Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Single Shots looking at all these high dollar shiloh sharps rifle- i have a ?

what kind of 45/70 Gov't do you run through these things? premium bullets with high Ballistic Coefficents to get the range? thank you for your time

Mine is a Buffalo Classic,works as good as a sharps that old 32 inch barrel one hell-of-a-gun

I think the whole point of any traditional rifle, especially one as traditional as '74 Sharps, is to maximize the original concept of the design. For me, that would mean black powder and cast lead bullets. A 500 gr..45-70 bullet in the mold design of your choice has PLENTY of long range potential! For me, "premium" would mean a custom mold and very good casting technique and QC.

Yes. What Mesa said. Black powder and 500+ grains slugs. Shiloh has a website and forum that would probably be ones best source.

And if you order a new .45-70, I would advise getting one with a "shotgun" (flat) buttplate rather than the traditional "crescent" buttplate. Heavy, efficient, .45-70 loads kick, even in a Sharps. If you intend to do a lot of shooting, you may need some padding, and a crescent buttplate is hard to pad. A shotgun buttplate can take one of those ugly "butt condom" (my hunting buddy's vulgar phrase....) pull-over pads and easily be returned to original.

Agreed. Lead bullets, 405-525 grains. I use smokeless, but then I'm a heretic.

If you go with something like a Shiloh, you also need to consider what kind of rifle you want, and how you hunt. Carrying a Sharps with a 30" barrel around for long is gonna get tiring. If you do a lot of walking, you might wanna consider something like the military carbine or saddle rifle.

Pretty much what I do with mine -- 535 gr Lyman Postell over a slow smokeless powder because I don't like the fuss and muss of BP. My 1874 Sharps has a 32" octagon barrel and weighs a touch over 13 lbs, placing it in the "crew served weapon" class.

Noah

Ballistic coefficients of target bullets in the .45 class run .45-.55. That is reasonably high, and almost certainly higher than modern "premium" bullets.

BCs for hunting bullets for the same rifle will run generally 0.28-0.43

Good bullets are made, not bought.

Black powder is not as messy as many make it out to be. Try it you will see remarkable accuracy.

Randy

I'll echo what most of the others have said about going the traditional route, and not trying to "modernize" a Sharps.

As far as a "high dollar" firearm, I'd add that Shiloh offers the best value anywhere, bar none. Function, fit and finish rival true custom rifles costing much more. Plus, Shiloh is a family owned all-American company employing several dozen local workers. They have also been generous in donating prize rifles for matches. What's not to like and admire?

Paul

get a Shiloh Sharps. ANY of the big 45 calibers. Learn to cast slugs,both gg and paperpatched. Load with real blackpowder, go forth and slay BIG tasty critters as well as or better than a modern bullet launcher. You'll hate us for this!!!

So far I only ogle my 45-70 Browning 1886. I will shoot no rifle before its time.

BTDT, nothing wrong with BP. It's just that I now prefer "light" smokeless loads that duplicate BP performance -- 10 gr Unique in the 38-55, 13 gr Unique in the 45-70, for two examples.

Noah

Duplicating velocity is possible but when I chrono'd my BP 45/110 loads, in a 10 shot string my high and low were 1390 and 1400 w/ a 540 gr pp bullet.

Think long and hard about what you want a Shiloh to do. I scummed to the romance and bought the sweet shooting .40-65. About the only thing I got right was the shotgun butt. I got the heavy half octagon in a 30" job. I have found the caliber lacking in case capacity with black, even trickled with a 2' drop tube and heavily compressed with just a bit of the paper patched bullet inserted in the case. My most economical out is to have the barrel re chambered to .40-82. That would solve that problem nicely, but I would still have a 12# plus rifle. I do not shoot silhouette or any other formal target competition . Cutting more than about four inches from the barrel would defeat the re chamber (IMO-two would be better) but it still would be heavy. If I sell the rifle and order another (I'm bumping 74,) I may not even want it after waiting a year and a half or two for the build. I think I can send it back and have the rifle rebuilt into a light sporter in either .40-82 or .45-70 (which I recommend) for about a grand and get it back in about two months. That makes for an expensive rig. My cheapest and perhaps best solution is to re chamber and have the barrel turned, refinished and rework the forend myself. I have a little skill in wood matters.

The other posters are correct. The fit and finish, even on their entry level finishes is custom grade. The action is strong(some say equal to a #1) and you may use smokeless in those calibers factory loaded as such (.30-40, .38-55, .40-65, and .45-70.) The military verson comes in at something over 9# (about like a Browning) and would be the better factory edition if hunting is your game as it comes standatd with sling mounts.
Again, I'm not knocking Shiloh as it is a work of art-I just got the wrong one. jack

I shoot an original Sharps 45 2 7/8 aka 45/110. I will be receiving a 44/90 #3 likely around October. The original and the Shiloh both weigh in at about 12 lbs. For the big buffalo cartridges, one does get to appreciate the weight. A 45/70 would be just dandy in the carbine or the business rifle.

EvilTwin, I very much agree with your weight statement about the big thumpers. My thought is that the weight/configuration should match the intended purpose. My rifle should make a heck of a bench, target, or competition rifle out to 600 yards or so. It is clumsy as all get out as a walkabout rifle, or hunting pigs off the Mule. A .45-70 in a business rifle or Bill Goodman's lightweight hunter (a duplicate of an original version) would have been a much better choice for me. Not Shiloh's fault, I did it! Jack

jt,I used my old Sharps to hunt and kill a Newfoundland moose and just last Dec. to hunt and kill a buffler in Wyoming. The weight seemed like a pita,but when time came to put it on the buffalo sticks,aim and fire, the weight helped. I WAS very excited both times (wonder why ) and it damped down the heartbeat and let me sight well. SMOOTH shooting big guns. I thought yours was too heavy for such a light cartridge. You'd have liked the carbine or business rifle I'd bet.