54 Cal Miniball/ Great Plains Equivalent Mould

Morpheus32

Morpheus32

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Trying to figure out which mould replicates a Thompson Center Mini-ball in 54 cal or 54 Cal Hornady Great Plains bullets. Or should I look at the LEE REAL projectile?

This will be for target but more importantly hunting. I am thinking the lyman 54 cal equivalent of the great plains might be the answer. I would appreciate hearing anyone's experience.


Black Powder Bullet Mould: .54 Caliber Minie Ball Hollow Base - #542622

Bullet # : 542622
Grain: 425gr
Single Cavity # : 2654622
This is a 54 caliber Minie designed for maximum loads in rifles with 1/48" twists and .540" bores
542622.jpg



I am thinking for the Great Plains from Lyman:


Black Powder Bullet Mould: 54 Caliber Plains - #548657

Bullet # : 548657
Grain: 450gr
Single Cavity # : 2654657
This is the .54 cal version of our Plains Bullets. Like the .50 cal design, this is a two diameter bullet with a greater bearing surface area than common Maxi bullet designs. Fits most traditional .54 cal muzzleloaders

548657.jpg










 
I am shooting the Lee REAL bullet in an Investarms .54 cal. flint lock with a 1:48 twist, it is considerably lighter than the ones you have shown (330 grains).
So far I have only shot it standing and in this position I haven't determined how accurate or repeatable it is.
As advertised I have shot 36 consecutive rounds without having to swab the bore, there is some concern about using these for hunting where the rifle is bumped around as the bullet could move forward creating an air gap.

 
Thanks for the reply. I am a big bullet kind of guy, given the relative short ranges with a traditional muzzleloader, it makes sense to me to choose a larger projectile rather than increased velocity. Have you mic'd the size of the REAL projectiles once cast, what did they come out as?
 
I have hunted with Lyman's 425 gr Minnie . Only killed one deer with it but it was DRT . The problem I found with the Minnie was it wasn't tight enough in the bore and would move forward off the powder charge . I fixed that by paper patching them .
 
Question: is it a fad to call those bullets "mini" or "Minnie"? Or just a matter of keyboards? Believe it or not, I saw it written "mini balls" even in the CFSC manual. That made me twitch because of what it would teach our shooters...

I'm sure you know that it's Minié balls, named after its co-developer Claude-Étienne Minié. :)
 
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Grawfr said:
Question: is it a fad to call those bullets "mini" or "Minnie"? Or just a matter of keyboards? Believe it or not, I saw it written "mini balls" even in the CFSC manual. That made me twitch because of what it would teach our shooters...

I'm sure you know that it's Minié balls, named after its co-developer Claude-Étienne Minié. :)
Click to expand...

intimately familiar with the history of projectile development and particularly the use in military history however commercially different companies have different spelling and product names. We all know what the subject is about. Personally I think the verbiage boolit is equally as painful but hey I know what they mean! :)

follow ow on question. Mould sources in Canada that have them in stock?
 
I am not a Lee fanboy but I do like the REAL bullets, I killed lots of deer with them and they are as accurate as any other bullet I tried. I never worried about them moving forward, they are not that loose in the bore.
 
Silverback said:
I am not a Lee fanboy but I do like the REAL bullets, I killed lots of deer with them and they are as accurate as any other bullet I tried. I never worried about them moving forward, they are not that loose in the bore.
Click to expand...

I have lots of work ahead to figure out which projectile and see what shoots the best.
 
Ordered from track of the wolf the lyman Great Plains mould and the Maxi Ball mould. I also have an improved minnie mould. Based on this I will have four options for 50 cal (max ball, great plains, improved mini and REAL) and two for 54 cal (Great Plains and REAL). Working on a solution to cast my own including some round ball so hopefully this year I will take a deer with my recurve as well as with my muzzleloader using bullets I fabricated myself.
 
TOTW is an excellent source for bp possibles. I've used all you've mentioned except the GP's boolit. It is definitely on my want to try list. As for the Lee Improved minie, I've never been able to get decent groups with laddering the charge from 60-110grs. I would like to hear your results. BTW, where are you doing your shooting? Not a whole lot of smoke pole shooster's round these parts.
 
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