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1842 Springfield .69
- Thread starter Moloch
- Start date
More .69 Info
Gents,
Lyman makes a mold for the .69 Rifled Musket - it is #685069 and is a 730 gr. Minie, a duplicate of what the government issued. Lyman and RCBS make a
.678 round ball mould and this seems to work well in the Armi Sport smoothbore, either with a seperate patch or with the lubed ball wrapped in aluminum foil.
From the 1861 Ordnance Manual of the United States Army -
Rifled Musket 1842 - .69 caliber - .685 diameter - 730 gn. weight - 70 grain charge of powder
1842 Smoothbore Musket - .69 caliber - .65 diameter - 412 gn. weight - 110 grain charge of powder
The "Buck and Ball" round was as above with the addition of 3 - .30 caliber balls tied separately above the .65 caliber ball.
All of the above were dipped in a lube of 1 part tallow and 8 parts beeswax.
The roundball and buck and ball cartridge were supposed to be loaded with the paper after pouring the powder. The minie was to be loaded without the paper after dumping the powder.
Regards,
Bill Fabus
Gents,
Lyman makes a mold for the .69 Rifled Musket - it is #685069 and is a 730 gr. Minie, a duplicate of what the government issued. Lyman and RCBS make a
.678 round ball mould and this seems to work well in the Armi Sport smoothbore, either with a seperate patch or with the lubed ball wrapped in aluminum foil.
From the 1861 Ordnance Manual of the United States Army -
Rifled Musket 1842 - .69 caliber - .685 diameter - 730 gn. weight - 70 grain charge of powder
1842 Smoothbore Musket - .69 caliber - .65 diameter - 412 gn. weight - 110 grain charge of powder
The "Buck and Ball" round was as above with the addition of 3 - .30 caliber balls tied separately above the .65 caliber ball.
All of the above were dipped in a lube of 1 part tallow and 8 parts beeswax.
The roundball and buck and ball cartridge were supposed to be loaded with the paper after pouring the powder. The minie was to be loaded without the paper after dumping the powder.
Regards,
Bill Fabus
Absolutely Deadly
Firing at army targets in 1860, .69 Cal. smooth bore muskets loaded with Buck and Ball scored more hits at both 100 and 200 yards than did .58 Cal rifle-muskets.
Rifle muskets hit the target seventy-four percent of the time at 200 yards and 98 percent at 100 yards. The obsolete, inaccurate smooth bores charged with B&B hit the 200 yard targets 98 percent of the time and at 100 yards, the buck and ball rounds hit the target 230 percent of the time (more rounds per shot, you see)
The rifle-musket can spit out one ball every 33 seconds the musket puts out 4 rounds in the same amount of time.
For 100 shooters on the firing line, that works out to 300 rounds per minute for rifle-muskets and 1200 for muskets.
On average, Civil War battles commenced at less than 80 yards. At that range, with one ball for your mark and 3 bucks for Area Defense, Buck and Ball rules.
Another advantage for smooth bores is that the danger zone for them is the whole 200 yards (eyeball to ankle - including skipping off the ground like flat stones across a lake), whereas the rainbow trajectory of the rifle musket has a danger zone near the muzzle and one at the end of its trajectory. In between it threatens only birds. Careful sight setting is required to score rifle-musket hits. With smooth bores, one levels the piece, points it at the foe, and shoots. The .69 Buck and Ball is no tack driver at any range, but at the common ranges at which the war was fought, it was absolutely deadly.
Akeela
Yes, this is an old thread but couldn't leave the ignored aspect of practical application unsaid.
Firing at army targets in 1860, .69 Cal. smooth bore muskets loaded with Buck and Ball scored more hits at both 100 and 200 yards than did .58 Cal rifle-muskets.
Rifle muskets hit the target seventy-four percent of the time at 200 yards and 98 percent at 100 yards. The obsolete, inaccurate smooth bores charged with B&B hit the 200 yard targets 98 percent of the time and at 100 yards, the buck and ball rounds hit the target 230 percent of the time (more rounds per shot, you see)
The rifle-musket can spit out one ball every 33 seconds the musket puts out 4 rounds in the same amount of time.
For 100 shooters on the firing line, that works out to 300 rounds per minute for rifle-muskets and 1200 for muskets.
On average, Civil War battles commenced at less than 80 yards. At that range, with one ball for your mark and 3 bucks for Area Defense, Buck and Ball rules.
Another advantage for smooth bores is that the danger zone for them is the whole 200 yards (eyeball to ankle - including skipping off the ground like flat stones across a lake), whereas the rainbow trajectory of the rifle musket has a danger zone near the muzzle and one at the end of its trajectory. In between it threatens only birds. Careful sight setting is required to score rifle-musket hits. With smooth bores, one levels the piece, points it at the foe, and shoots. The .69 Buck and Ball is no tack driver at any range, but at the common ranges at which the war was fought, it was absolutely deadly.
Akeela
Yes, this is an old thread but couldn't leave the ignored aspect of practical application unsaid.
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