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Parker Hale bullets
Just got 100 swaged bullets for my Parker Hale .58. The maker said that I should try them in .576 instead of .577. Winter is coming fast so I probably will not get a chance to try them. Size should not make any difference.
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11-15-2013 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by
A. F Medic
Size should not make any difference.
... as long as the maker used pure lead!
Any alloying to harden up the lead (or impurities, which have the same effect) will make the obturation very sensitive to powder charge and bullet diameter.
From the size quoted, I guess that the bullets are not paper-patched.
As to the precise size, for best accuracy the lubricated bullet should be a slip fit in the muzzle. It should neither fall down the barrel nor require hammering to get it in. If it goes in easily with thumb pressure and can then be pushed (not driven!) smoothly in one stroke down to sit on the powder without being rammed**, then that should be about right. As the lubricant will tend to be stiffer at colder temperatures, it may well be that you can feel the difference between .576 and .577.
**The trouble with ramming is repeatability - the variation in force produces varying degrees of distortion of the bullet and varying degrees of powder compression. That this produces varying points on impact on the target should be no surprise.
Last edited by Patrick Chadwick; 11-16-2013 at 06:10 AM.
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Hensel made my bullet mould for the Werder according to barrel and chamber castings made by me. I also sent him the last, optimised, original Bavarian official drawings of the bullet. (a) It would interest me to know how Hensel calculated the bullet diametre for the mould? And (b) the cast bullets look nowhere near as perfect as the sized (or swaged) bullets I once purchased for my Mauser M71. Would it be worthwhile getting hold of a sizer?
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The bullets are pure lead. Tried one in the muzzle of the musket and they fit as you described. Thanks!
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Back in the 1990s when I used my Parker-Hale 2 bander in NSSA competition, I used a Lyman 575213-OS (Old Style) minie, sized to .575 in my .577 rifle. I got the best accuracy with 42 grains of GOEX FFg. Of course my bullets were cast of pure lead. With that bullet and load combination, I could shoot cloverleaves at 50 yards from a sandbag rest. YMMV.
The 2/1000 difference between bore diameter and bullet size made the rifle easy to load, and the soft lead skirt on the bullet expanded enough to give the bullet the necessary accuracy.
I tried several other bullets in the Parker-Hale, but none of them performed as well as the Lyman 575213-OS.
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I can get those from my supplier but I am going to wait until I shoot some of the ones I just got. I will try your powder load and also see what happens. My hunting load is 70 grains of Goex FFg.
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Originally Posted by
A. F Medic
I can get those from my supplier but I am going to wait until I shoot some of the ones I just got. I will try your powder load and also see what happens. My hunting load is 70 grains of Goex FFg.
When I was working up the load for my P-H, I started with 40 grains of FFg, and fired a 5-shot group, then on to 42, 44,46, and 48 grains, firing a 5-shot string with each load. I found that the 42 was best by far for my gun. 42 grains of FFg shot a 1 1/2 inch group, while 44 grains of FFg gave me a 4-inch group. I got 4 inch groups with 46 and 48 grain loads also. As I said in my post above, your mileage may vary.
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Originally Posted by
A. F Medic
I can get those from my supplier but I am going to wait until I shoot some of the ones I just got. I will try your powder load and also see what happens. My hunting load is 70 grains of Goex FFg.
70 grains may be too much. The skirt on the Minié ball can get blown out with overly heavy charges and destroy accuracy. Keep in mind that the government charge for the .58 (or .577) rifle musket was 60 grains and proved to have more than enough accuracy and power to effectively put down the most dangerous game on the planet - another armed human being. Conuctor's advice is good as well, a 40 - 45 grain charge pushing a 500 grain bullet like a Lyman 575213 will be easy on the aforementioned Minié's skirts and an effective killer on deer sized game at 50 to 75 yards. That's is about as far as you will want to shoot with open sights anyway, you don't need magnum loads.
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Please let us know who is making swaged musket balls. The Enfield and Parker Hale muskets shoot best with 65 grains of ffg. Under loads will not seat the skirt in the barrel. Those under loads may be all right for 25-50 yards, but a hunting and target shooting load requires 65 gains. As a point of information, original British bullets had no grease grooves. The bullets were just dipped in bees wax/grease.