I have been thinking of having a mould made that is as similar as possible to the original Enfield Metford-Prichett bullet for paper patching. It is going to be made for muskets with the 1 in 78" twist, i.e. the original P-53 and P-56/P-58 Bar-on-Band Army Short Rifles, but also repro .58 muskets with 1 in 78" to 1 in 66" twist, such as the Zouave, Springfield and Richmond muskets. Most shooters using the rifles with the faster 1 in 48" twist use notably heavier bullets with shallower hollow base so my planned bullet is to be a tad shorter than the original Pritchett and possibly it will have a deeper hollow base compared to the original.
As many of you are aware of, the bullet used in the Enfield rifle muskets was .568" in diameter (naked) and 1.05" long to begin with, but in 1858 the diameter was decreased to .55" producing a slightly longer 1.09" bullet. (Hawes, Arthur B.: Rifle Ammunition). I have chosen the .568" diameter because I'm not planning on going to war with it.
Here's my sketch for a bullet (not final yet, it is nose pour so a meplat will be added to the nose):
If someone is interested in this mould I'm going to have Lee make me one. If I order 25 or more the price will be about $25 + shipping. It would be pretty period correct for a Enfield rifle musket used in the Civil War.
As many of you are aware of, the bullet used in the Enfield rifle muskets was .568" in diameter (naked) and 1.05" long to begin with, but in 1858 the diameter was decreased to .55" producing a slightly longer 1.09" bullet. (Hawes, Arthur B.: Rifle Ammunition). I have chosen the .568" diameter because I'm not planning on going to war with it.
Here's my sketch for a bullet (not final yet, it is nose pour so a meplat will be added to the nose):
If someone is interested in this mould I'm going to have Lee make me one. If I order 25 or more the price will be about $25 + shipping. It would be pretty period correct for a Enfield rifle musket used in the Civil War.