My experience with the repro rifled 42 is from shooting a friends. He got the Lyman mold, also. You have got to have that bullet mold HOT when you cast, and you have to pour the lead
fast, to get good formed bullets. Having that removable core pin makes casting the bullet a slow process, you have to keep the mold hot at all times. You only get 9 bullets out of a pound of lead! The Lyman bullet is a great copy of the original .69 cal Minnie. It's BIG!
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/63...-mold-68569-69-caliber-685-diameter-730-grain
We rolled up original style cartridges, with the prescribed 70 gr FFg black powder. The bullets were lubed with a mix of beeswax/shortening. We didn't have any trouble loading, they shot fine, but with that sight on the barrel band, and NOT on the barrel, point of impact did change to the point of aim. The band somehow needs tightened. We did not have a scale big enough to weigh out those heavy bullets, to segregate them into equal weight groups, so consistency in weight was an issue in accuracy.
The recoil is an attention getter! It will slap "L" out of a metal target at 100 yds!
The repro rifled 42 is a great looking gun, and it's a unique, fun experience for folk to shoot, and no too many are as commonly seen as the smoothbore 42.
Both are fun to own!
As to the bayonet...get the expensive Italian repro, it's worth having over a cheap one, made by God knows who!
Kevin Dally