45/70 - the original long range caliber

[DMP25-06]

The original rifle used by Tom Selleck in the movie " QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER " was a .45-110 , Model 1874 Sharps rifle , built by Shiloh Sharps Rifle Company , in Big Timber , Montana .
My 2 brothers and I ordered 3 Model 1874 Sharps rifles in .45/110 with 34" octagonal barrels , and 3 Model 1874 Sharps rifles in .45/70 with 30" barrels ( each of us having a .45/110 and a .45/70 rifle ) , from Shiloh Sharps Rifle Company in October 1992 , and we visited their rifle production factory there in Big Timber , Montana in late October , 1992 , some 3 weeks after placing our orders , and paying full price up-front at time of order .
All 6 rifles are consecutively numbered serial numbers , with .45/110 being 1st , followed by .45/70 being 2nd , and oldest brother having 1 & 2 , middle brother having 3 & 4 , and youngest brother owning 5 & 6 .
Shiloh Sharps Rifle Company was overwhelmed by orders for 1874 Sharps rifles after the movie " QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER " , and we did not receive our rifles until August , 1996 , some 3 years and 10 months after having ordered and paid for them .

DMP25-06

 

[DMP25-06]

My best 5 shot grouping during load development for my .45/70 was 1.4" , center-center , at 200 yards , using the long-range vernier tang peep-sight , with a 499 gr. cast lead spitzer bullet made from a mold that was cut to my design , over 62 grains Goex Cartridge Grade black powder , in Winchester brass , with a Federal 215 primer . Velocity was 1120 FPS with extreme spread of 4 FPS . The black powder was very consistent on velocity on all of the loads that we tested .

DMP25-06

 

[Greyfox]

I have a couple of Shilo Sharps in 45-70. Shot them quite a bit many years ago. This one has identical style/dimensions to the Quigley Rifle. I shoot a 520 gr Lyman cast bully over GOEX cartridge for sub MOA out to 500 yards(furthest distance shot) using the Montana sights, globe front. Very accurate, fun to shoot, but the narrow, steel butt plate is a killer, even in 45-70.

 

[Kmccord]

One of the reasons I had quit shooting mine was the cleaning, even taking it out to shoot for a few rounds was not worth the cleaning. I did take it deer hunting two years in a row, first thing I found out on year one, looking through the peep hole on the venier site, in early morning with a nice 10 point buck 92 yards in front of you, I could not find the front site on his body. So, me getting to excited, and had already pulled the set trigger, I stuck my darn eye up to the cup to see better, lowered the rifle in better light found the cross hairs on the front started to bring it back up to his shoulder and my finger on the darn trigger, getting excited, and with a glove on, I touched that trigger off and sent a 500 grain Hornady under his belly into the ground. The deer donkey kicked, the rifle donkey kicked the poopoo out of me and my eye was against the eye cup!!! After gathering myself second later I watched the buck look around like WTH was that then walk off into the brush.. I was sitting there with my heart back in normal mode, feeling aggravated. My Dad walked down from his stand about 20 minutes later asked if I got one, looked at me and asked what happened to your eye, felt up there and had blood running down my nose... That was year one deer hunting, year two, I purchased a Hadley Adjustable eye cup and did not have anymore problems with low light conditions. That second year, same stand an eight point buck at the same feeder, this time I controlled my breathing, did not get to excited and was able to bag him. I will say, that is the last time I took it hunting, that sucker is too heavy to be caring around, it wore me out just getting to my stands or crawling up a tree.

 

[levers4life]

My buddy and I set up our own "buffalo shoot" at 500yd or so and it got to be a bit of a competition. I was running an H&R Buffalo Classic. I got a little over zealous in my loads and split the stock on my rifle......so I built the "Buffalo Sniper" I have since picked up another Buffalo Classic in it's classic form but this one is a hoot!

 

[JWM]

Billy Dixon used a .50 Sharps, as did most of the buffalo hunters. And I think they mostly used greased patches. Elmer Keith wrote about shooting a Sharps .50 in his book, he shot an inch group at 200 yards, if I remember correctly.

 

[bpcrshooter]

50-70 sharps was a very popular cartridge, there were quite a few in the 40cal range as well. 40-65, 40-70, 40-70SBN, 40-90,40-85 ballard, 40-63 ballard, 40-60win,40-50 sharps. and quite a few of those were also used for buffalo.

 

[DMP25-06]

KMCCORD spoke of the difficulty of cleaning the rifle and cartridge cases after shooting with black powder . They are very messy , but in September 2002 , I was told an easier and simpler way of cleaning rifle and cartridge cases after use of black powder by an older shooter , in his 80's at that time . This gentleman and his wife were voluntary caretakers at the NRA Whittington Center , living in their travel trailer there at Whittington . He was at the silhouette range shooting his Sharps while my 2 brothers and I were shooting our .45-70 rifles .
When we stopped shooting and began the tedious , filthy task of cleaning our rifles with Hoppe's Black Powder cleaning solvent , this older shooter asked if he might offer a suggestion to speed-up the cleaning process . Of course we said yes .
He asked me to open the hood of my truck , remove the radiator cap , put a clean patch on my cleaning rod , and dip the clean patch into the antifreeze , then run the wet patch through the bore , remove the dirty patch , run 2 -3 clean dry patches through the bore , and repeat the process a second time with another clean patch soaked with anti-freeze followed by clean dry patches to finish the bore cleaning .
He said to use ONLY green anti-freeze mixed with water at a 50 / 50 ratio , and suggested that we buy a 1 gallon jug of pre-mixed green ethyl-glycol based anti-freeze at the local auto parts store . He also suggested that the fired cartridge cases be dropped into that gallon jug of pre-mixed anti-freeze , which not only cleaned the cases , but neutralized the corrosive effects of black powder .
IT WORKS !!!!
The anti-freeze also does the same for the bore and chamber of the firearm , in addition to protecting the bore from rust , same as it does for the inside of a cast-iron or steel engine block .
His advice and method made our cleaning much easier and less filthy and a much shorter , quicker process .

DMP25-06

 

[Greyfox]

One of the reasons I had quit shooting mine was the cleaning, even taking it out to shoot for a few rounds was not worth the cleaning. I did take it deer hunting two years in a row, first thing I found out on year one, looking through the peep hole on the venier site, in early morning with a nice 10 point buck 92 yards in front of you, I could not find the front site on his body. So, me getting to excited, and had already pulled the set trigger, I stuck my darn eye up to the cup to see better, lowered the rifle in better light found the cross hairs on the front started to bring it back up to his shoulder and my finger on the darn trigger, getting excited, and with a glove on, I touched that trigger off and sent a 500 grain Hornady under his belly into the ground. The deer donkey kicked, the rifle donkey kicked the poopoo out of me and my eye was against the eye cup!!! After gathering myself second later I watched the buck look around like WTH was that then walk off into the brush.. I was sitting there with my heart back in normal mode, feeling aggravated. My Dad walked down from his stand about 20 minutes later asked if I got one, looked at me and asked what happened to your eye, felt up there and had blood running down my nose... That was year one deer hunting, year two, I purchased a Hadley Adjustable eye cup and did not have anymore problems with low light conditions. That second year, same stand an eight point buck at the same feeder, this time I controlled my breathing, did not get to excited and was able to bag him. I will say, that is the last time I took it hunting, that sucker is too heavy to be caring around, it wore me out just getting to my stands or crawling up a tree.

 

[Greyfox]

For black powder cleaning with breech loaders, for over 25 years, I have been using Vinegar Windex cut 50% with water. A few wet patches, dry, and a patch of Ballistol...spotless and done.

 

[jls in az]

There used to be a big shoot in Colorado every year to celebrate the shot that stopped the battle of Adobe Walls- https://gunblast.com/AndyTuttle_FOBD.htm

Many years ago (mid 1980's), I had a table at a gun show in Fairbanks, Alaska and sold a Rockchucker to a youngish sourdough that lived in the bush. He said he had one rifle, a 50-140 by 3.25 Sharps and that was all he used. He had shot cartridges loaded for small game and a 700 grain cast bullet that he used for big game. He never had to shoot anything more than once.

 

[Kmccord]

For black powder cleaning with breech loaders, for over 25 years, I have been using Vinegar Windex cut 50% with water. A few wet patches, dry, and a patch of Ballistol...spotless and done.

I used 1/2 White Vinegar and 1/2 water, for cleaning brass, let it soak I think for 20 minutes, but have to be careful to long and it will begin to eat the brass. It would clean all the black powder residue and make them all look new.

 

[bpcrshooter]

I used 1/2 White Vinegar and 1/2 water, for cleaning brass, let it soak I think for 20 minutes, but have to be careful to long and it will begin to eat the brass. It would clean all the black powder residue and make them all look new.

use that exact mix in my sonic cleaner, works wonders!!!

for gun cleaning, I shoot bore dia PP"s so I must wipe every shot but I use 10 to 1 water/ water soluble cutting fluid. we used to use the anitfreeze back in the day with our muzzle loaders, found the water oil to be a little better while shooting. that antifreeze would be nice on cold Feb shoots tho!!!!

 

[jes10x1]

I have a c sharps 45-90 that I bought used from a fellow who had won several 600 yd matches with it! I have been loading a 540 gr gg Bullet over a charge of 74 gr of Swiss 1 1/2F BP. Keep in mind the 600 yard target has a 36" black and a 12" 10ring. Not for shooting game, IMHO.