Matt85 said:
Viking78 said:
To my knowledge the only Minié rifle with options for windage adjustment is the Pedersoli replica of the German Model 1857 Würtembergischen vereinsgewehr. Although never issued during the American Civil War and only available in .54 caliber, this rifle is the preferred Minié rifle among today's European target shooters. Here's a link to it on
Pedersoli's website.
i dunno how i missed this rifle, thats exactly what im looking for. i dont really care what caliber the rifle is as long as its designed to fire minies accurately.
it appears dixie carries them but they are freaking expensive! also strangely enough dixie has it listed with a 1-48 twist while pedersoli lists 1-55. also kinda funny that dixie recomends using a .535 patched round ball... but says right before it that the rifling is onley .006" deep.
Hello Matt,
for a lot people here, the fun is in getting there more than being there. This means take your time and try everything in system.
You have many more variables in ML than you do in a “regular” rifle. The charge, grease, projectile, weather are just some of them.
Here is what I’ve found out works the best to start”¦in order of importance.
Minie: It has to fit very tightly down the Barrel when it is greased. This means you have sized all your Minie’s first, for the first couple of times you are shooting they are also weighed +/- 1 grain.
Charge: with your prepared Minie’s, weigh your charge and put them in prepared powder tubes. 6 charges of 45 grains, 6 charges 50 grains etc. up to about 70 grains.
Target: for every 5-6 shots of one size charge, change the target. You will see at some time the group will close and then open again when comparing the targets later. When you have found the two closest groupings, your final charge size will be between these.
Grease: play around with that later.
Distance: start at 50 yards”¦when you have your groupings (bench rest) down to 2-3 inches, then think about 100 yards.
If the Minie doesn’t fit (too small) its like shooting a ball bearing out of a garden hose..it will go somewhere, but probably not where you want.
When the groupings are like you want, everything is all figured out”¦.then take a look at where the grouping/sight picture should be. If the rifle shoots to the right/left/up/down, find a quality rifle maker, call him, and tell him what you want”¦tuning.
Do you really think that when these rifles were being made and sold to the Military, no one took the time to also sell the Military proper munitions (and how long did it take ti figure that out?) and the Rifle’s weren’t tuned for “Dog and Pony Show” so long well known in the Military history?
You’ve bought the rifle off the shelf, mass produced, with some rough information (loading)”¦.now tune your load, then your rifle, then go to freehand shooting”¦.it works, it takes time and a little money”¦and lots of patience.
:thumbsup: