1853 enfield curiousity....

[Embalmer]

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??

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[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??

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.

[Embalmer]

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.

[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.