyone else fire a 53 enfield live?? I fire my 61, 63 springfield alot, as well as my 1859 sharps (all repros) and when firing they all seem to fire pretty straight. But the enfield, seems to have a big arch upto the first 50 yards before straighting out. Anyone else notice such a behavior with them?? :dunno:

I am certainly no expert on that but I have a Parker Hale 1858 that was driving me nuts! At 25 yards, consistant hitting in the black. At 100 yards the minnie ball dropped a foot or more.

Tried different powder charges up and down but little change. Finally went to a custom minnie ball and kept the charges around 60 grains. The bullet still dropped but hit consistent at 100 yards.

My next step to happen is that I am going to have to shave the front sight down very little at a time. That should bring the impact up but I was also told by a Civil War reenactor that the Enfield was sensitive to face placement on the stock. Much like the release point on a bow on your chin or side of your lip.

Have not done that yet but will try consistent face placement on the stock and then work with a file on the front sight.

It is very possible that your arch is normal for the weapon as all bullets from any weapon do have a curve. You are firing a 500 grain bullet and it may need that arc to have the bottom part of the arc to coincide with your target.

If there are any other ideas out there, I would like to hear about them.

[Matt Wolff]

I know theres supposed to be some arch, but compared to the springfield and sharps, its like almost2-3X of it.

[langoley]

Rapine makes a 315 wadcutter mold that shoots great in either the enfield or the springfield!!Start out at 35-40 gr. of 3fffg.

[TA6319]

I tried someones p53 at 50m loaded with 2 1/4 drams of course black powder it shot high. When we tried 1 dram it shot slightly left of centre.
Another member who was near at the time who shoots one a lot said he uses 1 dram for upto 100m. Bear in mind these where designed to be used at a lot longer distances, hence the heavier powder loads

[Jim]

I tried someones p53 at 50m loaded with 2 1/4 drams of course black powder it shot high. When we tried 1 dram it shot slightly left of centre.
Another member who was near at the time who shoots one a lot said he uses 1 dram for up to 100m. Bear in mind these where designed to be used at a lot longer distances, hence the heavier powder loads I'm not familiar with metric measures so can't say how "dram" compares to "grains," but original War Between the States loadings were not high at all averaging between 65-70 grains ffg black powder. Excess powder is wasteful and creates more fouling. In target shooting, I generally used 70gr ffg black powder. That was not with an original however. I have a first generation Parker~Hale repro. I have heard it said these are about as close to original as can be had in a repro. I cannot swear that this is correct though. But to return to the subject, I too experienced a high arch having to hold 8"-10" low at about 50 yards with it being pretty much spot on at 100. I have not had many opportunities to shoot at greater ranges but the poi held pretty true to sight adjustments out to 300 yards (I couldn't actually create a 'group' at 300yd/m but most of the shots at least hit the paper.)

[Smokey60]

I have a 53 model Parker Hale and I have no troubles dropping a whitetail at 100 yards. Rounds go where aimed. I use 60 grains of ffg Goex powder and a .58 cal Minie ball.:dancingbanana:

[jmoore]

I've an original Sergeant's rifle Enfield which shoots pretty much to point of aim at the 100yd sight setting when the front sight top is even w/ the top of the rear sight. (It does require holding the front sight to the left side of the "V", but it's no big deal.) Powder charge is 60-70 gr ffg, and the bullets are garden variety Minie balls of 0.577" dia. 0.575" Minie balls aren't as accurate. It shoots a bit high closer in, but not enough to worry about when deer hunting.

[TA6319]

[/B] I'm not familiar with metric measures so can't say how "dram" compares to "grains," but original War Between the States loadings were not high at all averaging between 65-70 grains ffg black powder. Excess powder is wasteful and creates more fouling. In target shooting, I generally used 70gr ffg black powder. That was not with an original however. I have a first generation Parker~Hale repro. I have heard it said these are about as close to original as can be had in a repro. I cannot swear that this is correct though. But to return to the subject, I too experienced a high arch having to hold 8"-10" low at about 50 yards with it being pretty much spot on at 100. I have not had many opportunities to shoot at greater ranges but the poi held pretty true to sight adjustments out to 300 yards (I couldn't actually create a 'group' at 300yd/m but most of the shots at least hit the paper.)


1 dram = 27.3 or 27.6 grains I cant remember which:(

[conductor]

[/B] I'm not familiar with metric measures so can't say how "dram" compares to "grains," but original War Between the States loadings were not high at all averaging between 65-70 grains ffg black powder. Excess powder is wasteful and creates more fouling. In target shooting, I generally used 70gr ffg black powder. That was not with an original however. I have a first generation Parker~Hale repro. I have heard it said these are about as close to original as can be had in a repro. I cannot swear that this is correct though. But to return to the subject, I too experienced a high arch having to hold 8"-10" low at about 50 yards with it being pretty much spot on at 100. I have not had many opportunities to shoot at greater ranges but the poi held pretty true to sight adjustments out to 300 yards (I couldn't actually create a 'group' at 300yd/m but most of the shots at least hit the paper.)

Wow! 70 grains of FFg in a Parker-Hale!? I shoot a 1970s vintage Parker-Hale in N-SSA competition, and use 44 grains of Goex FFg behind a Lyman 575213 Old Style minie. I can get 4 inch groups at 100 yards from a rest. When I go up to the standard Civil War load of 60 grains, the group opens up to about 6 inches, and the recoil in much more noticable. Unless you're using it for hunting, you might try reducing your load a bit.

[A. F Medic]

I have a 53 model Parker Hale and I have no troubles dropping a whitetail at 100 yards. Rounds go where aimed. I use 60 grains of ffg Goex powder and a .58 cal Minie ball.:dancingbanana:

I too have a PH in .58cal. (.577) I experienced some of the same problems mentioned. SN 2203.

I removed the barrel and it has 2 1/4 drams of black powder. I do not know if that is max or reccomended.

Anyways, I ordered a bunch of bullets of different types from a man who makes them and also swags them. I do not have the name handy but can get it.

At twenty five yards, the bullets are crowding the same hole. At fifty, there is a slight climb. At one hundred yards, I have a one to three foot drop. I had to put extra paper on the target frame to find the low impact holes.

I believe that I was using the 2 1/4 drams or 61 grains of two F. Prodex

The I tried more powder up to 90 grains but all I got was a sore shoulder off the rest. Then I tried cutting back the powder (military load) but I do not believe there was much change.

My rifle looks like it has a different front sight maybe put on by the original owner . It does look high.

I am now going to stick with the 60 grains and will try filing the sight down a tad at a time. I will let the forum know how it goes. I am going to use the Minie Ball .

I may go to straight black powder as that was what the weapon was designed for.

If it is sensitive to cheek placement, I am going to try one placement position and try to keep it that way. I have not used the rifle during Pa's deer season as I did not want to wound a deer since it is very hard to track them in the red fall foilage.

If you need a conversion table for anything, please keep this site handy...

http://www.convert-me.com/en/

[Andy Mac]

I shoot a Parker Hale .577 navy 2 band.I use a RCBS mould #82103 sized to .001 under, with 55 gn of swiss no2 up to 100 yards.Mine likes a soft grease.At 50 yards it shoots point of aim with the back sight flat down.At 100 yards i have to slide the sight up the ramp between 500 & 600 (not straight up the ladder)but it gets a 4"ish group.Some people shoot them upto 600 yards with 70 gn of swiss no3 or 4.Sometimes the barrel needs rebedding in the repros,the lock touches the barrel and sometimes there is nothing under the tang.