Given a day of no wind at all, then it is possible to produce a group that will permit a proportion of an Enfield's bullets to arrive on the large target but it has no chance competitively against a small bore.  How many days are like that ?  I remember one such at Bisley when my P'53 LACo. kept most of its bullets on the target at 800 yards.  De Witt Bailey, I recall, did much the same with a Five Groove Short Enfield at 1,000 yards on another still day. In general I would say that 600 yards is the maximum target range for any Enfield.

Thank you for the kind thought.  The Enfield is a military rifle and in its context it was a fine one.  Sighted to 900 (later 1,000) the Rifle-Musket was a formidable weapon for area targets with volley fire out to 1000 yards and even more.  Enfields silenced an enemy battery at 1100 yards during the Indian Mutiny.  The 1861 Five Groove Short Rifle was sighted to 1250 yards and was certainly more precise at long ranges than the Rifle-Musket /53 but it is still not a target rifle beyond 600 yards where the small bore Whitworth derivatives will always beat it.

Thank you David, (great site here by the way!) �
 
I must confess that I am for the most part a 100% patch & ball paper shooter out to 100 yards, but I do at times dabble in 100 to 250 yard 'gong and silhouette' target shooting (using patch & ball) when our club holds �these type of matches... � I have always used fixed sights with the old adage of, 'windage & elevation' - guess and by-golly...
 
Aside from the Uncle Sam plan back in the '70s when we trained with our M16's out to 500 meters,,, my only experience with a long range muzzleloader of a design to shoot long range, was a friends '53 Parker Hale .58 caliber Enfield from 300 yards which was a pleasure to shoot!
 
He set the elevation and I guessed on the windage which resulted in two hits on a life size metal silhouette of a Coyote. �(I held left just above his rear-end) �low and behold, a splat on the neck "twice" about 16 to 18 inches to the right. �Needless to say I started to become hooked on '53 Enfields!
 
Realistically, where I live we have a 300 yard range and our State Muzzleloading shoot holds it's NMLRA Rifled Musket competition at a maximum range of 100 yards... � �Last year after spotting for a couple of the boys I felt I just had to get into the rifled musket game. �I could actually follow the minie on more then one occasion going into the target as they were moving so slow. � Just a guess, but I would say I picked up sight of the minie through the spotting scope at about 75 to 80 yards out?
 
David, if you and Bill, feel that a '53 Enfield would be a good choice to enter into this type of "short" long range shooting - 100 yards to 300 yards, (who knows someday I may get to shoot further), I am convinced that I should take the plunge and get me a .58 - '53 - 3 Band Enfield. �
 
Could either of you recommend a quality replica? �I would love to have an orginal but with the oldest heading off to college this year, I will have to settle for a replica.
 
Thanks!  
 

Thank you David, I will read Bill's article and take a look at the N-SSA site.  I did not even consider the rear sight.  Over the years - my rear sights have crept foreward just to keep the sight picture.
 
I will also take another look at my friends Parker-Hale for sighting purpose to make sure I can still get a good sight picture, and I will also take a look at the P-58 Navy.
 
Thanks