.54 cal IAB sharps

[mountainman]

I just picked up a .54 cal sharps rifle it looks to be brand new. I got a bullet mold with it also. I'm kinda new to the sharps world and would like to know what I can do to accurize this rifle. I am going to put creedmore sights on it. any help here would be appreciated. I'd like to do some long range hunting if I can mabey coyotte. Thank you

[leftiye]

You might need something bigger - Like a Mack truck - fer them coyote's, they're mighty tough! (LOL) Actually, I'm a little envious.

[NickSS]

What you have is a percussion Sharps rifle. I have an IAB carbine and like it. Mine shoots fairly well but it is no really long range rifle. Mine will hold around 75 gr of powder but in the light weight rifle shooting a 475 gr slug it give a good kick to your shoulder. I shoot mostly 60 gr loads loaded into paper cartridges. The furthest I have shot this carbine is 200 yards at a Cowboy buffalo side match. As the velocity was only about 900 fps the bullets took awhile to get to the target but get there they did. I make paper cartridges from nitrated paper as follows:

cut paper into a strip about 1.25 in X two turns around a forming stick (the cartridge ID should be a slip fit for the base of your bullet). Role the paper strip to form a 1.25in cylinder and clue the end. After making 50 or 100 of these you are ready for puting in the base plug of tissue paper. Cut squares of tissue (toilet paper works good) about 1 inch square. Set a square over the end of a 1/2 inch dowel stick then slide the cartridge cylinder over it. Before the tissue gets to the other end of the cartridge run a bit of clue using a artist paint brush around the ID of the cylinder then push the tissue until it is flat with the base of the cartridge. Pinch to cartridge end a bit to make sure the tissue is glued to the cylinder then pull the dowel out. Do this for all cartridges in this batch. Next (after the glue dries) charge the case with 60 gr of FFG (a 45-70 loading block works great for holding 50 cartridges upright for this part). Then run a glue stick around the base of your bullet (unlubed) and insert it into the case (pinch the case to the bullet to make sure it is glued securly). After the glue is dry dip the bullet end of the cartridge in melted BP lube and let dry. You now have cartridges that resemble the ones used in the original Sharps rifles used during the civil war.

[Razor]

Mountainman...

I have an IAB percussion also....but but I ain't been able to keep it in running condition long enough to even start checking for accuracy..
(IAB= It's Always Broke )

I really hope you have good luck with yours..
I bought mine used, and it went T.U. when I cleaned it after firing 8 or 10 rds..Soft internals...IE.. the tumbler full cock notch was wore off..

There is a great post on making paper cartridges over on THE HIGH ROAD.ORG
Go to : BLACKPOWDER SHOOTING forum
Do a search for "paper cartridges"
A post by timuchin..."paper cartridges, step by step photos"

I s'pose there is a way to post a link right to the relevant post, but, being a 'puter idjit, I ain't figgered it out....

I'm cheap.. I use TOP cigarette papers to make my cartridges..


Razor

[Razor]

NickSS..

Is the IAB carbine chamber different size (smaller) than the Sporting Rifle..??

I manage to get about 100 grs ffg in my rifles chamber..


Razor

[NickSS]

I don't know but you can load as much as you want just make the cartridges longer. One other thing. If you want to shoot more than a few shots without gumming up the breach block so it wont open make sure you lube the breach block liberally with some water base grease also take out the gas check on the face of the breach block clean it every time and coat the back of it with copper never seize. Also if the bushing in the chamber can be moved (mine wont budge) pull it out as far as it will go and clean it each time you fire the gun also coat it with copper neverseize before pushing it back home. This will make your gun much more reliable. One last thing clean the breach block inside and out after each time you shoot it otherwise you will end up with rusty junk.

[Razor]

My bushing won't move either... got it used..
The Dixie bushing puller I bought won't budge it..

I thought , with BP, that there wasn't supposed to be any airspace in the chamber ?
Or do you take up the reduced powder charge space with wads under the boolit ??

Not trying to be a smart a$$.. just curious and wanting to understand..

Razor

[floodgate]

Razor:

In general, airspace is not desirable in BP loading, but the damage caused by it mostly applies to BP cartridge arms, where a chamber ring can interfere with extraction - we're not talking blowups here (except maybe when it comes from a stuck bullet with another round fired behind it). The Sharps percussers were intended to be loaded this way, and at most you'd get some scoring in the bushing, which should pose no real problems. The "air gap", in any case, is distributed here along the length of the cartridge, and not just behind the bullet.

Moreover, the practise of breech-seating the bullet in a BP cartridge arm, and then inserting a case of powder topped off with wads, also often leads to a 1/8" to 1/4" gap, and - although I have asked around the BPCR community - no-one has reported any problems from this technique (where any damage would be beyond the chamber, in the leade, and shouldn't affect chambering or extraction). I've never made up paper cartrides with the "ring-tail" bullet, but have shot an original New Model 1863 Sharps carbine quite a bit in past years (also a Starr) with loose powder and certainly some gap, with no problems. But, DO keep the gas check clean and well lubed, and clean out the flash passage thoroughly after shooting.

(Besides, it's ONLY an IAB....hadda throw that in).

floodgate

[Razor]

Mountainman...sorry for the hijack..

Thanks floodgate..sounds reasonable ...I been wanting to try some somewhat reduced loads
but figured the only way was to use wads..100grs of ffg, sitting, gets my attention..offhand 100grs is pure FUN...

(Besides, it's ONLY an IAB....hadda throw that in).

(lol) Yeah !! ..but NOT while I'm holdin' it !!!


Razor

[mountainman]

Thank you all. your info is very helpful. I'll definately be making some paper cartridges.

[NickSS]

The percussion Sharps is designed so that it is impossible not to have air space as ther is a cavity in the breach block that only gets powder in it after the cartridge explodes (unless you load it from the muzzle which was a selling feature to the army in 1852).

[uhjohnson]

I just purchased a Starr Percussion carbine and would like to shoot it on June 22 2015 in memory of the last shot fired in the Civil War. Can trailboss be used in a paper cartridge because I hate black powder

Thanks

[oldred]

I just purchased a Starr Percussion carbine and would like to shoot it on June 22 2015 in memory of the last shot fired in the Civil War. Can trailboss be used in a paper cartridge because I hate black powder

Thanks

NO!!!!!! NEVER use any kind of smokeless powder in a percussion firearm!!!!!!!!!!!!

An exception is the NEW rifles that are built from strong alloy steels designed for use with smokeless that use an ignition system that will contain the gas, there is a lot more to smokeless in a percussion firearm than just the strength of the metal. Also you are apparently of the very mistaken idea that Trailboss is a low pressure powder that can be used as a BP sub, THAT'S NOT TRUE! Go to Hodgdon's site and look at the load data, just because TB gives such poor velocity numbers does not mean it always does so at low pressures, in some large bore loadings (look at the 45/70 data) some powders yield nearly twice the velocity as TB at nearly identical pressures while others match TB velocities at about half the pressure. In any case TB can easily exceed BP pressures and then there is the gas containment problem of the ignition system just as with any other smokeless in a percussion firearm.

If you want a decent sub for real BP that's more like Smokeless then you might try BlackHorn 209, it's relatively noncorrosive and cleans just like smokeless using solvents meant for smokeless and does not use water for clean-up.

NEVER, EVER use smokeless powder in a percussion rifle!

[45-70 Chevroner]

I had a IAB Sharps in 45-70 and sadly the rifle was just not what I would call great. The action was quit sloppy and I hate to say it for your sake but I would not buy another one. I hope you have better luck than I did.

[THerbert]

I have one that my wife gave me for a birthday present last year, and I shot it for the first time a couple of months ago. I made paper cartridges for it on the ringtail boolets I got from TotW. When I say shot it, I'm being generous. It only went off three or four times, each time it took 4-5 caps to get the charge to ignite. I brought it home and cleaned it thoroughly, including cleaning out the flash passages in the breech block with appropriate-sized drill bits, to make sure everything is clear, no carbon fouling or anything like that, left over from the prior owner. I also had to replace the nipple, as it looked like most of the firing that the prior owner had done with it was dry firing, and the top of the original nipple was completely rounded over. So, now I need to try it again.

I wish you luck with yours, and I hope to have better luck with mine, as I really love Sharps rifles, and I would like to be able to shoot mine on a regular basis. But as one of the earlier posters had mentioned, it's really not a long-range rifle, as that really is a short, fat bullet. Now, you say that you got a mould with yours -- if it's for the Pedersoli bullet, rather than the "Christmas tree" bullet, that might shoot better at longer ranges, but I haven't acquired one of those moulds yet, and won't, unless I can get it to go off on a regular basis!

[curator]

I Have an IAB Sharps .54 paper-cutter that I bought used. It had the same miss fire problem until I enlarged the flash channel slightly. Full-power caps are needed to ignite these guns. CCI "Reenactor" caps don't cut it. I also freed up the gas-check plate so the breech didn't leak as bad when fired. Accuracy with the ring-tail bullet was non existent. My best load is using a .570 round ball and about 60 grains of FFg black powder. This does leave an air space in the chamber but it seems to shoot OK. The rifling twist in mine is somewhere around 1 in 72"--probably why the round ball works better than the longer ring-tail slug.

[mannyCA]

I have one that my wife gave me for a birthday present last year, and I shot it for the first time a couple of months ago. I made paper cartridges for it on the ringtail boolets I got from TotW. When I say shot it, I'm being generous. It only went off three or four times, each time it took 4-5 caps to get the charge to ignite. I brought it home and cleaned it thoroughly, including cleaning out the flash passages in the breech block with appropriate-sized drill bits, to make sure everything is clear, no carbon fouling or anything like that, left over from the prior owner. I also had to replace the nipple, as it looked like most of the firing that the prior owner had done with it was dry firing, and the top of the original nipple was completely rounded over. So, now I need to try it again.

I wish you luck with yours, and I hope to have better luck with mine, as I really love Sharps rifles, and I would like to be able to shoot mine on a regular basis. But as one of the earlier posters had mentioned, it's really not a long-range rifle, as that really is a short, fat bullet. Now, you say that you got a mould with yours -- if it's for the Pedersoli bullet, rather than the "Christmas tree" bullet, that might shoot better at longer ranges, but I haven't acquired one of those moulds yet, and won't, unless I can get it to go off on a regular basis!

you can also use a bit of black powder sprinkled under the musket cap before carefully placing it on the nipple. Works great for that long tortuous flash hole.