Home Forums Hunting & Shooting BPCR Shiloh Sharps

I note that on many of the rifles the wood and metal finish selection says "None". Does that mean the rifle comes unfinished and you have to pay several hundred dollars extra for any finish at all? An $1800.00 rifle with no finish?

None means nothing extra. Shiloh does not sell rifles in the white or w/o finish.

In the past you almost NEVER saw a Shiloh for sale at either a dealer's or a gunshow. I think I've only ever seen one at a gun dealer's...a strange-looking 50-70 in Joplin. Lately with the economy tighter or maybe because there are finally more out there, they are showing up some at shows. I saw three or four this weekend at a show in Wichita. The cheapest one was well over $3000.

A friend of mine from Amarillo did sell an original for...I forgot to ask how much he got out of it, but the asking price was $1600.

They said about 14-15 months...I want a hunting rifle...round or octagon?

There are a few on Guns America, but the cheapest is $2099.

Think that depends on the particular artillery of choice.The larger cartridges like 45/110 or the big 50's need some weight to manage the addition recoil.I went with a #3 Sporter 45/110 and a 30" full octagon for the added weight and shotgun butt instead of military.

You sir are a man's man. I'd be interested in how it handles with 500+ grain slugs.

Swampy, go back to the Shiloh website and look what they have available in their "gun room". There are some available almost all the time and in various different configurations. They might not be "cheap" but there are usually several well under $3000, including FET and shipping. Best thing is you can have one by next week if you want one now. There is currently a #3 Sporter in 45-70 with a 26" half and half barrel for about $2700 + shipping (probably about $75). Wouldn't be what I would want, but somebody might. If they don't have something to interest you just go back next week and there will be additions and subtractions . . .

Which ever barrel you prefer. If you go round go with the business rifle, octagaon then #3 or roughrider gets my choice, which ever route you go just do the standard weight barrel for a hunting rifle.
Don't sweat the 14-15 month deal , put your order in, pay the deposit and watch the available list, if something comes up there that suits your need, then call up there ask them to transfer all your deposit and any other money you've sent onto that rifle and it'll be all done....

Depends on how much you want to tote and how much recoil you want to tolerate. Obviously the guns shooting only 70 or so grains require less weight to manage the recoil. From what I've seen, octagons way outsell the rounds. I'd guess this is mainly based on looks.

http://www.shilohrifle.com/shop/product.php?productid=114&cat=1&page=1

That's what I'd get. If I were wanting to keep muss and fuss to a minimum, I'd just get a 45-70. Others think you need more, I don't. I've had probably over a dozen 45-70's in my life and they are great, as you've probably already determined. I've got a Big Fifty, because I wanted something different and it was there. I've long wanted a 44 as representative of the years of the big hunt that I'm most interested in, but the Big Fifty is probably just as representative, so it's all good.

Yep, I'd get one like that in 44-77 or 44-90, unless I wanted to simplify, then she would be 45-70. I'm a simple man.

I assure you that the 44-90 is anything BUT simple. It is very powerful and I am getting pretty decent accuracy but cases (for the time being) are at a real premium and it is best to have a custom mold. 1Minute, a 45-110 with 540 grain PP bullets and 105 g of GOEX FFG Express gives me 1400 fps and it FLATTENED 1 moose and one buffalo. My old gun has a military stock but I don't consider the recoil to be too harsh.

ET, I am so tickled with the 44-77, yeh it's expensive to get a start up, but dang the thing shoots so good.... So far I've only shot the one greaegroove bullet, but have also ran 4 different patched bullets from .429-.435 diameter and from 400-520 grs and the dang thing shoots them all well within minute of critter at 300 yds, and most have also shot well enough to go to a "gong" match and be competitive..
There is a military shiloh in 44-77 with all the reloading stuff on gunbroker right now.... But I don't need any more rifles for awhile....

I am as happy as a retard in a room full of bouncy balls wid my 44-90, but everything about it is odd sized. Your 44-77 shares that. It is a real hammer though. Oddly it doesn't have the same "BOOM' that my other BP cartridge guns do (45-70,45-90 and 45-110). It has much more of a BOOM crack report. Looking to kill a boar next week wid it.

EvilTwin:

Yes, I would think it capable of such with just a single round if they lined up. Someone e-mailed a video link last week. A 300 Win mag would blow up 3 or 4 lined up water jugs. A Sharps with 500+ grain slugs could explode 21 to 23 jugs. Big and slow really gets the job done on penetration.

Yes these 44's do seem to make more of a crack than the big boom of the 45's.
The video of Kurt killing his buffalo last year with his 44-90, you can hear above the wind the crack of the rifle and the whaouck of that big 44 bullet going home, the buff humps up hobbles a couple of feet and falls over dead.... I'm bettin your hog won't even slow the bullet down.

I keep thinking about the .50-70.

I had an original Conversion Carbine in that caliber. I guess it would be okay, but if I wanted a 50 and was buying from Shiloh themselves, there's no extra charge involved to go big, so why not the Big Fifty? I guess one would be okay, but I like the history of things. I'd have to look it up in my Sellers book to see how many 1874 carbines were even made. You can get the #3 Sporter for the same price anyway.

No doubt the 50-70 killed a lot of Buffalo but a lot of them were with other guns, like the Allin Conversion and Rolling Block. I'd go with more capacity. Of course then if you do that there are some issues to overcome as were laid out in detail on the thread about my gun.

Historically, up until 1872,the 44-77 was THE most used buffler killer. In 1872,the 40-90 prededed the 44-90 and the 50 2 1/2" by a little bit but didn't catch on then because the buff runners said "it shot far but lacked knockdown". The Big 50 was actually outsold by the 44-90 which shot far and hit very hard at looonnnng range (well over 600 yards). In 1877, the BIG 45(45 2 7/8" or the 45-110) came out and quickly became the buffler killer of choice. Shot VERY far and hit very very hard. The 45-70 was popular from 1873 on. If ya want a good critter killer, the 45-90(2.4") is perfect for most. Recoil not bad, accurate to beat the band and makes a 45 caliber hole. Brass is easy to get.

ET, your comment on the 45-2.4,(90), is exactly why I bought one in a Montana Roughrider more than 15 years ago. Wonderful cartridge. Like a 45-70 only more of a good thing.

I have to say my 40-2.5, (40-70 SS) with a Lyman 410 gr. grease groove bullet is a good killer also and my 40-70 will beat the 45-90 in accuracy.

I'd love to work with a 44-77 but that doesn't seem likely in the foreseeable future.

According to the sharps catalogs, the 45 2.4 and 2.6 were only standard in the Creedmoor guns.
The other 74's and 78 standard 45 chambering was 2.1 you needed to send along another 3.50 or such to have the gun chambered for a longer chamber, and after the move to Bridgeport with the exception of the midrange target guns any caliber other than 45 was special order...