New Sharps! What Mold?

[snipin101]

I got my very first sharps rifle today chambered in 45-70. Just wondering which mold you guys use for yours. What grain and so on. I will be shooting it to 400 yards max and would prefer not to run a gas check. Thanks for the help. Oh yeah and a pic of the new peice!166594

[country gent]

For all around use the lyman 500 grn round nose 457125 ( this is supposedly the traditional 45-70 bullet) for target and longer ranges the Lyman 535 postell shoots very well in both my pedersoli (45-70) and C Sharps hepburn( 45-90) I also have a Old West Mould SHilouette model that comes in at 550 grns but might be long depending on rifling twist rate in your barrel. But it does very good in the Hepburn. Slug your barrel find out what diameters you need Also check fired cases and what they will accept. If possible keep nose dia on bore rider at bore size to -.002-.003. Theres now need for gas cheacks with black powder velocites and a softer alloy ussually does better than hard do. Im running 20 -1 lead tin for all mine with great results. Experiment with alloies 15-1 20-1 30-1 maybe even 40-1 see what the rifle likes. I tend to run on the heavy side. Tried some oregon trails from their hard alloy with disapointing results. If you want to test before buying a mould, put a post on wanted for some test bullets here in swaping and selling section.

[snipin101]

Wow, thanks so much for the information. Exactly what I was looking for

[country gent]

Check you twist rate this will determine wha bullets you can shoot. With a tight fitting patch ( a patch wrapped around a brush ussually works well. Insert rod from muzzle and pull back to where it is engages and a piece of masking tape at muzzle with the tail lined up with front sight. Pull back 1 rotation and measure the distance from muzzle to tape. This tells you 1 turn in ???. A tape measure is close enough here. Twist rate will determine how long a bullet you can shoot

[snipin101]

The twist rate is 1-18. That's what the factory said anyway

[Dan Cash]

Your gun will stabilize about any bullet that fits the bore up to about 550 grains. The 550-560 grain bullets tend to be too long for .45-70 over black powder. A 500 grain bullet will work for your mentioned range as well as out to 1000 yards . Look at the Accurate 46-510. Accurate is quite competitve with Lyman and when you buy one, you will have a mould that works.

[Bent Ramrod]

If 400 yards is really your absolute limit, now and forever, the Ideal 457124, the old 405 gr. Carbine bullet for the .45-70, is a good one. Every .45-70 I've tried this in has shot it well. Easy to find a mould, no gas check and a little lighter than the 500-550 gr. designs, which do better at longer ranges but recoil more, cost more in lead, and so forth.

That's a pretty rifle. Who made it?

[Wayne Smith]

Where are you? If in the east or central part of the country -where short range shooting is likely and smaller animals, investigate the 457122 Gould hollowpoint. It is the original eastern whitetail boolit for the caliber.

[d garfield]

My Quigley will not shoot 500gr or heaver, but it like the 475gr Lee mold. Has a 1 in 20

[snipin101]

Thanks for all the info guys, the rifle is a pedersoli old West sharps. I am located in NC. I don't plan on hunting with it. Just plan on target shooting with it.

[snipin101]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever messed with a hollow base bullet in these rifles?

[45-70 Chevroner]

Where are you? If in the east or central part of the country -where short range shooting is likely and smaller animals, investigate the 457122 Gould hollowpoint. It is the original eastern whitetail boolit for the caliber.

This is one of my favorites, with my alloy it drops at 330 gr. I also like Bent Ramrods suggestion, the 405 gr. is an excellent choice. Both shoot extremely well in my 45-70 Pedersoli RB and my original Sharps black powder 45-70 cartridge conversion out to 400 yards. If you want to shoot farther go heavier.

[country gent]

Put an add in swapping and selling for test bullets buy or trade for and let the rifle tell you what it wants. If you get the mould description with the bullets when you find what the rifle likes you know what mould to buy.

[Bent Ramrod]

The only hollow base boolit I've worked with is a Red River Rick adjustable paper patch mould, currently set at ~520 gr. Properly loaded, it works very well indeed. I don't know if the hollow base gives any extra advantage, though. The rim on the hollow base is a handy index for how far to fold the patch over the base.

People say good things about the Lee hollow base .45 rifle mould, though.

[DocSavage]

I have a Shiloh Sharps and it shoots my Saeco 65022 500 gr and Saeco 745 525 gr quite well.

[big bore 99]

Been having great results with the Lee 340 gr, 405 hp, paper patched. I size down to .452 then patch back to .460. Straight lead with light charges of Unique work well.

[Shiloh]

Pedersoli, Cimarron, Uberti??
http://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/2014/07/sharps-shooters

Shiloh

[montana_charlie]

Pedersoli, Cimarron, Uberti??
See Post #10

[country gent]

Th pedersolis have been getting a good reputation as excellebt shooters and normally do very well. Target Shooting is a broad term in that it encompasses alot. Paper targets both formal and or informal. Quigley bucket matches, Shillouette matches. These can be swingers or standing, swingers are a little easier since a bounce and ring scores standing have to be knocked over. The standing may require a little more bullet for poor hits or conditions. The quigley Bucket is a ball and a nice target to shoot at roughly 22" tall 24" wide at the top and 20" wide at the bottom. These really ring and swing when hit with a 500grn bullet. Buffalo matches re fun and can be a real challenge at times. Pick a good bullet ( most will perform well with the right load) Of 480-550 grns work up a good load and then learn the rifle sights and positions. Keep trck of the sight settings for diffrent distances as you go. ( Keepa small note book with a simple chart to track sight settings for each load). I use a hard cover day planner probably 5X7 size. I have divided it into sections for 38-55, 40-65, 45-70, and 45-90. Front page is a description of rifle and sights then is a page for each load/bullet with load information and velocity and a simple chart for zeros from 100-500 yds. This range book will save you many times over even more so after a few years of data is in it LOL. Keep good records on what how and why on loads rifle and equipment. Always remeber with these rifles theres no problem a couple thousand rounds wont straighten out. LOL. Actually dry fire practice can be your friend here. Most with set triggers dont have to have hammer cocked just set trigger old and break the shot.Dry firing at home in a safe area will show alot and allow it to be "fixed" with out ammo. I would highly recomend contacting Bernie Roweles at Old west moulds ask for a 45 cal bullet 500-530 grns and Have him send you pics of what he recomends.

[Shiloh]

See Post #10

Thanks. Missed it. One of the guys has a rifle in .40-65. 13 grains of Unique, 350 gr. I think. Brass made from .45-70.

Shiloh