OT Rifled Musket Accuracy

[RustyJr]

Does anyone have any experiance with the reproduction civil war era rifled muskets. I was curious as to accuracy in terms of deer hunting. Power would be no concern but I'm not sure how accurate they are.


Thanks,
RustyJr

[2ndovc]

I had a Euro Arms .58 cal Musketoon that I got from one of the guys here.

I let a friend talk me out of it for a season and I can't get it back!

If I remeber right I put five rounds into an inch at 50 yrds.
And it was Super Fun!!

I'm going to replace it as son as possible. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed having it
until my "friend" wouldn't give it back!!


jb

[aragornelessar86]

I've got a .58 1863 Springfield replica and a Hawken replican in .50, and from my experience patched balls are much more accurate than minie balls. Could be the set trigger on the Hawken that makes the difference though. *shrug* In either case they're pretty accurate. I honestly can't remember having ever missed with my Hawken, and I've shot out to as much as 200 yards with it. Granted I was shooting a pie plates, but still...

[86er]

My Zouave .58 caliber will put 3 conicals into the 5 1/2" round black circle at 50 yds with no trouble and will often keep them at least touching the black circle at 100 yds.

[Cliff]

Most rifled muskets were made with very slow rifling twists such as 1-72. I found on my Parker Hale 1853 English made I got best accuracy using a 350 minie, with abour 40 grains. A patched round ball did better. I also have a Navy Arms Zouave, with a Bill Large barrel with a 1-60 twist using round ball and 90 grains powder will cluster two inches at 100 yards. For a minie ball (500 grain or thereabouts) I have to drop it down to grains or less. I do have a Thompson Center Hawken from 1971 which will shoot round balls inside 4 inches at 100 yrds and the T.C. Maxi bullet can be made to cut a big ragged hold at 100 yards, but to get there have to use a large charge and recoil is stiff. John Baird, Bill Large and others always claimed the minie bullet was never exploited or worked on to see how accurate they could be made to shoot. Baird had some barrels made up just to use with minie bullets best he found was a .69 caliber with a 1-30 twist with the minie bullet just .003 undersized in the bore. Would shoot into an inch at 100 yards. Don't know what charge he developed. Biggest problem with most minie's and large powder charges was blowing out the skirt. Lyman's Blackpowder book had some good High Speed pictures of what happens when the bullets leave the barrel. Most replica rifled muskets seem to shoot best with moderate (low) loads. Still hit with a good thump. Good Luck and enjoy the experience.