1864 Springfield/lube job?

[Mark Daiute]

I just picked up a cut down Springfield Rifle Musket for 60 bucks. Excellent bore, everything else was nice except for the poor rifle getting cut down. After replacing the front site I have $100.00 in the rifle. I rubbed Lyman's "Black Gold" lube into the cannalures and shot a half dozen rounds. All indications are that this will be a fun rifle to shoot as well as a deadly weapon to hunt with. I've been shooting muskets for thirty years. The minnieball/rifle is a new animal to me.

How do you rifled musket shooters lube your minnieballs?

Thanks,

Mark

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[Teleoceras]

Mark:

I just picked up a cut down Springfield Rifle Musket for 60 bucks. Excellent bore, everything else was nice except for the poor rifle getting cut down. After replacing the front site I have $100.00 in the rifle. I rubbed Lyman's "Black Gold" lube into the cannalures and shot a half dozen rounds. All indications are that this will be a fun rifle to shoot as well as a deadly weapon to hunt with. I've been shooting muskets for thirty years. The minnieball/rifle is a new animal to me.

How do you rifled musket shooters lube your minnieballs?

I use SPR lube on my Minies. I've had pretty good results with it with my Parker Hale P53 Enfield. I had used wonderlube originally, but that stuff was a bit messy during the Summer. SPR is sold in sticks that can be quickly rubbed into the grooves of the Minies.

[MEHavey]

NSSA here:

1 part Lyman Alox (salami-sliced from their usual Lubrisizer/hollow tubes of the stuff at gun shops.)
1 part Beeswax (get at block of it at bigger arts`n craft/hobby stores.)
4 parts Crisco.
(Alternately 1 part 50/50 Alox/Beeswax from a lubrizer tube + 2 part Crisco)
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=632694
Melt together in a 1 cup metal measuring cup on the stove until "just" liquid.
(After that, just leave it in the cup/thow it into the fridge `til the next time -- keeps forever.)

Ring up and get some QuickLoad tubes in .577 from these guys
540 888-3595 Winchester Sutler Page for Civil War reenactors to safely learn to load and shoot and cleaning your civil war musket and/or revolver

Pour 50-60gr of 2F black into the tube, insert the Minnie ball into the tube upside down to where the grease grooves are all that show, then dunk the bullet/grease grooves into the melted lube and set aside on a pieplate to cool/solidify.

Pull the bullet with your teeth; pour the powder into the muzzle from the tube/drop it to the ground; insert bullet and ram home. Nothing simpler.

You got yourself everything needed to go have a good (and messy) time.
(And your house always smells like beeswax)

[Embalmer]

Ive always used bore butter, but is horrible on warm days as it turns to liquid. BP fun to shoot, but hands and around mouth can be black as night by time your done (I roll civilwar era type cartridges)

[threepdr]

I'm also a NSSA shooter. I use a homemade concoction of 3 parts beef tallow to one part bees wax. Very similar to the wartime recipie and it works great.

I bought some beef suet from the butcher, rendered it down and poured it through a tea strainer to get the solids out then melted the bees wax in it. After it had cooled a bit I poured it into paper cupcake holders in a cupcake pan and let them harden up. I think I have enought to last about 5 years now. I store the cakes in the freezer util needed.

To lube the bullet I just remelt a little and dip the grooved end of the bullet in it.

The loading tubes mentioned before work great. One note, if you are making loads for hunting, put the bullet in base first. That will protect the lube in the grooves and keep stuff from sticking to it. For target work, load point down. Faster to get the bullet out, but you don;t have to worry as much about trash sticking to your lube.

[william]

Back to the top of the question- I also have a "cut down" 1864 Springfield who's barrel is cut to 34" and the forearm of the stock cut to a more modern length stopping (with brass cup) 23" from the muzzle. Front sight is an imperceptible soldered bump and the rear sight is missing with it's Dove tail filled in with a contoured slug.

The story I got was-- Many of these were turned into "fowling pieces" to supply the west bound crowd with a meat gun. The bores being machined to smooth bore. The stock appears to be stained oak with no marks, names or anything. Rumor has it they were forsale in the wards catalog as late as 1901. If anyone has the real facts- please post.

[musketshooter]

The "story" you heard is pretty close. They are Bannerman type aftermarket guns. There are many commercial ads from the turn of the last century where they are advertised for $1.50 as shotguns. They were also made on many foreign CW muskets. Some of the 69 cal muskets were reamed out to 12 ga. It is true that many wound up going west for shooting grouse along the way. The government NEVER made or issued 20 ga muzzle loading shotguns. Mark: You will have great fun hunting with it. I have killed several deer with my cut-down musket. By the way, Hodgdon and Lyman used to make mini lube and you may find it at gun shows. It works just fine and can be wiped in the grooves of the bullet by hand or applied with a squeeze tip dispenser.