I realize that this is a bit OT, but I have a few questions regarding my great granddads 1863 Springfield musket. I’m thinking of taking it out hunting for deer or feral pigs during black powder season this fall and need to know:
What is the proper BP load, or better yet the load range from light to heavy?
The rear sight has three leafs, what range does each leaf represent?
Even though I have some round balls for it, I’m planning on getting some bullet shaped projectiles (mini-balls?) for it. I fired it once back in 1978, point blank at my Spanish textbook, and blew a hole clean through it. At the time I was told to put the ball in my palm and then cover it with BP and that would be a good load. It worked, but in retrospect I’m glad I didn’t blow up the gun.
I moved recently and misplaced my Dixie Gunworks Catalogue (which probably has the load information I need). Anyhow, sorry for the OT but thanks for any help that anyone here can give.

Standard load is about 60 grains 2f and a standard civil war Minie slug would be my choice. The rifling twist is a bit too fast for a roundball.

Well before hunting season I would suggest you do some testing starting with the load recommended above. Minie's IMO are the way to go and you can vary the powder charge until you're right on at 100 yds. with one of the sight settings.
At that point you should be good to go for a primative weapons hunt. Good Luck!
BTW: Did you pass your Spanish class?
Jim

I believe the sights are 100,300,500 yards. It should be marked. 60 grains was the government issued load. 505 grain minie ball. A very lethal weapon!

An excellent use for a Spanish textbook.

In college, a couple classmates and I had a ceremonial book-burning after completing a really vile required course. It was fun.

A guy I knew in the Army has his ancestor's musket, which came home with the ancestor after he was wounded at Vicksburg and stayed in the family ever after. Pretty cool, when you think about it.

Thanks for helping me out with my questions. I used to have an original unfired minie ball, but when we were studying the Civil War I took it to school and lost it (lucky I didn't have the musket then or it probably would've disappeared too). It was sure one big hunk of lead!
As for the Spanish book, math and languages were always my nemesis in college. I passed the Spanish course barely, but the language department decided to use a new textbook so I wasn't able to sell it the next semester. Needless to say I was pissed!
Steve

I have a RCBS 577 Minie ball mould with the hollow base plug for my 3 band Snider. Is that the same bullet as for the Springfield rifle-musket? I also had a repro Parker Hale Musketoon 1863, but that was a brutal pig to shoot with the 577 minie bullets. I was going to have the barrel sleeved to 450, but someone coveted it so I sold it.
I had a Parker Hale 2 band 577 Enfield replica, I should have kept that one, 5 groove rifling and alol. How many grooves did the 58 Springfield have?
Mike

I gave the Springfield some much needed servicing including removing the percussion nipple, breach plug and cleaning the barrel. I'm happy to say the barrel is in good shape with no serious pitting.
Walt, I believe you're correct about the rear sights, the longest leaf has a tiny 5 stamped in the corner (nothing visible on the other two but there is some corrosion...).
Mike, as best as I could tell the barrel has 3 wide shallow rifling grooves.
Apparently my great grandad was a pretty decent shot, there are 3 notches carved into the stock right in front of the trigger guard. He enlisted at the age of 16.
Steve

Truly wonderful to have such a legacy. So was he a damned yankee or a a southern patriot? If you don't already have it, be sure and research his record.

Took mine from its place of honor. Leaves are marked 3 and 5. I have not shot mine for many years but these are accurate weapons with fair accuracy at these distances. We could hit a 2 gallon oil can most ot the time from close to 500 yards.

Hi Walt:

Five hundred yards with this gun and load is unbeliveable.


Good shooting,

Franchi

Hi All y'all,

I finally took the old musket out to the range, of course with cool weather finally here and deer season coming up the place was a zoo. Anyhow, finally got a place on the 100 yard range, took about 10 shots and only hit the target once and then not within the rings. I did manage to stink up the place pretty well. I think I'll go out again mid-week when everyones at work and try again at 50 yards, see where it's shooting anyhow.

I'm not sure if I posted pictures or not so here's a few. God forbid that I would've remembered to bring my camera to the range with me.





Steve

Bring it along when you come out, you can shoot one of my deer tags up....

I took my original M1861 Springfield deer hunting (on the fringe of the Antietam battlefield no less) and with 60gr. FFFg and the traditional Lyman minié killed a deer way too close- at 25 yds. The bullet did a spectacular job. I never saw so much gore from a bullet. My first thought was "My God, they used to shoot people with these things."

Some couple of years back I had the pleasure of shooting an untouched 1864 Springfield. There was a goodly crack through the hand, so I only shot around a half standard powder load with a repro. Minie ball. The groups I shot at 100 yards were deeply satisfying.

Deadly accurate, lightweight and beautifully balanced for offhand shooting, I thought it a real soldiers weapon, a classic.

Lucky old you.

Eug

Just a quick update, I finally made it back out to the range with my musket. I was actually out sighting in another rifle, so I only took three 50 yard shots with the musket.



The shot closest to the center was my first shot, I should have quit while I was ahead LOL . Still, I'm satisfied that I can hit a feral hog at 50 yards with the gun as long as I don't go for a head shot.
Steve

Rockdoc, If the bullets were shot in the condition shown I think you could do a whole lot better with proper lubrication. The grooves need to be filled with lube-a good choice for starters would be SPG lubricant which is specifically designed for blackpowder cartridge rifles. It should work just as well in your muzzleloader. Something of an indicator that you have sufficient lube would be a multipoint star like deposit of lube on the end of the muzzle after shooting. Since your first shot went pretty close to point of aim, the performance of the others may indicate hard fouling building up. A good lube (and enough of it) softens the fouling. After a few shots you should still probably wipe the bore with a damp patch followed by a dry patch to maintain a consistent bore condition for best accuracy. Many shooters wipe between every shot if they are competing.

Jerry,
I know you're an authority on these matters so I'll be sure to pick up the lubricant and follow your advice concerning cleaning the bore. However, in this case I'm not going to blame the gun or the bullets. I've come to realize that my eye-sight ain't even close to what it was when I was younger. Looking down those fuzzy sights at that fuzzy target, I'm amazed I did as well as I did! I was at the range sighting in a Mosin Nagant I purchased recently and equipped with a 2.5X30E long eye relief scope, what a treat to be able to see the sights and target and not just a fuzzy blur. This aging business sucks!
Steve

Jerry is right. I have shot quite a lot with my musket and the proper minie fit and lubricant are very important. I found about 50 gr. of FFFG right for mine as I believe it expanded the minie better tha FFG.

Now Steve, you ain't near as old as the Springfield so you're the youngster. Agree with Jerry. If you are in a rush find some thick lube--non petroleum. I mix a Wonderlube type stuff half 'n half with beeswax. Thick enough to stay in the bullet bands but still works well. A good lube serves TWO important functions: (1) it helps to keep the fouling soft, and (2) since lube will not compress--it's a "liquid"--it transfers energy up from the base to help the entire bullet to obturate into the bore, thereby sealing it from gas blowby. I think this second function is most often overlooked. It is why the bands should be fully filled.

Also, are you shooting a hollow based Minie or solid base? If hollow based be sure not to load too heavily and that the bullet's skirt is fully formed and without defect. I prefer solid based.

I shot a ton of long range Black Powder Cartridge matches, and thousands of rounds through 45/120 an 50 Sharps. LUBE is important...I know we are talking about a front loader here but the principle i s the same...Even variations in the thickness of the paper patch affect akkuracy....

If you suspect the bore is a little rough or has some leading built up, wrap a piece of green scotchbrite around your ramrod and lube with some borecleaner. Use to really scrub the bore. The scotchbrite will not hurt your barrel does a good job of cleaning up. I use it regularly as required on my muzzleloader. Learned this from a well known maker of muzzleloading barrels.

Steve - Take Jerry's advice and lube those mini's grooves!

You'll be glad you did, the groups will be much tighter and the fouling will not be as much of a problem as it is now, which is also messing with your groups.

Taking it hunting, let alone bagging a deer, is a wonderful show of respect, both to the gun AND your ancestor. Might as well do it up as right as you can.

Best - Marc

The rifling twist in your musket most likely is 1x72 inches, which is also a standard round ball twist for the caliber. Rifle muskets can be made to shoot round balls very well. The trick seems to be using relatively large ball diameters, say .570" to .575", and relatively thin patches of approximately .010" to .015". It is also usually a good idea not to use patch lubes that are too "slick. Appropriate powder charges for round ball loads for these guns can be found in practically any good book on muzzle loading. Many round ball matches have been won using one of these old war horses, so loaded.

If you truly want to shoot Minies, I recommend that you start with Lee's target "ash can" bullet. These bullets cast relatively easily for Minie bullets (which might not be saying much), they shoot accurately even with powder charges as heavy as 60 grains of Ffg, they punch nice clean holes in paper targets, and they strike like the hammer of Thor at normal black powder hunting ranges. Another bullet to consider is the Lee R.E.A.L. bullet. These bullets are much easier to cast than Minies and they can be made to shoot accurately, especially when a wad is placed between the bullet and the powder charge. This having been said, it is doubtful that any conical bullet will shoot much, if any, more accurately or kill any more effectively than a properly loaded round ball can.

The minie ball has a better ballistic coefficient than a round ball. Which made it better for shooting at people at longer ranges, and statistically better for shooting deer up close (much heavier than a ball) but probably not much better.

If my memory isn't too faulty, I believe that the accuracy standard for Minie rifles like your Springfield was to place 60-70% of shots on a 6'x6' target at 500 yards...the area that a field piece occupied. These rifle-muskets were supremely accurate...when compared to the smoothbored muskets that they replaced. You should be using pure lead in those bullets, and a good lube. SPG has been mentioned, it's an excellent choice but a bit expensive for the big grease grooves on your bullets. When I was competing in Civil War Skirmish Association matches, I used a 50-50 mix of beeswax and Crisco. It worked well in my rifles, but was a bit stiff in colder weather.

David