Parker Hale .577 Enfield rifle

Big Brian · January 8, 2012, 07:05 PM

I have just purchased one of these rifles but I have no info on the size of the Minie ball mould to use in it. Do you use the 575-472m or the oversize 578-478m, mould? do you use a patch? and can you use a round ball instead.
Can any one help???

Hawg · January 8, 2012, 07:36 PM

It should use the .575 but if the bore is .580 it will take the .577, A minie should be .001- .003 under bore size and should slide easily down the bore. No patches with a minie. I lube mine in the grooves but some fill the base with lube instead. You can use a patched round ball but it's harder to work up a load. The original service load for U.S. troops was 60 grains of powder with a minie, C.S. troops used 65 grains or for the most part 60 grain loads taken from northern troops.

I use 70 grains of Pyrodex.

Big Brian · January 9, 2012, 06:17 PM

Thank you for the quick reply, the rifle is designated as .577 not .58 - I have found that Lee does a .575-472M minie ball mould here, so I think I will just go for that.
I also use pyrodex in my .45 kentucky rifle and Le Page pistol but we normally use volume for volume, ie the same flask spout for both Pyrodex and BP. which actually reduces the weight of the Pyrodex by about a third but giving the same accuracy at 50 and 100 yards as BP. Thing is Pyrodex is a lot more expensive than BP. in the UK.
This enfield will be used for paper target shooting, not hunting so is it possible to down load any? and if so by how much? bearing in mind that I will only be shooting at a max distance of 200 yards.

Hawg · January 9, 2012, 07:44 PM

Pyrodex should never be measured by weight. It's a straight across volume to volume substitute for bp. With that big heavy minie I doubt you're going to do well with much under 60 grains by volume. I use 70 in mine and it's pretty accurate out to 300 but I haven't shot it much past that. I did hit a steel four inch pipe marking a pipe line at 1000 once but I doubt I could do it again. Especially banking it off the ground like that.

bedbugbilly · January 9, 2012, 09:49 PM

+1 to everything Hawg said . . . even if it does have a "southern slant".

I think that the only reason his kinfolk had "Union Cartridges" was because my kinfolk were a trapsing through the neighborhood and got careless and dropped some on the ground?

All kidding aside - Hawg has given you some good advice.

When I was shooting NSSA, i just filled the base of the minie with Crisco. You are going to really like that Enfield. I never owned one, but I shot a friend's during a 1,000 meter shoot we had one time up in Camp Grayling in Michigan. We were shooting on the 1,000 meter machine gun range with knock down targets that automatically popped up after being knocked down.

I have no doubt that Hawg can probably hit very well at 300 yards and beyond. With practice, you'll learn the elevation you need. We were shooting 60 grain service loads and were standing in rifle pits where we could rest the rifle over a blanket. During the shoot, I couldn't help but think of what it must have been like to be out on pickett duty and taking long range shots at the enemy. If i remember correctly, the targets were about 18" X 36". I did pretty well up to about 500 yards and after that, was able to hit a few at 700 yards after I figured out the cross wind. At 1,000 yards, they had a cut out of a full size horse out of 3/8 steel. I shot a number of rounds at that but only hit it once and if I remember correctly, I had to aim quite a distance above it. One of the fellows had a 44 Henry though and he hit the horse consistently - truly something to watch. U have no doubt that with some practice, Hawg would hit at 1,000 yards after the elevation and widage was figured out.

As Hawg mentioned, you can use a round ball and a patch but my experience with doing that was not too good. Most of these rifles have a shallower (if there is such a word?) rifling than a typical round ball barrel and usually they had a three land/groove rifling. In my case, I had a Remington Zouave I wanted to try it in for round ball deer hunting. The balls I had were .575 and my bore miked out at about .582 - .584. I tried a number of patching thicknesses and finally just gave up and used a custom built .54 Hawken that I'd made to hunt with.

I've shot a number of rifled muskets - originals and repros - the Enfield, Remington Zouave, Mississippi Rifle, '61 & 63 models and by far, the Enfield was my favorite. As Hawg mentioned, 60 grains was the standard load (Union) and that's what usually worked well in my rifles. Play with your loads and you'll soon find out what works best for you. Keep us posted on how you like it and how it shoots.

Hawg - I've heard and read about the difference in the service loads between the N and S - I also know that the south was forced to go to the extremes of collecting niter from outhouses, etc. to produce gunpowder. I've never read anything about the standard service load for the south at the beginning of the war but I would have to believe that since the Southern Army had many former Northern officers, etc. that their loads would have been the same. I always figured the difference was probably due to the quality of the CS powder not being as good as what the north was producing and therefore, an increased load was required. Your thoughs?

Big Brian · January 10, 2012, 06:44 PM

Thanks to Hawg and Bedbugbilly for all info which I find very interesting, I know you guys over the pond do a lot more of this type of shooting than we do here, although there is a fairly large following down in England, but it is nice to get various views from all over. It will be a couple of months before I get a chance to try it out, due to the atrocious weather and such but I will keep you informed, I think our long distance range will not be open before beginning of March. One question, using the standard military load 60 or 65gr and assuming the sights are not way off, where would the point of aim be at say 200 yards on an 18" x 12" bullseye target? or is that something I would have to figure out. I heard that the you have to aim really low with an enfield.

January 8, 2012, 07:05 PM	#1
Big Brian Junior Member Join Date: January 8, 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 3	Parker Hale .577 Enfield rifle I have just purchased one of these rifles but I have no info on the size of the Minie ball mould to use in it. Do you use the 575-472m or the oversize 578-478m, mould? do you use a patch? and can you use a round ball instead. Can any one help???

January 9, 2012, 06:17 PM	#3
Big Brian Junior Member Join Date: January 8, 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 3	.577 Enfield Thank you for the quick reply, the rifle is designated as .577 not .58 - I have found that Lee does a .575-472M minie ball mould here, so I think I will just go for that. I also use pyrodex in my .45 kentucky rifle and Le Page pistol but we normally use volume for volume, ie the same flask spout for both Pyrodex and BP. which actually reduces the weight of the Pyrodex by about a third but giving the same accuracy at 50 and 100 yards as BP. Thing is Pyrodex is a lot more expensive than BP. in the UK. This enfield will be used for paper target shooting, not hunting so is it possible to down load any? and if so by how much? bearing in mind that I will only be shooting at a max distance of 200 yards.

January 9, 2012, 09:49 PM	#5
bedbugbilly Senior Member Join Date: November 19, 2009 Posts: 3,287	+1 to everything Hawg said . . . even if it does have a "southern slant". I think that the only reason his kinfolk had "Union Cartridges" was because my kinfolk were a trapsing through the neighborhood and got careless and dropped some on the ground? All kidding aside - Hawg has given you some good advice. When I was shooting NSSA, i just filled the base of the minie with Crisco. You are going to really like that Enfield. I never owned one, but I shot a friend's during a 1,000 meter shoot we had one time up in Camp Grayling in Michigan. We were shooting on the 1,000 meter machine gun range with knock down targets that automatically popped up after being knocked down. I have no doubt that Hawg can probably hit very well at 300 yards and beyond. With practice, you'll learn the elevation you need. We were shooting 60 grain service loads and were standing in rifle pits where we could rest the rifle over a blanket. During the shoot, I couldn't help but think of what it must have been like to be out on pickett duty and taking long range shots at the enemy. If i remember correctly, the targets were about 18" X 36". I did pretty well up to about 500 yards and after that, was able to hit a few at 700 yards after I figured out the cross wind. At 1,000 yards, they had a cut out of a full size horse out of 3/8 steel. I shot a number of rounds at that but only hit it once and if I remember correctly, I had to aim quite a distance above it. One of the fellows had a 44 Henry though and he hit the horse consistently - truly something to watch. U have no doubt that with some practice, Hawg would hit at 1,000 yards after the elevation and widage was figured out. As Hawg mentioned, you can use a round ball and a patch but my experience with doing that was not too good. Most of these rifles have a shallower (if there is such a word?) rifling than a typical round ball barrel and usually they had a three land/groove rifling. In my case, I had a Remington Zouave I wanted to try it in for round ball deer hunting. The balls I had were .575 and my bore miked out at about .582 - .584. I tried a number of patching thicknesses and finally just gave up and used a custom built .54 Hawken that I'd made to hunt with. I've shot a number of rifled muskets - originals and repros - the Enfield, Remington Zouave, Mississippi Rifle, '61 & 63 models and by far, the Enfield was my favorite. As Hawg mentioned, 60 grains was the standard load (Union) and that's what usually worked well in my rifles. Play with your loads and you'll soon find out what works best for you. Keep us posted on how you like it and how it shoots. Hawg - I've heard and read about the difference in the service loads between the N and S - I also know that the south was forced to go to the extremes of collecting niter from outhouses, etc. to produce gunpowder. I've never read anything about the standard service load for the south at the beginning of the war but I would have to believe that since the Southern Army had many former Northern officers, etc. that their loads would have been the same. I always figured the difference was probably due to the quality of the CS powder not being as good as what the north was producing and therefore, an increased load was required. Your thoughs? __________________ If a pair of '51 Navies were good enough for Billy Hickok, then a single Navy on my right hip is good enough for me . . . besides . . . I'm probably only half as good as he was anyways. Hiram's Rangers Badge #63

January 10, 2012, 06:44 PM	#6
Big Brian Junior Member Join Date: January 8, 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 3	.577 Enfield Thanks to Hawg and Bedbugbilly for all info which I find very interesting, I know you guys over the pond do a lot more of this type of shooting than we do here, although there is a fairly large following down in England, but it is nice to get various views from all over. It will be a couple of months before I get a chance to try it out, due to the atrocious weather and such but I will keep you informed, I think our long distance range will not be open before beginning of March. One question, using the standard military load 60 or 65gr and assuming the sights are not way off, where would the point of aim be at say 200 yards on an 18" x 12" bullseye target? or is that something I would have to figure out. I heard that the you have to aim really low with an enfield.

January 8, 2012, 07:36 PM	#2
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,190	It should use the .575 but if the bore is .580 it will take the .577, A minie should be .001- .003 under bore size and should slide easily down the bore. No patches with a minie. I lube mine in the grooves but some fill the base with lube instead. You can use a patched round ball but it's harder to work up a load. The original service load for U.S. troops was 60 grains of powder with a minie, C.S. troops used 65 grains or for the most part 60 grain loads taken from northern troops. I use 70 grains of Pyrodex.

January 9, 2012, 07:44 PM	#4
Hawg Senior Member Join Date: September 8, 2007 Location: Mississippi Posts: 16,190	Pyrodex should never be measured by weight. It's a straight across volume to volume substitute for bp. With that big heavy minie I doubt you're going to do well with much under 60 grains by volume. I use 70 in mine and it's pretty accurate out to 300 but I haven't shot it much past that. I did hit a steel four inch pipe marking a pipe line at 1000 once but I doubt I could do it again. Especially banking it off the ground like that.