Why 60 Grains?

[Walkabout]

Why were Civil War muskets typically charged with only 60 grains of powder? Conserve powder? Accuracy? Recoil?

 

[Phil Coffins]

Effective.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

It was all that was needed! I used to shoot my Zouave with 50-60 gr max it it shot wonderfully.

 

[tenngun]

Penetration test were done at long ranges, and the 60 grain charge could pass through 4” of pine at long range.
Unlike deer hunting you don’t need a hit in the kill zone on a battle field. A leg or arm wound is effective at removing the threat.
I think cost at least was a factor.
Even a ten grain increase equaled a pound extra per round for a regiment.
But, importantly minnie had thin skirts, going very high, 90 grains or so can blow the skirt, and any accuracy vanished

 

[bang]

60 grains would properly spread the mini ball skirt and deliver enough velocity that the projectile weight would cause massive damage and trauma.
My Zouave shoots a mini ball very well at 65 grains for the skirt my mold makes.
Too much powder and the skirt will expand too much causing drag and walk.

 

[hanshi]

When one considers the massive casualties during the War of Northern Aggression, the combo did everything that needed doing in battle. I had a Zouave decades ago that shot just fine with minies and 60 grains of powder..

 

[Walkabout]

Considering most .50 cal hunting loads are probably at least 70 grains, 60 in a .58 cal seems pretty light to me. Apparently it did the trick, though.

 

[Snake Pleskin]

Considering most .50 cal hunting loads are probably at least 70 grains, 60 in a .58 cal seems pretty light to me. Apparently it did the trick, though.

I think most people use way more than is necessary. IMHO

 

[Rifleman1776]

Considering most .50 cal hunting loads are probably at least 70 grains, 60 in a .58 cal seems pretty light to me. Apparently it did the trick, though.

Patched round ball and minie are completely different animules. Others have stated the CW musket did not need more powder and the minie performed very well with the 60 gr. charge.

 

[LME]

Why were Civil War muskets typically charged with only 60 grains of powder? Conserve powder? Accuracy? Recoil?

I read where under certain circumstances 40 grains were used. It is hard to get accurate information some times. I have read respected authors that made mistakes. You may wonder how I know they were wrong? It is easy they were talking about my G.G. Grandfather and I have his records.

 

[PastorB]

My original 1861 rifled muskets (1 Springfield and 1 Colt Special, both mfg. 1862) shoot wonderfully well with a 60 grain charge and a traditionally styled Minie of 510 grains, sized to .580. They both print about 8"-9" high at 100 yards, which was probably the intent to maximize point blank range on a man sized target. They are at zero around 150 yards, and about 18" low at 200 yards. Muzzle velocity is 950fps-1025fps, depending upon powder and granulation. I use mine hunting, and they shoot right thru deer size game with no problems. 60 grains it what the developers of the weapon system found to be most effective, after a lot of testing and research.

 

[dave951]

Back in the day, the Ordnance Dept did a lot of testing. They found the 69cal minies were the most accurate v the 58cal but the recoil was such that troops would avoid pulling the trigger or flinch like crazy. They found the 58cal was most efficient with 60g of our 2f equivalent and provided acceptable combat accuracy.

 

[Buckskinquin]

I visited a museum at an arsenal in Watervliet, NY. They used young boys and girls to produce the 60 grain/minie ball charges for the Union Army. One of the women was I viewed later in life, they worked 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week and found the girls had better dexterity in making the charges. I find grains plenty with PRB or Minie.

 

[springfield art]

Why were Civil War muskets typically charged with only 60 grains of powder? Conserve powder? Accuracy? Recoil?

They did lots of testing. That's what they came up with.

 

[springfield art]

BTW, many target shooters like in the N-NSA find that 40 grains is really accurate in rifled muskets.

 

[tenngun]

I think most people use way more than is necessary. IMHO

Often historic loads are light.
It was written about often digging ball out of deer, and much hunting was done with what we would think as too small a caliber.
Colt .31 pocket pistol was considered a good self defense gun.

 

[oldwood]

Shot a big doe , face on , just below where the throat intersects with the body of the deer. Was using 70 gr. FFG. Found the minie stalled 17" through the right side of the spine in the pork chops. She died instantly.

 

[Dave Fox]

Believe well into the war Union ordnance studies resulted in U.S. made .58 caliber cartridges' powder charge being increased to 65 grains. Enfield cartridges contained about 68 grains as a general rule. As stated above, exhaustive testing found these charges to be the optimum compromise of several factors.

 

[Bad Karma]

Considering most .50 cal hunting loads are probably at least 70 grains, 60 in a .58 cal seems pretty light to me. Apparently it did the trick, though.

It is relatively light but then it did what was required and then some. The minie ball can be cast with thicker skirts to accommodate heavier charges so if they chose, the Armies of the world could have standardized at 90, 100 grains, or even more. But it wasn’t necessary. A heavy bullet at modest velocity penetrates very well, doesn’t waste a lot of powder, and doesn’t beat the soldier to pieces in the process.

 

[dave951]

In the discussion of light v heavy charges in relation to the minie bullet. The design of the bullet will dictate what amount of powder is best. If the skirts are thin, too much powder will ruin accuracy as will too little. The minie was designed to operate in a pressure range. Stray outside of it and all accuracy bets are off.