Sharps 1863

[WilliamL]

Hello all, I am new to this forum and have a question concerning shooting a Pedersoli 1863 Sporting Rifle. The design of the firing system with a percussion Sharps requires the flash from the cap to make a couple of turns before igniting the chamber. I use CCI to try to clean out the block and RWS caps to actually fire the rifle. However, even this results in a high number of misfires. Sometimes I may have as many as 6 or 7 misfires before the chamber fires. Like many I do spend time cleaning my rifle and keeping it oiled, including this chamber in the block, and I think maybe the oil in the chamber of the block is the culpret. Do others have this problem and how do you correct it? I have thought of using brake cleaner or carb cleaner to do a squirt in the block but hopefully I can get so ideas for other shooters before taking such action. Any and all ideas would be welcome! Keep the bores clean and the lead flying!

[Hickok]

Just to make sure, you are using muskets caps, correct?

The CCI are not as powerful as RWS, the RWS being the best.

I have a Pedersoli Sharps Berdan. You could try spraying some starting fluid/either through the block. There is a clean out screw on one side block, remove it and clean.

I sent my Sharps to Charlie Hahn for a complete "do-over" and it works great. Mr. Hahn is a wizard with Sharps paper cutters.

[Hickok]

http://charliestubes.com/ Check out Mr. Hahn's site.

[WilliamL]

Thanks for the reply. I will look into Charlie Hahn. My Sharps works great with the exception of the misfires. Yes it is musket caps. I only use the CCI for blowing out the oil in the passage way of the block and use RWS for actually firing it. The CCIs generally will not fire the rifle! I didn't think about starting fluid, I was thinking of brake or carb cleaner to dry out the oil.

[country gent]

As said clean the block well of oils or solvents, These can really lower slow the flash from the cap. Look for burrs in the channel at the corners a hole drilled thru may leave a burr on the edge of a hole that restricts the flashes flow or travel. Feeling with a sharp wire or q tip will allow you to check for burrs. You might also try a diffrent nipple to see if that helps any.

[Nobade]

I had one of those Pedersolis for a while. Same deal, lots of misfires. I quickly found a touch of flintlock priming powder in the nipple made for instant ignition. Also, CCI just came out with "schutzen" musket caps which are supposed to be a lot hotter. They might help, I don't know.

Once I sold the Pedersoli and bought a Shiloh, all my troubles went away. Much nicer!

-Nobade

[taco650]

I wonder if there's a way to convert these style Sharps to fire with 209 primers that doesn't look hideous?

[Nobade]

I tried a Mag-Spark but there's not enough room for it. Don't know of anything else out there that would work.

-Nobade

[taco650]

Once I sold the Pedersoli and bought a Shiloh, all my troubles went away. Much nicer!

-Nobade

What is better about the Shiloh?

[Nobade]

What is better about the Shiloh?

No misfires, the gas seal is designed like the originals so no (or very minimal) leaks, breech block doesn't get sticky so it will keep shooting, easier to clean, and no metric O rings to keep replacing when they blew out. In addition the Pedersoli has a floating chamber that doesn't really work but does accumulate fouling and is quite difficult to keep clean. Pedersoli has had at least four different gas seal designs over the years so I don't have familiarity with the other three but the O ring design was awful. Huge gas leaks would make the shooting bench black, constantly having to spray and oil the breech block so it wouldn't stick, etc. The Pedersoli was quite accurate, and looked good, but the block design was terrible. Why they couldn't make it like the originals I don't know, but the Shiloh is and it works every time as well as being very easy to clean and maintain.


-Nobade

[doc1876]

You do need a hot musket cap, forget trying to blow it out with a primer. I don't have the pedersoli, but I have been shooting a'59 for over 30 years. You might take it to a gunsmith that is good with BP stuff, it may need drilled out.