Pedersoli 1874 Sharps 45-70 recoil

[shafer44]

I just got my rifle and first reloaded some 405gr hard cast .459 boolits and bought some factory loaded 405gr jacketed .458 boolits. The rifle shot pretty well at 25 and 50 yards, but the factory was supposed to be about 1330 fps and my reloads using IMR 3031 was supposed to be 1250-1300 fps. What I noticed was that the lead boolits had more recoil than the jacketed boolits. I was curious if the difference was mainly due to the sized boolit difference or what. Both were well under the published 29007 cup limit by Pedersoli.

[Red River Rick]

If you were using "Black Powder", rather than smokeless.............you wouldn't have to worry about recoil at all!

RRR

[Exal]

I'm definitely no expert but I would say that the factory powder was a little slower burning than your 3031 giving you less of an initial kick. The size difference may have caused more friction with the lead bulrlets which could have slowed them down. Once again I am no expert just using prior experience.

[NSB]

I've shot them both quite a bit and to be honest, I couldn't see any difference. It's pretty much about mass x velocity, Newton's Law, etc.....you'd have to chrono both to see where the difference is.

[shafer44]

I slugged my barrel and found it to be .458. I did not take my chrono with me that day, so maybe I will do that next time. I do know that on paper, the jacketed factory boolits were hitting low compared to the cast boolits and 3031. That tells me that my loads were a little hotter than the factory loads since both were the same weight boolits. Next time, also, I will use my Past recoil shield, that will help also. That steel buttplate gets your attention!!

[shafer44]

oh, and the cast boolits were sized .459

[Harter66]

I can't​ say in a Sharps but I have an 1895 and the faster I go with the 458193 405 gr , it's 414 gr , the lower it hits . At 100 yd I was out of elevation with OM sights at just 1400 fps .
Personally I'd go to a slower powder and use all of the bbl length .

In the face of all of this the Privi Partizan 405s hit well within the sight adjustment but I didn't shoot those over the Chrony , they are CIP rated however and have a max pressure of 31kpsi . In any event I'm sure the short bbl of the non ported GG doesn't do velocities any favors .

[Skipper]

The factory .45-70 ammo has always had it's velocity overstated. I'd be surprised if it actually hits 1150

[MT Chambers]

I've never known j-word bullets to cause more or less recoil than cast, if every thing else is equal, if anything I think cast may kick less.

[jlmurphy]

The rifle is moving as soon as the bullet begins to move. The impact up or down on the target is more than just the change in velocity. The slower charge leaves the rifle later.

[Hiwall55]

you might as well get your AR out if you are going to shoot jacketed bullets in a Sharps.

[rfd]

the 19th century design of the sharps rifle is all about real black powder and lead bullets. one would do best to feed such a firearm with what it really both likes and wants best of all. at the very least, use cast lead bullets.

[EDG]

Why do you claim that?
The laws of physics say otherwise.
If you use 70 grains of black to get 1300 FPS you will blow about 20 or 30 grains of unburned black powder out the muzzle. This extra weight of powder wasted just creates more recoil without affecting velocity.
To get 1300 FPS with smokeless might take 25 grains of SR4759 and all of it burns....

If you were using "Black Powder", rather than smokeless.............you wouldn't have to worry about recoil at all!

RRR

[Lead pot]

shaffer44

You might get the answer your looking for better on Single Shot Guns below from people that use your bullets and powder.

[flint45]

I would bet the factory loads were not as fast as the factory says they are. Learn to shoot black powder its a blast especially in a sharps and the recoil with black powder is much better then smokeless.I use 65 grs. of black under a 520 gr. boolit and it all burns and accuracy is better then smokeless even if i use a 405 I use 65 grs. ctg. Goex its a fun load.