I A B sharps 45/70 & muzzleloaders

[gandydancer]

where do they stand on a scale of 1 to 10 ? compared to some of the other imports. I know nothing about them. I have a chance to buy one for $500.00 40 rounds fired like new cond. but to me still looks rough. Thanks. Tom

[nhrifle]

For functional guns, they work fine. I have a percussion Sharps that hits where I point it and balances well. They are, however, quite rough in terms of fit and finish. Gaps in the wood, metal finish is nothing to write home about, nothing really special. However, it works and I don't mind if it gets a little banged up through shooting and hunting. Pedersoli and Uberti are works of art compared to my IAB, but they don't function any better.

[gandydancer]

nhrifle. Thanks for you input. that's how I found this one. function well but rough.

[Bullshop]

You should expand your scale to the negative side. Soft lock parts are common as well as tight groove dimentions. I have slugged some at .454" in 45/70 chambering.

[gandydancer]

Bullshop. thank you sir.

[nhrifle]

That is good to know. Mine is .54 cal percussion, sporter model. Truly a hoot to shoot with the original paper cartridges I learned to roll. I hadn't even thought to the tempering of the lockwork!

[Boz330]

They can be very rough and as pointed out the lock parts are soft. Some of the chambers can be way on the large size. I bought one for $265 a couple years ago and sold it to someone that wanted it worse than me for the same price. I would take another at that price but not $500.
Back around Christmas Cabela's had a Pedersoli hunter model for $850. Much better deal for a known quantity and only $350 more.

Bob

[cajun shooter]

The IAB guns have the worse reputation for breaking parts. I have heard of shooters having the firing pin break on the 1874 models after just three rounds.
The reason you will find so many at much lower prices than they were purchased for should bring up the RED FLAGS.

[TXGunNut]

I have a Pedretti & Sons 1874 Sharps replica, marked "45-70" but has a 45-90 chamber. This is the rifle that convinced me to learn to cast my own boolits but other than that it has been a bit disappointing. It seems plagued with FTF incidents and I've had to replace the mainspring, an adventure in it's own right. Target performance has improved from "dismal" to "disappointing" over the years and I have some difficulty using the aperture and globe sights. OTOH it's a rather handsome piece but nothing on the order of a Shiloh or even C. Sharps replica.
On your 1-10 scale if 1 is tent stakes and firewood and 10 a Shiloh replica I'd rate my rifle a 4, some days a 3.

[Boz330]

I was at my buddy's house yesterday installing a vent liner in a trade gun. Afterwards we were BSing and he has re barreled 2 of the IABs to 38-50RH. We were looking at the 2 barrels he took off, both of which were 45-70 but with real oversize chambers. The one barrel looked like it had micro groove rifling when I looked down it. On closer inspection the lands actually had a groove down the middle of them while the grooves were regular size. It looked really strange. The other barrel came off of my buddy's gun and it looked normal and he really like the accuracy but it had other issues.
The story behind these guns was that they were imported by a local company as a distributor. They had so many come back they dropped their distributorship with IAB and sold off the bad guns to a small gun shop near me. They in turn sold them as screwed up for $265, no returns. They must have had 35 or 40 of them.

Bob

[NickSS]

I have owned one in 45-70 and own one percussion carbine 54 cal. Both shoot ok and I never have had a part break but then I have never fired many rounds through them. The 45-70 had bad head space when I bought it which a friend fixed by reaming it a bit by hand so a round would chamber. The percussion is great fun and I shoot it every now and then when I get around to making cartridges. It shoots well enough for what I use it for. I have heard of soft parts and have disassembled my lock on the percussion carbine and found no excessive wear.

[Blkpwdrbuff]

Gandydancer,
Stay away from them!!!!! IAB stands for It's Always Broke.
I had a 1874 in 45/70 and put 3 sets of locks in it with less than 100 rounds.
The chamber was way oversized.
However, the wood was beautiful, too bad the rest of the rifle was junk.
I had 2 happy days with it.... When I bought it and when I traded it straight across for a Marlin 1895 cowboy, brand new.
Blkpwdrbuff