As most of you know I'm relatively new to this game ( five years in the making) but I also know there are many of you old veterans with years of experience under your belt. So how about some history of "how you got started"..your first rifle/rifles and any other info you'd care to share to jump start the old forum.
Always loved the looks of the Sharps and then watched that damn movie Quigly Down Under and the rest is history. Started with an Italian repro but quickly moved on to Shilohs and have not looked back after 5 of them. I have yet to order direct from Shiloh and have bought all but one used. My first was ordered through Bill Goodman just the way I wanted it and got it within a few months. If you want a new one and are impatient like me his services are well worth a couple hundred bucks.
I went big for my 1st rifle a 45-120 sharps! was an early rifle from Wolf, and I had to clean it every shot, to chamber another round! it didnt last long. Iv owned Shilos, C. Sharps, Ballard & a Red Willow! Cals 120, 45-70, 40-70, 44-77, Hunted with all but the 120 took whitetails and 2 Bears. Never shot a match, but went to a sight in day before the match, I didnt have a rifle with me and had to work the day of the shoot, a fellow let me fire his 45-90, I knocked 3 Rams down and hit another one, but it didnt fall and missed the last one! Not much in the way of Shoots here in Michigan back then! NO rifles now but hope to get back into them one day!
About six #1s and a Low wall (great gun nicer looking but never really gripped it well with the S lever)...1875s look like a side hammer High Wall, no S lever but it seems no one really keeps one very long.
So I decided to get an 1874. I was about to buy a C Sharps 50/70 that will live a retired life shooting game in Kansas. Shot Ed's ten pounder a few years ago, and it was great.
So here I am gun, and 100 Starlines, I am hopeful. Almost started!
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 . . .
Was already heavy into traditional Muzzleloaders and Quigley did the rest. Now I'm drawn back to flintlocks!
I'm a history nut and back then especially American history from the F&I war until the beginning of the 20th century. I was more than a little familiar with the history of Sharps rifles in the west and always admired them. 3-4 years before Quigly came out I ordered one from Shiloh, a Long Range Express in 45-70. An idea of how things were back then; I waited 8 months and gave $830 for the rifle. At that time the most expensive rifle I had ever owned.
Fast forward 13 years and Shiloh's were as hot as a two dollar pistol.....and I had a total of 3 in the toy box. I have no idea how many pounds of lead and black powder I put through the barrel of the LRE but it was a lot. One of the guys who worked for me wanted the LRE a lot more than I did so I sold it to him at the then bargain price of $2,000. The other two were a Montana Rough Rider in 45-90 which I used exclusively for hunting the next 12 years and killed a pile of game with it. The other is a #1 Sporter in 40-2.5. It is one of the 3 most accurate rifles I have ever owned and became my match rifle. Fast forward another almost 20 years and I no longer shoot matches and as we sold the farm and moved I no longer have two 500 yard ranges out my back door so the 40 doesn't see much use. I do get both of them out a couple/few times a year and kill some steel with them at my little 100 yard range in the back yard. For hunting the 45-90 has been supplanted by a bevy of German firearms in various configurations, drillings, combination guns, double rifles, Mausers and Mannlicher/Schoenauer's and single shot rifles. Though I don't use my Sharps like I used to there's two in the safe and I have two sons they'll each get one when my time comes.
Woody for me it started at a early age back around 1955 or 56 when I found a NRA magazine and going through the back pages looking at the rolling blocks and sharps rifles for sale. I ordered a roller because it was the cheapest for around $ 14.00 that was a lot of my summers .50 cent a hour wages staking hay bales in a hot haymow. The Sharps rifles were out of my reach in the $ 20. plus price ranges. The .43 Spanish were less then the .45-70's but ammo was still available for them so I ordered a .43 and I been hooked on seeing the smoke blow out ever since
I have shot hand guns, shot guns bench guns front stuffers but the BPCR have always been my favorite that I always returned back to. Even to this day with all the rifles I have 80% are BPCR and front stuffers. I have not pulled the trigger on my high power rifles since I got my first Sharps rifle back in the mid 90's that I always wanted since I was a Kid.
Went over to the 1000 yd benches to see what was going on with the Saturday morning crowd. I was asked to keep score, because all in the party wanted to shoot. I was supposed to be home at 10:00 AM but made it around 3:30PM. I ordered a 45-90 Sharps LRE on Monday.
Went over to the 1000 yd benches to see what was going on with the Saturday morning crowd. I was asked to keep score, because all in the party wanted to shoot. I was supposed to be home at 10:00 AM but made it around 3:30PM. I ordered a 45-90 Sharps LRE on Monday.
Sweet..I have the '90 in my '86 Win and love it..also have little and big brother..My Shiloh in 110 is special for many reasons and a hoot to shoot but for all practical purposes the 45/90 is best all round IMO.
Had a flintlock delivered and a few weeks later there was a move by the Feds to rewrite storage and shipping of BP. Ordered a bunch of powder. Realized I needed more guns to use all the powder. So it goes....
For me, it was reading this forum, being harassed by EvilTwin, and then Crossfireoops. Then, the fatal mistake was attending a Gathering at Crossfireoops' place in Sierra Vista where I fondled his custom 1874 and another one he was building for someone else.
I returned to Greg's place a few months later, went to the range with him and his 1874, and Greg had me hitting steel at 600 yards in just a few minutes with his rifle and tang sights.
E.T. had not ceased in his harassing phone calls and P.M.'s during this time, either.
A check on Bill Goldman's website showed an 1874 Hartford Model in .45 2.1" with a 30" heavy octagon barrel, and semi-fancy wood due to be finished in about 90 days from then.
A call to Mr. Goodman, a deposit check in the mail, and "my" rifle was booked.
I posted on the 'Fire that I had put my money down and next thing I knew, I received a message from sharpsguy offering to give me a hand learning to load and shoot my rifle.
Fast forward three months, the happy day arrives when my LGS calls and tells me they have a damaged rifle that was just delivered. I drove to the shop and the owner asked me to come into the back room where the rifle was.
Fearing the worst, I opened the case to find a beautiful, unmarred 1874 Hartford Model. The shop owner grinned and said that the rifle must be damaged because there wasnt a bolt with it or a spare magazine, so he was prepared to give me $200.00 for it...
I took the rifle to sharpsguy's place along with 110 rounds of ammo loaded to his specs, and the lessons began. I shot all 110 rounds of my ammo plus some of Bill's test loads that afternoon.
To say that I was (and still am) addicted is an understatement.
The gifts of alloy, precast bullets, Woody's gift of a Lyman mould, and Crossfireoops & Paladin's tutelage at casting these artillery shells, and all of sharpsguy's patient instruction and guidance are forever deeply appreciated.
No, this rifle is not, nor ever will, be for sale
Ed