Minie Balls and EuroArms 1861 Springfield

[Itchy Triggerfinger]

I bought a used unfired 1861 Springfield and shot Minie Balls thru it with 777 and 60 grain load of FFFg Kik Black Powder.  When I shot at 50 yards the 777 was not very consistant, but I could shoot a 5" group with the black. 

When I went to 100 yards I could not even tell where the bullets were hitting they were all over the place.  I wrote this on another wire and had a guy say he had the same experiance.  He already tried what I was going to try the Lee Wadcutter like Modern Minie.  He said the original Minie worked the best.  He sold his gun after 6 months.

What am I doing wrong?  I cleaned between every three shots.  I used bore butter as a lube.  I tried putting a patch below the Minie.

If it is the gun, what Minie Ball period correct Union front stuffer do I look at?

Itchy

[Angel_Eyes]

I had a similar experience with my Euroarms 1858 2-band Enfield.

1. I found that the only way to make it accurate was to use the thinnest walled hollow based Minie bullet you can cast without  rupturing the walls. (see item 3.) Always size the bullet for consistency.

2. I tried to duplicate the original hollow base wooden plug ( the theory being that the plug was forced into the hollow base to spread the walls into the rifling) but with minimal success. Some people try a blob of grease to hydraulically do the same thing.

3. I altered a mold by making it deeper and thinner (larger base plug for the mold) to the extent that the charge separated the skirt from the bullet, so you can go too far in the search for the perfect bullet.

Being an inveterate tinkerer, I consider all this to be an essential part of shooting these antique style arms , so as the Chief said to Josey Wales, " endeavor to persevere".

Angel Eyes

[Pitspitr]

Itchy
I have an original 1861. It shoots pretty well with Hornady's minnies and 60 gr. of Goex 2f. Don't know if the same load would work in a repro, but it'd give you something of a baseline to compare to.

[Frenchie]

Itchy, here's something that may have some tips you can use. I haven't had the chance to do these things yet, but I hope to sometime. How to convert a repro rifle musket to a true Minié system rifle musket

[Pitspitr]

I just thought of another possible problem. If you are casting your own minnies be sure to use soft lead. With WW's the skirts are to hard to upset into the rifling.