ok......the 1853 58. enfield......

[U.S. Soldier]

sup? been while since i last posted...... heres the deal, im looking at possibly getting a 1853 enfield civil war replica, i really like the way it looks but dont know anything about it...... its a 58, cal, 1:48 twist..... hoping to shoot maxi balls out of it(555 grain) 1;48 stabalize that? and if you have or know anyone who has one what kind of groups could i expect?? i would really like to take it hunting sooooooo ya... i would LIKE to get a 69. repro but ill be damned if i spend a penny over 600 LOL, so any info would be good...... and just how big of a pain is it to clean a barrel close to 40 inches in length?? and has anyone hunted with a 58 before??

[beethoven]

I have a .58 Enfield rifle and an Enfield Musketoon, (24" barrel). Shoot Minie balls in both. 1 inch groups from a rest at 100 yards. Center mass off hand. Havent hunted with either. Make my own paper cartridges from used computer paper. Load 60grs. of triple 7 2f. Noticed a drop in accuracy after  storing loaded cartridges for several months. Mold my own ball from a Lee Minie ball mold.

[Double 30]

Been shootin Yankees with mine for 10 years ( 1st Texas Vol Infy) and have taken a fair number of deer with it too. For a 1-48 twist you need a rifle or musketoon. The rifle musket ( 3 bander) has a 1-78 twist. My Euroarms 3 bander shoots a Lyman 575213OS 460 gr Minie VERY well over 60gr of 3f Swiss lubed with Bore butter. Impact...makes a statement.I havent had luck with solid bas bullets in twist rates this slow. Part of the beauty of the minieball is its not only stabilized by the rifling but its also drag stabilized as well.By that  I mean its weight foward design keeps it true like a lawn dart.BTW greenhill's formula gives a twist rate of 1-48 fron the 1 inch long Lyman but my 1-78 Euroarms barrel drops them inside 3 inches at 100 all day long. Cleaning is no problem at all.A leather patch over the nipple and a few oz. of windshieldwasher fluid and some hoppes to get the last of the gremlins and she's good to go. Takes about 1/2 hour to do a good job.

[dmurphy317]

I'm not sure which version you have but the Armisport 3 band has a twist of 1x1660mm (works out to 1 in 65.3 inches). I've been working on one for a friend and it shoots pretty good with the 555 maxi and 60gr of 3F Goex with a velocity of about 1050fps. If I get a chance to I plan on trying some round ball in it also. His gun was shooting 8" high at 50 yards with the rear sight all the way down so I've added some to the front sight blade to help with that.

The standard service load for the Enfield is 60gr of 2F and either a 620gr minnie or a patched round ball according to Dixie Gun Works. The Armisport manual states a 680gr minnie and 55 to 65 grains of Swiss 2F. That might explain why it was shooting too high.

As for cleaning, ya that barrel is long. What I did is take 2 shotgun 3 peice cleaning rods, take the middle peice out of one of them and insert it in between two of the peices of the other to give me a 4 peice cleaning rod long enough to get all the way down the bore. I used a 20 gauge bore brush to loosen up the fouling and since I don't have a 58 jag, I used a 54 jag with 2 patches on it to swab the barrel clean. Of course you can use the cleaning solvent of your choice to swab with.

The gun is fun to shoot and seems to hold a decent group. It has plenty of power for hunting with the large minnie or maxi bullets or the round balls. Good luck with it.

[filmokentucky]

The service load for the 1853 Enfield rifle-musket was 68 grains (2.5 drams) of powder under a 530 grain Pitchett bullet. A 500 grain .575 Burton style Minie works just as well and is easily available. Or you can buy a mold and cast your own. These guns are very accurate and, even with the low velocity of the standard load, pretty potent. However, for hunting you can load up to 80 grains of FFg without blowing out the skirt on the Minie. At least that has been my experience. This is starting to get into the .45-70 power range but makes a bigger hole. When you factor in the usual range that deer are taken at, this is serious medicine.

Cleaning is no different than any other black powder firearm--the barrel length is not a problem. Enjoy the Enfield--it's one of the best guns available.