Range Report 31JUL2022: Mk. III Snider Enfield Rifle

I shot 45 rounds (five of  which were for sighting in) today in four tables of fire using my Nepalese Mk. III Snider Enfield Rifle from 1867.

Conditions
Clear and dry.  Wind ~10 mph from S-SE (which caused my hits to be slightly left).  36% humidity.  Range:  100 yards.  Firing position:  Seated unsupported.  Sight Picture:  Fine Sight, 6:00 hold about 6 inches low.

Ammunition
All ammunition was made with the X-Ring Services .600 bullet in Magtech brass over 65 grains of Swiss 1.5F powder with corn meal filler and a card wad.  For detailed information about how the ammunition was loaded go here.

Muzzle Energy
I chronographed a representative sample of today's shots, getting an average muzzle velocity of 1,036.1 fps, for a muzzle energy of 1,253 ft-lbs.  Compare this to the stats for the government-issue Mk. VII ammunition with a 480 grain bullet over 70 grains of RFG powder with a muzzle velocity of 1,240 fps for a muzzle energy of 1,666 ft-lbs (see Skennerton, Ian. .577 Pattern Rifle Musket & Snider-Enfield. Self Published, 2005, p. 16).  I believe that increasing the charge in my cartridges to 70 grains would bring me very close to these historical numbers, but my rifle is somewhat frail and I am loathe to stress it.

Table One.

Table One
(Note that this table includes two of the five ranging shots I fired first.  Once I saw from the first three where I was hitting, I elected to shoot the other two for score.)
String Test:  48 in./12 rds. = 4.0 in./rd.

Table Two.

Table Two
String Test:  44 in./10 rds. = 4.4 in./rd.

Table Three.

Table Three
String Test:  40.5 in./10 rds. = 4.1 in./rd.

Table Four.

Table Four
String Test:  33.5 in./10 rds. = 3.35 in./rd.
Note:  This table was fired using a 1/3 scale version of the actual Snider 3rd-class target of the sort used for closer range scoring in period in order to simulate shooting at 200 yards instead of 100.  Using the 3-2-1 scoring system used for Snider qualification, I scored a 25/30 points.

The String Test
This is a method of gauging accuracy dating to the American Civil War.   I find it to be  vastly superior to simply measuring the group size since it takes both the group size and the distance from the mean center of the group to the bullseye into account in the same number, so it is a much more meaningful way to gauge your accuracy despite being incredibly easy to do.  All shooters, and certainly all historical shooters, should be using this test.  You can learn more about the String Test here.

Conclusions
This was my best-scoring day so far with my Snider, and I am extremely pleased.  Yes, my 25-year-old self armed with his 7.62 NATO Remington 700 rifle with Leupold scope shooting at 800 yards is laughing at my current self, but I honestly don't care much.  For this rifle, which has some problems, and given my shaky hands and the fact that I can barely see the target at that range, I am really happy, especially with Table Four.  I am also pleased to see that the Muzzle Energy is at least comparable to the original cartridges, especially since I strongly believe I could match them if I were willing to stress my piece a bit more.  I know I can do better, and hope to do so with more practice, but I think I have "dialed in" my rifle as best I can at this point.