I always thought a Civil War era reproduction muzzleloader would be a cool thing to own and shoot, but the only time I've actually fired anything like that was eight or nine years ago, blasting cow pies with a college buddy's P53 Enfield and CS Richmond. A .58 caliber Navy Arms / Zoli reproduction of an 1863 Remington Contract "Zouave" rifle came up for sale on the local gun boards the other day for $300; I impulse offered $250 and yesterday it became mine. She came to me a bit beat up, and needed some TLC when we got back home, but I think the rifle cleaned up rather well (I still need to pick up some brasso to polish the bands, butt plate, and trigger guard), but unfortunately the rifle did not come with a nipple. The patchbox had a cleaning jag and ball puller, but no spare nipple..
Now that I have the thing in my hot little hands, I'm at a bit of a loss. How do I shoot the danged thing? I mean, I get the *basics* of shooting it, and I've tried searching online, but there's a veritable tidal wave of information involved. My questions are as follows:
1. Nipple replacement: what size/type of nipple(s) do I need? The interwebz seems to indicate 5/16" x 24 is what's needed, but I wouldn't mind an ARF expert's opinion. Is there a particular length or construction that's preferable? I have both musket and #11 caps, though I presume the former would be ideal.
2. Powder load: again, online opinions seem to suggest that 60-70gr FFg charges are ideal for a Minie out of this rifle, so as to avoid blowing out the skirt on a Minie. I don't plan on shooting PRBs. I have both Goex FFg and Pyrodex RS (FFg "equivalent") in some quantity. Is there some reason I wouldn't want to use Pyrodex? It's certainly less filthy in my limited experience than black powder.
3. Projectiles: I picked up a handful of generic Minies from the range. I'm not impressed with their quality, and most of them seem to have voids at the tip. I'll shoot them, of course, but not with any particularly high hopes. Are there any ideal sizes/weights for Minies out of this type of rifle? I know that ideally I would mic it and hand cast my own Minies, but that's not an option at the moment.
4. Patching: If I plan on shooting Minies pretty much exclusively, do I need to patch them? If not, should I use a felt wad? What do you guys use?
5. Lubricant: I have a tube of T/C Bore Butter; will rubbing this into the grooves on a Minie work?
I appreciate the hive's wisdom on this matter.