I have many many projects to do, including some day relighting some 577snyders from the british army from the 1860's.
HAR!! Went down that road about 8 or 9 years ago. Bought a Sharps 45-70 and started shooting BPCR matches. Then I saw those Browning High Walls and of course, got one of those in 40-65 Winchester. Got tired of the blow tubes and cleaning every 10 rounds and started duplexing my loads. That is a whole other thing and a lot of people say it is dangerous, and it is if you are stupid. But I could shoot 50 rounds without cleaning and the rifle would still be almost as clean as when I started shooting. But they won't let you shoot duplex loads in sacntioned competition. You have to shoot the dirty stuff and blow tube and then clean every 5 or 10 rounds. It'sa PIA.
Then I got a cataract in my right eye that is my dominant eye. So I had it removed and a lens implanted. That didn't go well and the result was that now I see spider webs in my vernier sight. So I got the biggest of the Browning sight disk in the gun and still couldn't see. I tried to sell that rifle and the molds and all the stuff you have to have to shoot black powder, but no one wanted to give me anything for it and the thing was in the box it came in and not a scratch on it and with an outstanding figured stock.
So I took it down to Roger Ferrell and told him to get a Shilen 22 caliber, air gaged, hand lapped barrel with a 1 in 8 twist and build me a neat .222 Remington with an octagon barrel on that action. It turned out real nice and I sold the 40-65 Badger barrel for 300 bucks and the vernier sights for 200 bucks and gave away the Swiss 1.5 powder and the molds and other stuff you need to shoot black powder.
The .222 shoots Swift 75 grain Scirocco II and Barnes solid copper 70 grain TSX bullets into neat little 1/2 to 5/8 inch groups at 100 yards. I think I am going to use it to kill white tails next fall. I 'll take only head shots of course, but I've had plenty of people tell me they use those bullets in .223's for their sons and they kill with any reasonable hit.
So I gave the 45-70 Sharps to an ole boy who wanted it real bad but couldn't afford it because he has 4 children and a sick wife and burns rods for a living. (Welder) Also gave him a Bonanza co-ax press, loading dies, bullet moulds, sizing dies, powder, cases, scales, powder measure, sizer luber and set him up to load for it.
So I have come full circle from the big bore black powder rifles to a neat little Browning High Wall .222 Remington. This shooting business can sure take a fella down some strange roads can't it?
