Home Forums Hunting & Shooting BPCR Rebarrling Sharps or reboring another

I am interested in getting into this type of shooting. I have a couple of rifles already.
I have a Shilo in 45/120 and a Meecham in 40/70 ss.
I am thinking about having the sharps made into a 45/70. There is not enough barrel shank to just set back and rechamber. Not sure who to use to do a new barrel.
On the Meecham I am considering having it rebored to 45 and a 45/70 chamber. I do have alot of new brass for this rifle in 40/70. But I keep reading how difficult it is to make this caliber shoot accurately. I have a bunch of moulds or 45 caliber.
Jeff

Have the shiloh rebarrel to 45-70 in the configuration you like. Leave the Meachum alone it is a valuable collector gun.you can sell it as is and buy a new shiloh. Mb

I would send the Shiloh to Shiloh and have them rebarrel it

Send the Shiloh to Shiloh for rebarrel.
Leave the meacham as is.

Thanks
I will call and see the cost and time frame.
The shilo is a early c sharps. As per shilo. When C sharps first started
He bought actions from shilo. My action is marked Shilo and my barrel is marked Old Reliable
So may call both companies
Jeff

I bet it isn;t !!!!!!!

It could be marked Shiloh but never shilo. Mb

338reddog , some where in the 7xxx serial range shiloh was owned by wolf droege and C.Sharps split the sheets . shiloh built the rifles period. C.S harps marketed them. The receivers were marked Shiloh rifle manufacturing. Barrels were marked c Sharps with the old reliable trademark. C Sharps wanted to have more ready availible inventory with greater flexibility in chambering so a rifle would be built with a 45 or 50 or 40 or 44 cal barrel but not chambered until some one walked thru th ree door and said I want a 45 whatever and picked out a rifle with a 45 barrel. They then unscrewed the barrel chambered it to the customer's desire and reinstalled it.
Wolf did not like making guns like that. He also did not like the freebores put in some of the chambers either. They dissolved the partnership and went different ways. They are about 100 yds apart in Big Timber Mt. . Today since 1991 the Bryan family has owned and built Shiloh rifles. The Schoftstalls build the C. SHARPS both are fine rifles. There was a civil suit filed in 1977 or so to determine who owned the old reliable trademark, C .Sharps won that..
A lot of people here think that the 45-120 3.25" is unusable but are merely repeating internet bullsh*t. I have shot and loaded for them they can shoot fine but they have tremendous recoil and use a lot of powder. There is a certain charm in a loaded round that hangs over both sides of the palm of your hand few understand. Shoot the 120 before you discard it..... Mb

"Shoot the 120 before you discard it."
IF you can find brass for it.

Easier found than good 44's or 40-70 st Don. Not to mention that Norma 45 3.25" is some of the best you can buy. Mb

Mine is kind of a Frankenstein. It has a action made by Shilo and the rest is by C Sharps. Shilo told me that in the early years CSharps bought the actions from Shilo. Barrel is Marked Old Reliable
I got a price from both and now just need to decide who to barrel the gun.
As to shooting the 120, I have a-lot of brass and probably 60 rounds of new RCBS Basic . And probably have 10-15 molds, spg lube and powder and 5-6 thousand fed mag primers. Paper for patching and drop tube. MVA sights and Venteurino’s book wads over-powder cards . manuals. I just do not have first hand knowledge of loading black. I dont want to ring the barrel. I also have about 200 new cases for the 40/70 bit no mold/moulds. I do need sights for that rifle
Thanks
Jeff

You nailed it as to the time period. I need to find a mentor near me, I need to gain the confidence in loading black Cartg. I have a few friends. who shoot BPCR matches. The problem is they live 650 miles away. I am trying to buy back a Browning Bpcr 45/70 back from a friend. I never loaded for it. I am a experienced loader of smokeless
Jeff

Sounds like your ready to go. With a drop tube fill up a case with 1 fg powder screed the top off easily with a straight edge. Now dump the powder into a scale pan and weigh it. Do that 5 times and find an average. You will reduce that amount to accommodate seating depth. Depending on whether your loading greasers or paper patch things are different for seating depth. Either way you want 100 % case fill of powder with a loaded bullet. Where do you live? Mb

I live in Idaho
Thanks M B
Jeff

Keep the 120, ive had two, still have one, they are the easiest Sharps rifles to load for and get accurate hunting loads.

Pour in 100 grains 1f, 1.5f or 2F black powder with one 30 thou Walters fiber wad, compress powder with wad enough for a 180-200 thou grease cookie and an 1881 saeco grease groove bullet with just a bit of the front driving band showing, taper crimp case mouth closed so the round will bounce when dropped into the chamber with muzzle on your boot, you can shoot and hunt that rifle all day long without wiping or blow tubing, buy those bullets at Montana Bullet Works, get them lubed with black powder lube and sized to .458 inch.

That's the load i shoot in my 120, it runs 1488 fps with 100gr 2F, great accuracy to 700 yards with the buckhorn barrel sights.

I shot 20 rounds through my 120, no wipe, no blow tube, left leaning against a wall for 24 hours, pushed a dry patch through the bore, the fouling was still wet, running a grease groove bullet with a grease cookie makes a soft slurry lube out of the fouling it cant be beat for hunting, imho.

keep the Hepburn as is, beautiful rifles, plus the 40-70 SS has a rich heritage.

Thanks for the response, I have a lot to learn as some is foreign to me. Im not sure how to make a grease cookie? I do have a rinbon extruder in the box and a block of spg. I have a lot of molds but I could order some to start.

You're most welcome, steal a glass dish from your wife, 9x13 inch i guess is what i stole, melt enough lube at 170 degrees in your oven till it's 180-200 thou high, turn off oven let cool, you now have a pan of grease cookies, after compressing powder to desired depth with wad on top, push case mouth of compressed round to bottom of glass, turn back and forth, withdraw, grease cookie will be flush with case mouth, take small phillips screwdriver and punch a hole in cookie, use wooden dowel to push down on wad, seat bullet on cookie, no need for a top wad, a grease groove bullet will sit just fine on the cookie.

May have to call Montana Bullet Works, i didn't see they had the 1881 Saeco bullet in their inventory, i use it over the big Lyman gov greaser as it has a few thousandths smaller nose, easier to shoot/hunt/load/unload dirty.

The grease cookie does not stick to the bullet?
Jeff

I my opinion absolutely not, with a hard wad and powder charge exploding kicking that cookie in the butt it has no choice but to be squashed out into the lands and grooves, i have heard of cookies surviving the trip down the bore sandwiched between two wads under paper patch bullets, i dont know the air temps when shot, or composition of said lube used, i say this from shooting grease groove bullets with and without a cookie, the grease cookie with a grease groove bullet is unbelievable at controlling fouling.

Guess i should have asked, are you going to hunt with these rifles or just target shoot? if target shooting just wipe between shots and have fun.

I also bought wad punches and their wad punch board from Buffalo Arms, i cut playing card wads, they're around .0012" thick, very hard and sturdy, hard [wax?] coated, imho no lube will ever impregnate or get by the playing card wad to contaminate the powder charge or paper patch.