Mid or Long Range Soule Sight?

[Themoose]

I am thinking of taking the plunge and investing in a Lee Shaver's Soule sight for a Sharp's 45-70... I think the price is the same for either of his deluxe sights.. I think I used to use a mid range on the my C. Sharps several years back and could get about 600 yds of elevation with it... I want the sights for mainly hunting under 200 yds, but my declining vision makes it hard to see the buckhorn...also thinking of passing the rig back to my nephew when I get too old to use it... which would be the best to get?

[Dieselhorses]

When you have a minute, check out this video of this Sharps. Is this the sights you're referring too?

https://www.full30.com/video/5a0f689...ad99e5af065a13

[Themoose]

I can't tell from the video the make or model of the sights, but what I am talking about is similar

[Dieselhorses]

I can't tell from the video the make or model of the sights, but what I am talking about is similar

10 4,

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[country gent]

I would go mid range possibly even the short range version for a couple reasons. 1) the shorter staffs will catch less hunting, 2) the staffs will be stiffer being shorter. 3) the shorter shafts and more compact desighn folds better. Another option might be a marbles style tang sight or one from MVA.

The plus to the soule sight is if you aquire another sharps or rifle of this period you only need the base for it. The staff should be moveable to different rifles easily.

[Gunlaker]

With a fairly hot load (74gr OE 1.5 and a 535 gr Money bullet ) I can get to our 880 yard gong pretty comfortably with my 34" barreled Shiloh in .45-70. This is with a mid-range MVA soule sight though, not a Shaver.

If you plan on shooting 1000 yards I'd get the long range sight, but if not, the then the mid-range one.

Chris.

[Kraschenbirn]

I've got a Shaver mid-range on my .45-70 Pedersoli RB and recall having a comfortable amount of staff above the eyepiece shooting a 525 gr. Postell at 500 yds. Don't have actual settings within reach right now because that was a couple years ago on a range in another state...our club here only goes to 300M and the closest with 500 yds is over two hours drive.

Bill

[Lead pot]

It makes a difference what rifle you mount the midrange sight on. Sharps, Stevens or a rolling block all have different tang drops. Out of the three I mentioned the roller drops the most.
On my Shiloh's a MVA soule will drop the bullet between the 900 and 1000 yards. The CPA 44 1/2 Stevens action the midrange will carry past 1000 yards with a .40, .44 and the .45 caliber.
I know nothing about a Shaver sight if they match a MVA with their elevation scale on the staff.........Kurt

[Gunlaker]

I should also add that my Shiloh with the midrange sight has probably the lowest front sight you can find anywhere. It's a small diameter Lee Shaver globe ( discontinued ) which is a fair bit lower than the MVA low profile spirit level Sharps sight.

Kurt you are 100% right about the staff markings. I switched from a Shaver long range to an MVA long range on one of my .45-110's and from what I remember there was a 0.010" difference in sight settings at any given range. And of course that same MVA mid-range will likely have no trouble at 1000 on a highwall.

Chris.

[Bent Ramrod]

You might do well to forget the Soule sight idea and go for one of the Sporting Tang Sights that Distant Thunder and others offer. You loosen the cup, slide it up and/or over to the marks (theirs or yours) that denote POI at 50, 100 or 200 yds, and tighten down again.

Quicker for hunting, where the targets don’t stand around for very long, since you aren’t twiddling screws for 1/4 MOA adjustments you don’t need under the circumstances. Also, a lot less fragile than a long-staff target sight with a Soule drum at the bottom.

A friend of mine twisted up his MVA target sight staff when his rifle slid off the bags and onto the shooting bench. Another put 100 years’ worth of wear on the elevation screw of his MVA scope when he forgot to loosen the lock lever in the general excitement of getting on target. MVA did a marvelous job of repairing both, but not in time for a shot at a game animal.

All this, of course, predicated on the barrel sights really being impossible to use. At almost 72, my vision is as bleary as could be expected, but I can still often surprise myself with the barrel sights. A gold or ivory bead front sight might help you as well.

[Don McDowell]

If hunting or close in target shooting are the main objective, the just go with one of the Marbles tang sight. Soule's and even verniers are a pain in the toosh for hunting and serve no serviceable purpose. Or go a bit further and do an MVA B5 scope.
All this is only if you can't get the barrel sights to work for you.

[Lead pot]

For Hunting I find a round aperture (peep) almost useless especially on overcast days or woods. I use the barrel sights for hunting and at hunting distances I shoot the barrel sights just as well as a scope or tang sights and at 78 I'm plagued with floaters and cataracts starting and I still use my .44-77 hunting rifle swinging bowling pins at 200 yards with barrel sights. Just wear the right glasses prescriptions.
I put the scope on my .44-77 Shiloh for a Buffalo hunt because the hide is dark at the point behind the front leg and in the past Bison hunts on hazy mornings it's hard to pick the spot I want my sight and I swore that thing would never get put back on this rifle again when wanting to load a second follow up shot........Kurt

[country gent]

The side hammer sharps with a scope the hammer is in the way of pushing the round in unless your left handed. On the center hammers and hammerless it much better. I move my scopes around rifle to rifle. The Hepburn, High wall, roller and CPA are not bad with the scope. The rollers taller hammer spur can become a little issue at times. The brochardt is also fine with the scope. the right side mounted hammer on sharps does limit loading with a scope.

[Themoose]

I took the plunge and ordered the Mid-range Shaver's Soule with a 17A globe front sight... if it is too dim for woods work with the largest Hadley aperature, I can always use the barrel sights.

Thanks to all for your help

[Chill Wills]

I took the plunge and ordered the Mid-range Shaver's Soule with a 17A globe front sight... if it is too dim for woods work with the largest Hadley aperature, I can always use the barrel sights.

Thanks to all for your help

OR, just take the Hadley eye cup completely out of the tang staff and shoot through the hole. The setting could move but not likely, check it now and then. Try it before the season to satisfy yourself.

[NSB]

I took the plunge and ordered the Mid-range Shaver's Soule with a 17A globe front sight... if it is too dim for woods work with the largest Hadley aperature, I can always use the barrel sights.

Thanks to all for your help

I had that exact set-up on a Pedersoli Sharps and it worked out very well under all light conditions. I shot several deer with it before I decided I liked High Walls even more than the Sharps. I think you're good to go with what you ended up with.

[oldracer]

Did you call Lee to see what he had to say. I have talked with him several times, once when I got my first 45-70 Rolling Block and then again when I got a Pedersoli Gibbs as the sight that came on it did not work well for me. I had looked at the world championship muzzle loader website and noted lots of the shooters used Lee's rear long range and also front globe with his inserts. Since our range goes only to 300 yards BUT there is a 1000 yard range at Camp Pendleton USMC, I have gone up there with my Rolling Block and thought some day I'd try the Pedersoli there but so far haven't. He said the long range would be too tight at 100 yards when starting out so I made a spacer for the front sight and bought the long range set. He was most helpful.
John

[Themoose]

No, I didn't talk to Lee, but told the person on the phone what I was trying to do... she said she would have "the sight guy" get me the right sights for what I wanted... and that's where I left it.

[indian joe]

OR, just take the Hadley eye cup completely out of the tang staff and shoot through the hole. The setting could move but not likely, check it now and then. Try it before the season to satisfy yourself.

OR take the Hadley off - fit a cheap eye cup (like a Pedersoli or such has) and drill the centre out as big as the threads will allow - should work for hunting

[Crash_Corrigan]

I have a Winchester 1885 in 50-90 Sharps. This is one of the few hundred made in Japan by Miroku for Winchester back around 2002 or so. I put on a set of Kelly Soule Vernier sights on the back and a Kelly Soule Globe sight on the front with the built in level. I have an eighty pound steel Bison target which I drag from the back of my Nissan PU and thence a few feet to mount it on a rebar frame so it swings and thereby lessens the damage to the steel plate.

I bought the AR500 steel to my friend Blake who is a decent welder and he cut out the Bison and welded on rings to the rear to hang it with. He also fashioned a neat bolt together rebar frame from which to hang the target. When hit with the hefty 50-90 slug it rings loud and across ground to let everybody know you did your job guiding the 695 gr lead boolit to it's destination. I tried my small steel target but it kept on getting knocked over by the heavy rounds.

I can hit this massive target at 400 yds all day long. Beyond 600 it gets a mite more difficult. I need to work on longer distances but my shoulder can only take about 15-25 of those heavy recoiling cartridges even wearing a shoulder pad and standing up and shooting offa a high shooting table Blake fashioned with galvanized steel pipe legs.

As I recall those sight cost me about $700 12 years ago.