.577 Parker Hale Musketoon.

[tim56]

Hi Steve, pm sent. Tim

[tim56]

Many Thanks Steve, what lube are you using? Have been out this morning with a couple of mates to fetch one of thems new rifle from Chartris so called
in on another shop near Warboys to have a butchers and what do i spot but a brand new Lyman 577611 mold. Half the price iv seen on the web so sorted.
Have made some up this afternoon so good to go tomorrow. Iv only got wonderlube to hand but would be interested to know what you folks are using?? Tim

[tacfoley]

Many Thanks Steve, what lube are you using? Have been out this morning with a couple of mates to fetch one of thems new rifle from Chartris so called
in on another shop near Warboys to have a butchers and what do i spot but a brand new Lyman 577611 mold. Half the price iv seen on the web so sorted.
Have made some up this afternoon so good to go tomorrow. Iv only got wonderlube to hand but would be interested to know what you folks are using?? Tim

Since the late 1970's I've been using an emulsified hand/skin cream called E45 - I've mentioned it here about 300,000,000 times, but I guess that you somehow missed it.

Being water-based, it not only takes all the crud with it, but washes away easily at the end of the day. I use this when I run out of my more usual ALOX. I really can't be assed to make up my usual gunk, a 50/50 mix of beeswax and neetsfoot oil that sets semi-hard.

To be useable in the Musketoon, the bullet needs to be 1 or 2 thou undersized, so that it loads with thumb-pressure hence the instruction 'thumb a 535gr Minié bullet into the muzzle...'

However, I'm prepared to be corrected, even after shooting my Musketoon since 1976 or so.

tac

[tim56]

Not missed the E45 tip tac, just thought the 577 minnie would want something a bit thicker to fill the grooves. Tried E45 in the .45 Ruger old army
revolver as an over ball lube and it worked ok. The 577 with 60grns of powder under a 530 grn bullet with lube grooves ?? If your telling me you
use it in your musketoon too when you run out of Alox then I'm quite happy to give it a go. Never tried Alox in a muzzle loader but do use it for
all my hard cast bullets in the .357, .303, 44 and the .45/70s. Got loads of the stuff so do you just tumble lube and leave to dry as per hard cast.?
All the Best, Tim.

[tacfoley]

do you just tumble lube and leave to dry as per hard cast.?
All the Best, Tim.

Yup.

tac

[tim56]

Ah well, looks like I'm fated to not use the minnie. Made some bullets up with the new 577611 mold i bought yesterday and had a few
that Steve sent me plus a small amount of my 575213 moulded ones. Started out with 55 grns of Kranks med powder with Steves
bullets and after 4 shots one tumbled making a lovely bullet shaped hole off to the side of the black. Tried my new bullets and my old
ones and got the same result. Upped the charge to approx 70 grns and got the same results. Tumblers!!
So thats 2 rifles, 3 different bullet molds, different lubes and powder make/amounts. Plan is now to give it another good scrub out
and retry the new bullets with a higher charge from the off and if that don't work, I'm going to stick to Patched BALLS.!! Tim

[tacfoley]

Ah well, looks like I'm fated to not use the minnie. Made some bullets up with the new 577611 mold i bought yesterday and had a few
that Steve sent me plus a small amount of my 575213 moulded ones. Started out with 55 grns of Kranks med powder with Steves
bullets and after 4 shots one tumbled making a lovely bullet shaped hole off to the side of the black. Tried my new bullets and my old
ones and got the same result. Upped the charge to approx 70 grns and got the same results. Tumblers!!
So thats 2 rifles, 3 different bullet molds, different lubes and powder make/amounts. Plan is now to give it another good scrub out
and retry the new bullets with a higher charge from the off and if that don't work, I'm going to stick to Patched BALLS.!! Tim

The Musketoon used TWO loads in service.

1. The issue load of 2.5 drams [68gr] in units where the Mustetoon was carried by Sergeants instead of the line-issue three-band rifled musket.

2. The Hythe School of Musketry recommended a reduced load of either 55gr [Sea Service] or 60gr [land service]. Mine works well with as little as 45gr of FFG, and likes 55gr too.

Most Musketoon like the thin-skirt base that the lighter charge is well able to expand.

TBH it's only here that I've ever heard of anybody shooting RPB in a Musketoon, but if that's what works for you, in spite of the shallow rifling not being designed to shoot such a projectile, you may as well stick to it, since you don't appear to shoot it out to 400 and 600 yd like the MLAGB do.

tac