I use the Lyman 542622 and 533476 in my .54's. The 542622 is the classic style pointed minie ball shaped like the civil war .58's. According to Lyman it was designed for 1-48" twist rifling. The 533476 has a generous flat point. Unlike most of the civil war .58 designs these .54 minie's have thick skirts and can handle heavy hunting powder charges. My 533476 mold has been modified to drop from the mold at .541" instead of the standard .533". Conventional wisdom says that the pointed minie shape like the 542622 doesn't penetrate in a straight line. Civil War accounts often tell of crazy direction changes during penetration. I have shot 8 deer with the 542622 and have always got a pass through with a constant straight path of penetration. I'm still waiting for it to veer off wildly. One thing that I've observed using these two bullets is that they shoot well in many different rifles. Maybe not the best in all but not bad in any which is unlike flat based bullets. I have two .54 rifles that really don't like flat based bullets no matter what is tried.
