Shiloh Sharps

[Drydock]

Been enjoying my Chiappa .50-70 carbine so much, I decided I needed a Shiloh again.  This one will be a #3 with Shotgun butt, metal buttplate, Ebony pistol grip, bedded forend, pack-hardened action, 30" polished round barrel, .50-70.  Should run just under 12 pounds with sights mounted.  This one should be a lot of fun working up Croft Barkers 600 grain midrange loads.  

Current wait time is 18 months or so.  Take me that long to save up for it!  

[The Pathfinder]

Sounds like you're again snagged by the bug. I've been really lucky in that I never had to give up my Shiloh to add to the stable. My 50-70 carbine is one of the old Garret Sharps, not sure how they compare to the Chiappas. Accidentally(?) acquired a Rolling block barrel in 50-70 once, and then started getting together the parts to build it into a rifle. Somehow I also ended up with a real New York Rolling Block, the Garret, a Spencer carbine in 56-50, and am on the lookout for a reasonable 50-70 Springfield. Somewhere along the line I seem to remember telling myself that the Shiloh and a Peabody in 45-70 were all I would ever need, now I seem to be addicted to bigger fatter cartridges. Oh well, according to my kids I'll get over it someday...and then they'll get to play with them while I rot in the ground.

[Drydock]

As my son has told me:  "You keep this one, dammit!"   Never really wanted to sell the others, but sometimes needs must . . .

I've got a pretty good write up on the Chiappa,, with pictures,  in the Barracks.  Its a keeper I think, and will be my field/skirmish Sharps.  The Shiloh will be reserved for precision work. 

[Blackpowder Burn]

I recently got ahold of an original Sharps 50-70 carbine.  It was built in 1876 and has a 26" barrel, which, according to Sellers, is pretty unusual.  The rifle is overall in very sound condition with a good barrel.  Just starting to tinker with loads and looking forward to seeing what the old girl will do.

If she could only speak!

[PJ Hardtack]

Like a lot of guns, it's hard to own just one Sharps.

I got my first Sharps, a Farmingdale Business Rifle in 45-70 by trading an original Hi Wall in 40-60 for it. Still have it and will not part with it. With it's heavy barrel, it's a joy to shoot from prone x-sticks.

It was followed by a Farmingdale .50 '63 Military Rifle the owner let go for $500! How could I say no? It was shortly joined by a Farmingdale .50 '63 SRC I traded an unused 6mm Rem for.

The Shiloh 50-70 Military Rifle and carbine were next, and the last was a No. 1 Sporter (pewter nose cap, etc.) in 45-70 I bought off Shiloh's 'ready rack'. I'm still getting to know this rifle. The only one I ordered specifically was the 50-70 carbine.

The 50-70 is an excellent calibre for CAS events and an even better hunting calibre. I don't think I'd want to go thru' what Croft Barker did to make a 50-70 into a viable long range rifle. The thought of launching 600 gr bullets holds utterly no appeal for me. I tried a few in my Military Rifle and sold the mould to a very happy owner of a British double rifle.

The agony of waiting for a custom ordered Shiloh Sharps is one of the most pleasant form of angst known to man.

[Drydock]

I'm not a real serious long range shooter, but I've got a gong on the farm I like to ring, and there is the 300 yard event at the GAF muster.  The .50-70-450 at 1200 fps is such a surprisingly mild feeling load in the carbine, that I want to experiment with a few 500/550/600s and see just how heavy I can go in a 12 pound rifle and still be comfortable.  

Ah, the angst, the glorious angst!

[Pitspitr]

I'm not a real serious long range shooter, but I've got a gong on the farm I like to ring, and there is the 300 yard event at the GAF muster.

...And of course you know that when you come up early you can play with the 400yd Steel to your heart's content as well. I'm also looking at trying to set up a 500 or 600yd target. That would be mostly for my scope sighted rifles, as I doubt my old eyes would be satisfactory past 400 with iron sights.

[Kent Shootwell]

Drydock, you need to rethink that chamber! Rather then have another of the same old thing and try to push big slugs from that tiny case get it cut to a 2 1/2" and do it right!  You can always fill half the case with corn meal if you like but you can never get 110 grains in the pistol size 50/70 case. And don't go saying it costs to much, buying a Shiloh means you have the bucks. My 40 year old cases still hold a bullet fine.

[PJ Hardtack]

The guys on the Shiloh site regard the 50-70 as "a good pistol round".

Maybe, but I don't enjoy being assaulted by my rifles. Detached retinas are not anything to aspire to.

A pal has a .50 "Alaskan" which he shoots poorly as it slaps the crap outta him with it's 600 gr bullets. It was once a 50-70 Shiloh 'Business Rifle' and he wishes he had kept it as such.

When he had it done, he was a member of the "mine is bigger than yours" club always having shot .62 calibre Hawkens of his own make.
Now in his maturity and with a bad shoulder, he has mellowed down to shooting 45-70s and has a really nice custom model being made up  by Shiloh.

[Drydock]

I had a .45-110 at one time.  If I had kept it, it would have eventually been rebarrelled to .45-70,

  I enjoy shooting the .50-70,   More powder is just more noise and more recoil IMHO.  If I was shooting 1000 yards with a 16 lb bull barrel I could see it.  But I like to carry my rifles, and anything over 70 grains powder needs too much weight for me.  Some of those folks get a little carried away with the "mine is bigger".   

I once pulled the trigger on 9 16"/50 caliber rifles.  Nailed the target at 18 miles that day.  Less than 1 MOA.  I'm happy with that . . .

[Niederlander]

Yeah, the 16"/50 pretty much wins the "mine is bigger than yours" argument any day............it IS a bit pricey to buy or shoot, though!

[Kent Shootwell]

Some place I read the want to try 500, 550, 600 bullets and see how heavy could a 12 pound rifle be managed. That sound like a "mine is bigger" statement. Nothing wrong with that but Sellers book claims that the 50 as loaded by Sharps ranged from 335 to 500 grain bullets. At 400 yards and less I would think the 425 grain slug pushed by 100 grains of powder would ring a gong. Might even kill a deer if you hit him just right!  I do like the way you're having you new rifle set up. What grade of wood will it sport?

[Pitspitr]

I once pulled the trigger on 9 16"/50 caliber rifles.  Nailed the target at 18 miles that day.  Less than 1 MOA.  I'm happy with that . . .

A 24' target at 18 miles is pretty impressive!

[PJ Hardtack]

We called our Arty boys "12 Mile Snipers".  The guys with the 105s said they could almost guarantee a first rd hit given the correct grid reference.
Ans that was before GPS.

[Drydock]

"and still be COMFORTABLE".  Which is a shameful admission, as any John Wayne fan knows!  ("Just don't call me comfortable!"  Rio Lobo)  My .50-70-450 loads run just over 1200 fps out of my carbine, and while I have not shot a deer with it, you should see what it does to an armadillo!

Ah, the Rangkeeper Mk 8.  What a wonderful piece of machinery!   https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/03/gears-of-war-when-mechanical-analog-computers-ruled-the-waves/

I'm getting standard wood.  Good black walnut from here in Missouri.  I like the way it offsets the Pack colors, I like the grain feel of it.  I'll rub my own oils into it over time.  

Shiloh has a different, faster twist rate than the originals.  And I read somewhere "Little powder, much lead, shoots far, kills dead!"  

[PJ Hardtack]

Twist rates have gotten faster over the years. Used to be 1x22 '' was standard for 45-70 but now people are ordering 1x18 '' and 1x16 '' in order to stabilize heavier bullets.

My Shiloh #1 has standard wood which is actually quite nice. I wax all my guns with a bees wax polish as it protects the wood and waterproofs the steel.

[Drydock]

Yay!  "Pay up or die" letter arrived today! 

[Tascosa Joe]

You can call Bill Goodman and have your new Sharps in 3 or 4 months.  I am an 8" guy.  I am in awe of your 16X//50 Volkswagon guns i.e. the projectile weighs the same as an early Volks wagon.

[Coal Creek Griff]

Yay!  "Pay up or die" letter arrived today! 

Congratulations! Keep us updated.

CC Griff

[Drydock]

Joe, that letter means my rifle goes into production in 3 weeks.