Gunner, I picked up an original 74 Business rifle the other day in 45 2.1"" with a really good barrel. after I got home with it and done staring at it I put up a target at the 50 yd butt. 1 flyer I called and 4 in less than 2" with ammo loaded for my Shilohs. I'll work some 420 grain ppb's and 75 hrs fg for it and see what it will do. You know it was almost a religious experience making smoke and drilling holes with a 144 year old buffalo gun, I celebrated with 2 good beers. MB
DAMN! congrats on all that Magnum Bob, I was gifted an original factory 1869 Sharps conversion buffalo rifle last year in 45-110, it's a Bridgeport conversion with 30 inch heavy barrel and buckhorn barrel sights, it has some kind of silver coin of the day for a front sight, sharpsguy here on the campfire gave me a 45 cal. Mos mould that's a direct copy of some of the original paper patch bullets the Buffalo hunters used, I cast it soft at 35 to 1 alloy, sharpsguy also told me the original load for the 45-110 from the Sharps Rifle factory was 100 gr of 1FG, well, what do you know, we loaded the rifle that way and it hit dead on out to 200 yards.
He also turned me a brand new firing pin out on his lathe, gave me near 100 sticks of new Norma 45-110 brass, 10lbs of Goex Express 1FG powder and installed a set screw between the triggers he has had in his box for near 40 years, he also set and tuned the triggers, I think he really likes that old Buffalo Rifle!
I took the rifle on a last day buck hunt over in Arkansas on a foggy drizzling morning, kept the rifle and paper patch ammo under my wool coat as I sat in a quickly throw together ground blind, at a hard 9 o'clock a very wide 6pt buck appeared at about 25 yards, I shot him dead in the chest, he dropped and never moved, the 514gr round nosed paper patch bullet exited right beside his nut sack, what a hell of a hunt I had with that old rifle, I was even able to flip the switch on my go-pro as I saw the buck making his way towards me, i have every bit of it on film! ; ]
You've got to get your Buffalo Rifle out this fall and make some meat.
