Pritchett bullet ?

[kyron4]

Watched a short documentary on the British Enfield 1853 rifle and they talked in depth about the paper patched Pritchett bullet used by the British as an alterative to the Minnie ball of the time. Made into paper cartridges, the smooth sided hollow based bullet had a lubed paper patch that was said to load so easy the weight of the ramrod only could seat the bullet and fouling was very minimal. Another odd feature was the bullets were swaged and not poured, not sure if swaging was common practice for the time.

Is this type of loading in common use by todays black powder shooters ? Were there downsides to this bullet ? Didn't sound like it caught on or was used by other nations. Just thought it was interesting and wondered if anyone here had used them or knows more about it. Carry on.

 

[tjiann]

I make the cartridges and shoot them in my two 3-band Enfields and musketoon. They are fun to make. There are a bunch of videos on the history and design of the cartridge and its use by the British and later the confederates during the Civil War. Go to Papercartridges.com. Brett Gibbons is a foremost expert and has a books and videos on the subject. He also sells the Boxer-Pritchett bullets and cartridges.

 

[tjiann]

Here's a photo from my desk where I assemble the cartridges. I cast the .550 Boxer-Pritchett bullets from a NOE mold, make fired clay plugs from NOE plug mold, and make the paper cartridges using the Forth Armoury dowels/templates.

 

[rmark]

The English Cartridge: Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket Ammunition Paperback​

by Brett Gibbons (Author)

probably has all you need to know and more

 

[RAEDWALD]

Here's a photo from my desk where I assemble the cartridges. I cast the .550 Boxer-Pritchett bullets from a NOE mold, make fired clay plugs from NOE plug mold, and make the paper cartridges using the Forth Armoury dowels/templates.

How do you cope with shrinkage on firing the clay plugs formed in the mould? What clay and at what temperature do you fire them?

 

[tjiann]

I use this low fire clay I got from Amazon. I put the mold with clay plugs in toaster oven at I believe around 400 degrees for a half an hour, then dump the dried clay plugs into an old soup can with a wire handle on it. I repeat this until I have the desired number made, then put the soup can/plugs in my fire pit surrounded by charcoal while I'm casting the lead bullets.

 

[Muley Gil]

The North-South Skirmish Association bans the use of patched bullets for competition. IIRC, this was due to burning patches being a fire hazard.

 

[Whitworth]

I guess you could call cylindrical Whitworth bullets Pritchett bullets too due to the lack of grooves. YMMV