Snider .577 reloading roundball question

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ironsite

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As the title states I'm looking for a little input on reloading snider .577 round ball. I have a 1856 Enfield-Snider MK I with the iron receiver. I am currently shooting round ball that is exactly .58 cal. My supply is almost gone and I am learning to cast my own. The molds I have found seem to be the "Lee .570" but the ball will just drops and rolls down the barrel, some people suggest a .600 round ball mold. I have heard that the .600 cal will work fine I'm worried about the stress on the old rifle. It would be pushed by 60-70grains of 2F black powder.
I have also heard people suggest using 13 grains of green dot smokeless powder but again, cool old rifle I don't want to damage....thoughts...
Thanks for any input.
 
You will be fine with 60 grains of powder, but slug your bore and find out just what you need for a ball.
Personally I have never liked shooting them, I much prefer the Jenkinnson mold that Lee sells.
Cat
 
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The 13 grains of Green Dot advice probably comes from the old C.E. Harris load of 13 grains of RED DOT for military rifle loads. Harris was a staff writer for the NRA "American Rifleman" magazine and he did a lot of work with cast bullets.

He developed what he called "The Load" for the usual military rifles of the period (30-06, 303, 8mm Mauser, .7.62 NATO, 7.62x54R Russian, 6.5x55 Mauser, 6.5 Carcano, 6.5 Japanese and other similar larger cased cartridges.) NOTE ---NOT FOR USE IN THE 7.62X39 RUSSIAN cartridge as it has a smaller case capacity. THis load gives a velocity of approximately 1500 fps with a military weight cast bullet, and with a bit of load development, can be very accurate.

I would tend to think that the larger bore size of the .577 Snider might not be the best application for this 13 grain Red Dot load. Harris kept his research to a lower velocity practice load with about 100 yards maximum in mind. The larger bores such as the 45-70 were not really investigated thoroughly at the time he published his findings.
 
A 0.600" lead ball is very commonly used in Sniders. It will weigh about 325 grs, and while about 8 thou over the groove size of a "typical" Snider, only the outside circumference (a bearing surface of perhaps 150 thou) will be in contact with the bore. I've recovered round balls and seen this. All to say, any load safe for a cylindrical 325 gr bullet will be safe with a 0.600" round ball.

My load data is at home, but "Catnthehatt" can probably share smokeless loads if you're so inclined. I like both Red Dot and Unique on the fast end, and SR4759 on the slow end for powders.
 
I shoot 58 caliber round balls from my mk2 snider by patching them up to about .590".

But that being said I'm using the poor mans 24 gauge shot hull method. I'm not sure if that would work with brass.

Another thing I've done is cast my own slugs using a Lee REAL mold that drops em at .592". They shoot well out of my rifle with 60 grains of 2f with all grooves lubed.
 
Thanks for all the input......Now if I could just figure out how to mount a scope on the snider, that would truly be badass.......just kidding..........
 
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