Shiloh Barrel

[Nit Wit]

I bought a 45 cal barrel in a junk shop yesterday. It is marked shiloh rifle mfg in two places, one is double struck. It also is marked old reliable so it is for an 1874. The bore looks real good but the out side has a couple of places with some pitting.
I'm wondering if I should get an 1874 action or have it fitted to a remington rolling block action(cheaper)?
Does anyone know where I could find used actions? Open to suggestions.
Thanks
Nit Wit

[Naphtali]

While the barrel is marked "Shiloh," C. Sharps - just down the street from them - sells 1874 complete actions in the white, and their product compares favorably with Shiloh in every respect. Your barrel should fit the receiver without issue.

Hope this helps.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Consider the chamber length, A old Shiloh barrel marked such has with good chance the old Wolf-long throat. near useless. If its a 45-70 could be rechambered to clean that up.

Most likely was taken off for a good reason.

KW
The Lunger

[drcook]

You need to heed what K.W. just told you. He is very very knowledgeable about Shilohs and Sharps rifles in general

It is known within the Shiloh crowd about the old barrels, not so much in the rest of the world. Current production Shiloh barrels are great, but the old ones are an iffy chance to take unless they can be rechambered, or you can get a chamber cast and display it on the Shiloh site for comments..........

[Nit Wit]

KW
Could you tell me more about the old wolf throat?
Thanks
Nit Wit

[drcook]

read this, it explains it:

http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5221

[Kenny Wasserburger]

Follow David's link, that pretty much sums it up.

KW
The Lunger

PS thanks David! saved me a lot of typing! HAHA

[45 2.1]

So... i'm a bit curious here. Just what kind of groups did you guys have with the original Farmingdale Wolf rifles? With blackpowder of course..................

[Arnie]

Not all the old Farmingdale Sharps have that free bore and some of those barrels were made by Hall Sharon .I have one and it shoots very good .Believe it or not at rams it shoots well under two minutes with that bullet that was designed for the Pedersoli 45's.I havent played with it in years .I got it as a barreled action and had Dan Pharis put a #3 stock on it .Shot it about three weeks ago with that pedersoli bullet because thats all i had .Arnie

[Arnie]

Also i think its a 20-1 twist barrel .

[45 2.1]

Thanks Arnie. The Farmingdale I got to try had the PP throat in it. It was a 45-120 and it shot better, with full BP loads, than this threads answers relate. Thats why I wondered about the written poor results posted.

[Kenny Wasserburger]

45 2.1,

Most of the poor results were with GG bullets seated in the case, a good many got by with Smokless loads. I had but one of the older barrels on a used rifle I bought in 40-90 BN and it did not have the long throat, it was a very light wt sporter barrel and kicked like a country mule. (I failed to mention in the original Post) This barrel shot very well, however the rifle was a real handful shooting prone, weighing in around 11.25#'s. I had it rebarreled with a 38 caliber. 1-14 twist Douglas Barrel as Shiloh does not make 38 caliber barrels, and this is what Shiloh uses for their 38's. It was a 38-55 but lacked the snort to do well past the turkey line at Raton and other windy places. (mostly where I shoot). It was rechambered in Jan of 2010 to 38-50 RH. And I have shot it a good bit since, even with 335 gr Lyman I rang rams at Raton in headwinds. I went to a 355 gr Elipitical bullet for the rams and have not rang one since. The Old Wolfgang throated barrels As I understand shot Patched to Groove bullets pretty well, with BP Loads, and seated just in the case. However very few People shoot PP in the venues I shoot in. And most that do patch to Bore with BP. If the person has one of the Wolf barrels with the Long Throat I would look real hard at Patching to Groove and try that.

Quite a few Gunsmith's as Rick has mentioned back in the day made good money on rebarrel jobs on the old Wolf long throat.

All but the one rifle are Bryan builds and, the last 3 I have got are all 45-110's and I shoot only PP in those.

KW
The Lunger

As you know how I have done with them no sense going into that.

[BruceB]

Along about '80-81 (I think) my wife and I visited a shop in Edmonton, Alberta. They had a nearly-complete range of Shiloh models in stock! Probably at least twenty assorted rifles graced their racks, and what a sight it was. I had already formulated a "need "for a Shiloh from reading the advertisements in "Rifle", and naturally it HAD to be a .50-3.25".

That Christmas, my wife presented me with a #3 Sporter, standard -weight Shiloh rifle, serial number 34XX, made in Farmingdale NY. It was marked "50-3.25". To say I was thrilled would be serious under-statement.

We were living in the Northwest Territories, FAR from any supply sources. To feed my curiosity, I referred to Cartridges of the World", and fired up my Unimat lathe to make a dummy (steel) cartridge. That turned out OK, but....it would NOT chamber. After a lot of anguish and experiments, I finally discovered that the rifle was MARKED .50-3.25", but was actually chambered for the .50-2.5" cartridge. Luckily I made this discovery before ordering dies etc.

The rifle never performed very well for me. Over quite a few years and a good bit of study (all by myself, and FAR, FAR away from any other BPCR shooters), I determined the barrel had a "paper-patch throat" with a lvery long, tapered leade and around 1-38" twist. No bullet I tried could be seated out far enough to reach the rifling.

About ten years ago, after moving to Nevada, I called Shiloh about this barrel. Kirk Bryan, the owner, made me an amazing offer. Shiloh would rebarrel the rifle in any caliber or weight they normally offer, for HALF PRICE. The rifle went to Montana forthwith, and came back as a standard-weight .45-2.1 (,45-70). It now also has an Axtell vernier tang sight and Parts Unknown bubble-level front, and it shoots just fine with any of a half-dozen cast designs I make.

I'm still astonished that Mr. Bryan made me that offer, considering that the rifle was made many years before his involvement with Shiloh. If ever I "need" another sharps' rifle, I reckon y'all KNOW what brand it will be....right?

[Nit Wit]

I guess a chamber casting is in order? Also there is no serial#. Like I said Shiloh rifle mfg is struck twice in the same place. I don't think they would have used that barrel.Any thoughts?
Thanks for the previous info.
Nit Wit