C Sharps 45-70 Q's

[HollandNut]

Some may have read where my nephew is sort of interested in my CZ Lott for his 7STW , and he telling me he has a budd with a 45-70 he may wanna trade for the Lott .

I haven't seen the Sharps , but nephew told me this morning it is a C Sharps , he didn't know what model , only that it's the only one that has a 29" barrel .. No help there , as you can order them might near anyways ya want them ..

Is the action as strong as the Ruger ?

Aside from the cool factor of oddball , and aside from the brass price etc , in the real world , is there much advantage rechambering to a 110 ??

Really got me in a quandary , if he wants to trade , as I am very attached to the CZ , and I have lusted after the Sharps for the past thirty odd years to boot ..

Throw yer .15 out here ( .02 adjusted for inflation )

[country gent]

You are right in barrel length is a choice and can be whatever you request to a point. I dont believe the sharps action is as strong as the ruger action. The 45-110 is a viable cartridge for the sharps. although brass is harder to obbtain. A 45-70 with appropriate loads is nothing to write off as under powered. What are your thoughts ideas for the Sharps? Black powder loads? Cast lead bullets? Paper Patched? Hunting? Compitition? Plinking? Look the rifle over good and see what it is. Caliber should be marked in caliber and case length ie 45 2 1/10 for 45-70. C Sharps offers alot of options on a rifle, Fancy wood triggers, sights, barrel length and countour, finishes, and checkering. Some of these rifles with all the bells and whistles were pretty pricy to say the least.
If I aquired it I would shoot it as is for awhile make a chamber cast to see what I was working with. And enjoy it. If at a later date for hunting I decided I needed more power then rechamber to 45- 2.4 or larger. These rifles are a real learning experience and a lot of fun to work with.

[HollandNut]

No competition .. I don't think my eyes are that great anymore .

The other things you listed are viable things , and either way I would shoot for a spell and not rechamber before shooting the 45-70 ..

I'd be making out on the deal moneywise as the baseline C Sharps are around 2 grand before options are added in the mix .. My nephew and his friends are among those who trade not on money value but on whether they want it or not .. Nephew told me he wanted my CZ for the action and nothing else for his 7STW .. I don't think that way anymore ..

I have heard the longer cases are harder to werk up smokeless loads , and I know with BP , the velocity gains aren't that great over the 2.1 ..

[country gent]

The real gains with the longer cases is in the recoil LOL. a little velocity a heavier bullet Oh Boy

[Roundball]

It was possible to email serial number of my used C. Sharps and received all data on the rifle-options etc. A visit to their website would probably be helpful answering questions. Some of the loading data for "white powder" proved very heavy in my experience in 45-70. It's black powder from now on. Also keep in mind that the original Sharps action was basically designed for paper cartridges and converted to shoot metallic cartridges. If shopping for a high pressure single shot the Ruger #1 or similar would be a better choice.

[MT Chambers]

In the past C. Sharps has made 3 diff. actions, the '74,'75, '85(Win. Hiwall), the '75 being less expensive, do you know which one it is?

[HollandNut]

I had a brace of No1's , loved them , more stuff lost in the house fire in May of '07 ...

No I don't have a clue as to which model it is .. I haven't put an eyeball on it

I wouldn't be interested in reverse engineering the 45-70 to a Lott for example , like I can make the Lott a 45-70 ..

I'm curious to the strength of the action is all .. Someone else told me that the people at Sharps have said that it will handle any load that works for the No1 ..

I've been poring over their website a bit here lately ..

If he is up for a trade I may have to go for it .. When they first put these on the market I recall them being around $800 or so with a six month waiting list , I figured I'd wait till production caught up , and now 30 odd years later it's a two year wait I believe ..

[Gunlaker]

C. Sharps has a very short wait list right now. They are building me a heavy barreled .45-90 paper patch rifle on an 1885 action. I ordered it maybe a month or so ago and they've started to build it already.

Chris.

[sharpsguy]

If it is a 74 model Sharps, you might want to consider a trade. If it is a 75 model, you will have trouble giving it away.

[MT Chambers]

Sharpsguy is right, the '74 is a keeper, the strongest action of the 3 would be '85 Hiwall, I don't think action strength would be a worry of mine as any of the 3 will handle the heaviest of BP loads or smokeless equivalent loads. I wouldn't go with a longer cartridge then the .45/70 unless you are using the rifle primarily for very long range target work with BP, you will have to work harder to get good accuracy.

[country gent]

C Sharps also is now making a reproduction of the Remington Hepburn rifle. Mine is a dream to shoot and put thru its paces.

[MT Chambers]

Gandydancer: Did the '75 not have troubles with breaking firing pins, or some such?

[country gent]

I have heard that and the shooters I know with the bring them to half cock before lowering the block to keep firing pin from dragging. At least thats the reason I was told.

[montana_charlie]

Gandydancer: Did the '75 not have troubles with breaking firing pins, or some such?
I have heard that and the shooters I know with the bring them to half cock before lowering the block to keep firing pin from dragging. At least thats the reason I was told.
Many who shoot the Model 74 are also prone to believe that, and use the half-cock notch religiously.

I shot my Pedersoli 74 for a year in total ignorance, and never habituated myself to that practise. When I finally heard about it, I was (let's say) 'skeptical'.
When you start to drop the breechblock, the transfer bar comes out of contact with the hammer nose almost immediately.
That removes pressure on the firing pin which allows it to retract into it's recess. Breakage of any modern firing pin in a 74 Sharps (74 or 75) due to drag while opening seems unlikely to me.

Then, a year or so after I learned about 'the right way', I was emailing with Lee Shaver (the Pedersoli warranty guy) about purchasing a tang sight.
Somehow the subject of broken firing pins came up and he said he was running an endurance test to see if he could break a pin by not using the half-cock notch. After three years of match shooting and practice at home, he was still on the same pin.

So, I decided to stop wondering, and just keep on acting ignorant ... while keeping a spare on hand.

I've been shooting this gun since 2005, and I'm still using the firing pin it came with.

CM

[Don McDowell]

Anybody that shoots a 75 regularly and doesn't have a transfer bar and firing pin already fitted and ready to install , in their shooting kit, is just begging to have a bunch of "dnf" on their score card....
(written from real life experience)

[upnorthwis]

I religiously use the half-cock notch and still broke a firing pin. Then last year the transfer piece broke. There are no guarantees.

[montana_charlie]

The Pedersoli hammer rebounds away from the transfer bar an the US made actions do not. The US made rifles need to be on half cock before lowering the block and Pedersoli doesn't.
A guy on the ASSRA forum said something similar years ago ... back when I cared about 'differences'.
The search feature in that forum sure beats ours ... I was able to dig it out.
http://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1217094683/8#8

CM