Adventures of a Old Newbie with a 1859 Sharps

[Engineer_Scott]

I've enjoyed shooting and Civil War history since I was a kid. Owning a Civil War (replica) rifle for shooting has been on my list for years. This year I finally decided to make it happen. I have no previous experience with black powder, Sharps rifles, or bullet casting. What could possibly go wrong? :-) I learned much by reading posts here before I "jump in". So, in the odd chance that someone else is out there with similar interests, I thought I would share my experiences here. At least it will give the more experienced a good chuckle.

[Engineer_Scott]

Early in 2013 I started looking for a Sharps 1859 military rifle. The thought of shooting the rifle used by the 1st and 2nd US Sharpshooter Regiments during the Civil War, casting bullets, making paper cartridges, etc. appealed to me. I started by getting online and reading any reviews, trouble reports, etc I could find. Based on what I read, Shiloh Sharps in Montana makes one of the best quality military Sharps available. When I spoke with them I found that it would be 1-2 years before I could expect to get a rifle from them. That was too long of a wait. I may still get one someday, but I did not want to wait that long to get started.
I later found Taylor and Co. They are a distributor of Italian made Pedersoli and Chiappa (Armi Sport) replica Sharps. Based on more reading it appeared that Pedersoli has a reputation for better quality compared to Armi Sport. Next I talked with the people at Taylor and Co. They told me that Pedersoli makes a good rifle and that Armi Sport quality had been improving over time. I told them what I wanted to do with the rifle and they said an Armi Sport should do the job. So, I ordered one.
A few weeks later my rifle arrived. First impressions were good. I am not a gun collector and I am sure others with a keener eye could spot more faults. To me the wood and fit looked good, the moving parts seemed tight. The barrel was blued but the receiver and other metal parts were not. I was not a fan of the coloration on the non-blued parts, but I got over it.

[Fly]

The none blued parts are color case harding.Very exspenive to have done.I just two weeks ago bought
a IAB after hearing horrable things about them.The fellow I bought it from I trusted.When it came in I was
very suprised as how well it looked & shot.

I love this rifle, even thow I don't have it shooting as well as it can.That,s part of the fun of black powder
fire arms.Working them out till there fine tuned.Be sure & clean that gun good after every shooting.

If you have any questions on cleaning & lubracation pm me.

Fly PS one other thing you might like are these loading tubes.
They are the slickest deal for these type of Sharps. http://www.shelltube.us/HowWorks.html

[59sharps]

I have a bunh of the load tubes if anybody interested in them let me know. som are short some are the longer ones. willing to part w them for 1/2 price plus cost of shipping. also have the long yellow tubes. Find that for skirmishing the bullets will work there way out when carried around. I would also look at the card board tube Charlie Hahn makes.
For more info on the sharps you may what to look at the Shiloh site and the N-SSA site.
i have had both IAB and Armi Sport. IAB was ok once I had a block conversion done. The Armi sport sent it back once to Taylors. then got it back put about $200 into it to get it to work properly. It would not snap a caphalf the time. the other half it would not get flame to the chamber. once that was some what fixed the breach would seaze up. Had a complete breach block conversion done to get it to work propertly.
if you haven't fired it I would send it back and get the Pedersoli.
Now own a Shiloh no problems.

[Fly]

My more sour grapes.I would love to own a Shilon & also a Corvette.A C-sharps for sure.But we do not
live the same lives.I was just thinking today how someday I might own a C-Sharps.But till that day I
will have fun with my cheapo IAB.

It goes off every time, Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm maybe a custom barrel?Lot cheaper than a C-Sharps.

Fly

[Nobade]

I didn't know C. Sharps made percussion rifles - did they in the past? I too would like to have one! I have one of their 1875 cartridge rifles and like that a lot.

A question for you '63 shooters - does the sliding chamber on some of the replicas do anything? Is it worth dealing with or would it be better to epoxy or otherwise fix it into a solid position? The reason I ask is the real Sharps rifles don't have that. The breechblock slides forward to seal against the back of the barrel and it seems as if that is working correctly the sliding chamber would not make any difference but would lead to annoyance and difficulties of cleaning.

-Nobade

[Fly]

Nobade my friend I,m no exspert on 1863 Sharps & don't have a clue to what you are
taking about.O ya now I figured it out.My breechblock does just that.It slides forword.

Work,s very well & no leakage.Oh well another reason I like this cheapo.(wink)

Fly

[DIRT Farmer]

The Pedersoli has the sliding gas seal, at least mine does. It seems to work well. Mine seems to foul out fairly quickly but a spritz in the breech clears things up nicely.

[Fly]

The Pedersoli has the sliding gas seal, at least mine does. It seems to work well. Mine seems to foul out fairly quickly but a spritz in the breech clears things up nicely.
Something that has help alot with mine is using lithium grease with moly in it.I tryed the antiseaze & it worked good, but this grease works much better.
What do you spray yours with?I have been using olive oil.

Fly

[Nobade]

Be sure you two are talking about the same thing. I am far from sure, but was under the impression that the IAB had a normal solid barrel and the Pedersoli has the sliding chamber. Both of them should have breechblocks that slide forward under pressure to seal. Since you guys own them I will listen and get an education.

-Nobade

[DIRT Farmer]

Nobade the breech block apears to move verticle in the mortice. When disconected from the link while cleaning it will slide out the top of the reciever. There is a definate mark on the breech face from the gas seal ring.

I have used olive oil or other vegatable oils on it, during shooting I use the Behr's solution aka Friendship speed juce.

[Engineer_Scott]

I've been off line for awhile. In the past year I have learned quite a bit.

Out of the box the Armi Sport Sharps had some issues. I could not get it to fire initially. I removed the breech block and clean out screw. It was clean. I could get air the pass through the channel the spark from the cap passes through, it did not seem to be restricted. I was using fresh FFF Schuetzen Powder so I did not think that was the issue. When I pulled the nipple I found the hole at the base was very small, less than 1/32". I drilled it out to 3/32" and presto, it now fires (nearly) every time.

[varsity07840]

I've been off line for awhile. In the past year I have learned quite a bit.

Out of the box the Armi Sport Sharps had some issues. I could not get it to fire initially. I removed the breech block and clean out screw. It was clean. I could get air the pass through the channel the spark from the cap passes through, it did not seem to be restricted. I was using fresh FFF Schuetzen Powder so I did not think that was the issue. When I pulled the nipple I found the hole at the base was very small, less than 1/32". I drilled it out to 3/32" and presto, it now fires (nearly) every time.

You need very hot musket caps to get consistant ignition in a Sharps due to turns the flash has to make before it gets to the powder. The RWS 1081FL wingless caps work well.

Duane

[doc1876]

There was some discussion on anther forum here about these things and how to make loads, it would be worth a look.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?241167-Sharps-paper-cartridges


The "gas seal" blows forward into the breach, sealing the explosion from burning your eyes out. NEVER TAKE IT OUT OR GLUE IT IN!! Use axel grease on it for smooth operation. as far as the firing, you have found one of the fixes for these guns.
btw, the "color case hardening" on most of these imports is really a coloring like bluing, there is no case hardening. it will wear off with time, and yes if you want real case done, it is expensive.

[doc1876]

I am sorry, I missed the part about the chamber, yes it is supposed to slam back into the breach ring as it goes forward sealing the whole thing. I hear that Pedersoli did away with it in their later versions. As to did it work, I don't know. My Garret has it, and I never knew it! so it never came out to be cleaned. I guess you can do what you want with it, but as you know the ring is supposed to move, and if it don't you will get a face full of flame.

[Nobade]

Recently I bought a newer Pedersoli that had the sliding chamber and breech plate you are supposed to use O rings behind. I took it out several times, fired maybe 100 rounds through it all total. The O rings had to be replaced about every 12 shots, the breech face got pretty badly eroded, the gun leaked gas all over and always left the shooting bench black and burned. It wouldn't fire unless a tiny bit of gunpowder was put in the nipple. I had to constantly use Pam spray on the block to keep it moving. To its credit it was very accurate, and the sights hit exactly to point of aim. Then I came across a Farmingdale Shiloh in the LGS and struck up a trade. Wow, this is a completely different rifle! No chamber sleeve, and the block works like a real Sharps. Big hole in it and a tapered back end, so when the shot is fired the plate slides forward and seals. It had some stains on it so I lapped the plate up to 1200 grit and went shooting. First outing was 50 rounds - not one misfire, no gas leaking, (at least no fouling on the bench) great accuracy out to 500M, and the block never got hard to move. As a bonus when I got home it took about a third of the time to clean compared to the Pedersoli - many less parts. So far after about 200 rounds fired there is no erosion on the breech plate. Looks like it will last a long time. I had wondered how they ever fought a war with such a lousy rifle, when playing with the Ped. But now that I have one that works like they are supposed to, I can see that it is actually a very effective and useful rifle. The rate of fire, using cartridges, is faster than with a muzzle loader and it is certainly more accurate at longer range than any of my minie' firing muskets - easily as good as a comparably sighted cartridge rifle. I am so glad I found the Shiloh, and would never have an Italian one again.

-Nobade

[doc1876]

Nobade, that is the way it is supposed to work!!, you done good, and I am glad the pedrosoli did not totally discourage you. They are a blast to shoot. Like I said, mine functions perfectly, and I am not going to try and take that chamber thing out. There are no rings on this one, and I am going to keep on running her till I am gone. I am looking forward to finishing the Shiloh to see what kind of fun I can have with it.