Got my start via traditional muzzleloaders. Then along came Quigley. Best friend had bought a 74 Shiloh Sharps in 40-65 and invited me along to an informal BPCR shoot. After that afternoon, I knew I had to have one of "those" rifles. Our "group" of like minded folks was holding informal shoots at an honest to goodness buffalo ranch in the area. My first visit there, as I drove through the gate, all the guys were assembled on the east side of the lane, shooting towards the east at targets I could not even see w/o binocs - they would pull the trigger and wait a few seconds to hear the ring of a successful shot and then giggle . . . I had never heard so many grown men giggle that much before. Picked a lot of brains amongst my friends (a lot more of them had BPCR rifles than I ever envisioned) and ordered a 74 Shiloh Sharps Hartford in 45-70. Initial wait time I was told at time of order was 24 months (that ended up stretching to 4 years, 10 months and 20 days, BTW). I knew It was going to be hard to wait that long so I started searching for a Rem Roller action. Found one, had friends help out with the machine work and built a Rem #1 Rolling Block with a 34" #1 Hvy Badger barrel, Barrel sights from Shiloh and Treebone wood. Had it chambered in 45-70, acquired the needed casings, primers and BP, made my own lube and wads - AND I was off. The rifle was ready to go after only a couple months and I proceeded to shoot up 15 pounds of BP, 1500 primers and about 110 pounds of lead the first 3 or 4 months. I have since snagged another Shiloh in 45-90 to go along with the Hartford and the Roller. They will be the last 3 rifles I let go of if that is ever necessary . . .
This whole adventure started in late 1996 and early 1997 . . . Surprisingly, I still don't know everything (
), so I am far from being an "oldtimer" or "expert", I'm just a slow learner . . .
