.54 Sharps Carbine Minie

[Sgt Major Barber]

Hey all. 

I see on the DGW website that they carry a .535 minie with hollow base, and a .544 which they call a sharps minie (which appears not to have a hollow base) and was wondering which would be appropriate for an Armi Sport .54 Cav. Carbine?

Any other sources for the bullet as I won't shoot enough to cast my own?

Many Thanks.
SM Barber

[WV Scrounger]

You dont want a minnie with a hollow base due to the design of the Sharps breech.  When you load a bullet into a sharps the tip of the bullet will engage the rifling and the hollow base would still be in the chamber....when you fire the gun the base would expand while still inside the chamber ...which is not good.
You need a solid base bullet...the best known is called the "RINGTAIL" OR CHRISTMAS TREE.   

[Professor Marvel]

As Monsieur Scrounger points out, you really want a flat base or ring-tail bullet. I have used both the Lee H.B Minie and the TOTW Christmas tree in my heavily worked-over IAB model 1863 .54 and find the TOTW bullet superior. Heaven only knows what goes on in that strange chamber when the Lee HB is used :-(

here is the Dixie BU0903 Cast Sharps Bullets .544
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=1352

Dixie's Mold:
http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?products_id=7977

Here is Track of the Wolf's Christmas tree bullet:
http://tinyurl.com/TOW-sharps-bullet

here is Buffalo's Pedersoli Sharps Mold
http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/4,4926.html

TOTW  bullet:


yhs
prof marvel

[WV Scrounger]

Prof Marvel....very good post ! nice selection of Boolits.....But OUCH! ON THE PRICE FOR THE PEDERSOLI mold....wow
Sarge Maj....ebay is a good place to find cheaper christmas tree molds....And....even though you shoot an Armi Sport you could benefit from reading the Sharps discussions on the SHiloh site:
http://shilohrifle.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=8&sid=3addd084d2c13c02f2db32970ade60b1

  there is ALOT of good reading there!  Have fun on yer journy of Learnin bout the Sharps Rifle !!!!!

[Professor Marvel]

Greetings Monsiuer Scrounger -
you are far too kind to an inveterate babbler such as myself.

I have been looking for a decent Christmas Tree mold for under $90 seemingly forever. Somehow all the decent Sharps molds on evil-bay have escaped me :-)  so I have been saving my beer lunch money for one of those high-price molds. I did manage to snag a Dixie Christmas Tree mold in .52 but the evilbay vendor had no clue what the dimensions were and I bought it on a hope and a prayer, but it is too small for my IAB, altho for a primitive Dixie mold it does cast a fairly nice boolit.

I am actually rather partial to the flat nose version from Pedersoli, if I ever use this rifle for hunting I think the flat nose (meplat?)
would perform in a more efficacious manner than the pointy one.

Have you any less expensive mold sources from whom a cheapstake frugally minded individual such as myself might acquire a reasonably priced Sharps .54 mold?

yhs
Prof Marvel   

[Montana Slim]

...I've used the Dixie Mould to make cartridges for my Pa's vintage 1863 Sharps Carbine. Works well.
I saw some adjustable molds listed in Midway's catalog. (.500, .520 & .540 diameter, RCBS Adjustable mold, pg. 454)

Read an earlier coment on the negative aspects of a hollow-based bullet.
I do wonder how a HB design would be harmful in this weapon vs. a conventional cartridge or other firearm (??).

BTW, the proper way to load/shoot the 1863 Sharps Carbine is to use a paper or linen cartridge. The cartridge should fit in the chamber and close without cutting the base. The fire from the cap will burn through the base and ignite the charge. A cartridge can be removed (unload) from the rear if needed/desired. Too bad we can't get Lawrence Patent primer discs & demonstrate how this Carbine really worked.

Regards,
Slim

[Appalachian Ed]

Rapine makes a good Sharps Christmas tree.


-Ed

[Smokin Gun]

I have an Armi Sport Sharps  .54 Papercutter... use the .54 Sharps Bullets .577"/ 435gr ringtail boolits.
Got mine at Track of the Wolf.
.540" minnies fall right thru barrel. (.544")
http://www.trackofthewolf.com/(S(rrxh4zjztt122ra31r4nlo55))/categories/partList.aspx?catID=2&subID=190&styleID=1223