Ordered my retirement rifle

[Big Mak]

I've only been shooting/ reloading BP cartridge for 4 years. (95% Condition 1873 Trapdoor, -1883 cartouche)

I Retire May 24th this year, age 57, after 39 years with the Boeing Company.

Here is what I ordered from Shiloh. Don't hate me.

Model type Recommended by a forum member here over 2 years ago I believe.
Quigley Match 2020, here I come!
16 month wait.....

1874 MONTANA ROUGHRIDER
Options:
CALIBER: 45-70;
BARREL LENGTH: 30";
BARREL FEATURES: NONE;
BARREL WEIGHT: HVY.OCT;
WOOD UPGRADES: SEMI-FANCY (+$306.00);
LENGTH OF PULL - SHOTGUN BUTTSTOCKS ONLY!: NONE ;
BUTTPLATE: TRADITIONAL STEEL (+$96.00);
METAL FINISHES: PACK HARDEN (+$300.00);
BACKGROUND FILL - (ENGRAVED FRENCH GRAY ONLY): NONE;
BRASS ESCUTCHEONS: BRASS (+$25.00);
TRADITIONAL CHECKERING: NONE;
SLING SWIVELS: NONE;
CUSTOM BEDDING: CUSTOM BED (+$50.00);
FOREARM TIPS: NONE;
HARTFORD COLLAR: NONE;
POLISHED SCREWS: FIREBLUED (+$77.00);
SCHNABBLE ON PISTOL GRIP: SCHNABBLE (+$92.00);
REAR BARREL SIGHT: DOVETAIL FILLER (+$35.00);
VERNIER TANG SIGHTS: #107 - LONG RANGE (+$353.00);
FRONT SIGHT: MVA #113 (+$167.00);
DRILL AND TAP MVA SCOPE: NONE;

[Outer Rondacker]

Congrats. You deserve it. Just sucks you have to wait so long but then again you have already waited this long.

[Knarley]

Ooh, baby! That one there is gunna be purdee!!!! Have to show us a picture or two when she gets "Home"

[Big Mak]

As a 'published' professional photographer for gun magazines as a side bidness....you bet I will Knarley!

[Don McDowell]

You've got one mighty fine rifle on the pipeline.

[country gent]

Ordering a fine rifle like you have is the easy part. Its the waiting that's hard. Should be a fine rifle.

[smoked turkey]

Congratulations on the upcoming retirement. You will for sure enjoy that rifle. It looks like you picked some good options. It will be a heavy one too. I see your handy work in your wonderful pictures. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. Mine has similar options but the name on it is C Sharps.

[Tom Herman]

Congratulations, Big Mak!

This is something I was going to do as well: A once in a lifetime purchase, but it hasn't happened yet.
Told myself I'd do that for my 50th birthday, but other things intervened... Hopefully, someday...
Nothing wrong at all with your order! I hope to go to Big Timber and look at rifles at some point.
In the mean time, I'm enjoying the 1868 Springfield, Danish Remington, and 71/84 Mauser, so not all is lost!
Best of Luck on your retirement, and may you have the health to enjoy and do what you want to!

-Tom

[Big Mak]

Congratulations on the upcoming retirement. You will for sure enjoy that rifle. It looks like you picked some good options. It will be a heavy one too. I see your handy work in your wonderful pictures. I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. Mine has similar options but the name on it is C Sharps.

THank you Gentlement!
Say smoked turkey, I toured both C Sharps and Shiloh last August. Both are great manufacturing facilities and both hosts were gracious and full of information.
As a former machinist early in my career, it was fond memories smelling cutting fluid again during the tour!

[WILCO]

Congratulations, Big Mak!

Yep. What Tom said.

[upnorthwis]

Only change I would make is to go with a .45-90. That will get you out to a 1000 yds. where the 70 is a bit tougher to do.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have one that reaches "out there" but the pain is not worth it. I have a Model 1885 in 50-90
Sharps and Kelly Soule Sights in Brass. This is one of the limited Winchester Series made in Japan by Myroku and it is a fine rifle in all respects except for the painful recoil with full boat loadings. Throwing a 695 gr boolit at 1250 fps produced at lot of power at both ends. I prefer to load my rounds with a lighter boolit and utilize closer targets. My favorites come in 38-55 flavors. One is a H&R Target rifle and you can load it both BPCR and smokeless. The other is a Marlin 336 CB with a reamed out chamber to take .380 dia boolits and a worked over trigger. This is also a tack driver.

[RCE1]

My Shiloh is a No.1 Sporting Rifle which was originally in .45/70. I had it extended to .45/90 with no regrets, although looking back on it, .45/70 was probably all I really needed. I shot .45/70 to 1000 yards several times. Many of the matches which go that far actually allow duplex loads, which have no problems getting out there. If it was me, I'd just make sure the rifle was silhouette legal in terms of weight and stock configuration and I'd probably have Shiloh go ahead and drill and tap the barrel for scope blocks. I use scopes on my BPC rifles nowadays and the holes can be filled with plug screws if you choose not to use one. I'd also make sure to get a Soule-type sight. MVA makes some very nice ones, as does Steve Baldwin (my personal favorite) and several other makers. You might say you aren't interested in silhouette shooting, but there are more silhouette matches around than any other type and having a rifle that makes weight and fits in the stock box at Raton might save problems down the line. I've seen hopeful competitors at the nationals hogging wood out of their stock with forstner bits and attacking the combs with wood rasps when told their rifles weren't acceptable. You have to take a lot of wood out of a stock to compensate for a barrel that's too heavy.

It's been a while since I went to Raton, but when I was going there they were quite strict about which rifles qualified and which did not.

[Big Mak]

They confirmed the order over the phone today and I added a 7 deg lead-in on the chamber for when I start getting into the paper patch bullets someday.

[Powder River Drifter]

It was thirty (30) years ago this June that I ordered my Long Range Express from Shiloh Sharps. Wolfgang was in charge of the store then. If you have half the fun of shooting yours as I have shooting mine you will be very happy. My only regret is that I did not have a pewter forend tip put on. Had Paul Jones make a custom mold for that rifle and that is all that I shoot with, never had a condom bullet fired , never will.
You will really enjoy your new toy.
Powder river Drifter

[Big Mak]

Personally I am not a big fan of that pewter look when I examined one in Aug 2017.
I went with tradition schnabble, wood carved.

[DHDeal]

Neither of my 2 BPCTR's are Sharps, but I think about getting one from time to time. Not that you asked, but having 2 of these rifles and having shot them both a lot, I would at least get a new one drilled and tapped for a scope. I'm not quite at retirement age, but as it nears my eyes get worse. A scope doesn't detract from the looks to me, and it most definitely makes seeing the target easier.

You don't have to ever mount a scope, but it makes it much easier than shipping a prized rifle off again to do something that can be done at the factory.

There, that cost you exactly what you paid for it. Now where is that extra long box to pack my rifles in to get them sent off to get drilled and tapped. I sure hope the USPS, UPS, or FedEx is gentle to my extra fancy wood that you read about getting ruined by shippers after the owner sends their rifle off to get something done after receiving it....

[DHDeal]

It was thirty (30) years ago this June that I ordered my Long Range Express from Shiloh Sharps. Wolfgang was in charge of the store then. If you have half the fun of shooting yours as I have shooting mine you will be very happy. My only regret is that I did not have a pewter forend tip put on. Had Paul Jones make a custom mold for that rifle and that is all that I shoot with, never had a condom bullet fired , never will.
You will really enjoy your new toy.
Powder river Drifter

The "condom bullets" sure do shoot good. No one will look at you funny if you mention that you put your own on and that they don't tear from a rough bore.

Sorry, couldn't help it.....

[Smoke4320]

"Don't hate me."
Jealous maybe... hate not a chance
Enjoy you worked for it

[rfd]

congrats on ordering a very fine rifle, big mak!

paper patching is the way to go, and then yer .45-70 will become a virtual .45-90