uberti sharps 45-70 long range

[bigted]

i recently bought a uberti sharps long range rifle with a 34 inch barrel and the barrle is part octagon/ part round. thing weighs probably 12 pounds. came with a vernier rear sight and a globe front. chanbered to 45/70 and shoots like a dream however i have a question or two.

i have always been intrigued with 45/120 , or 45/110 , and was wandering if rechambering this fine shooter would be wise having never played with these larger chamberings before.

i also bought a very long scope for this rifle but havnt installed it yet. the rear of this scope came with a ladder mount that seems like it will range this gun into the next county,,,or maybe even siberia. [ yep..live in alaska ].

anyone have this rifle and also anyone care to give advise on the two cases im thinking bout re-chambering to? also can anyone tell me a little more about this long 3/4 in. scope...its a leatherwood scope and will it be accurate on my long range rifle. also will the recoil affect this scope [ what recoil there is ].

[13Echo]

Get used to the rifle in 45-70 first, then, if you still want to rechamber, you might consider the 45-90 or 45-100. The 45-110 can be made to shoot and shoot well but it isn't for novices and the 45-120 is, in my opinion, more trouble than it's worth. If you are going to shoot smokeless instead of black powder then there is no advantage to the longer cartridges, in fact they just aren't very amenable to smokeless loads. As for brass, the .45-70 is everywhere, .45-90 and .45-100 are made by Starline, and .45-110 and 45-120 require streatched cases, available from Buffalo Arms, or Norma 45 Basic brass (really expensive) trimmed to length.

Can't help you with the scope.

Jerry Liles

[marlinman93]

As mentioned on the Malcolm scope post, the Leatherwood scopes are very good, but the mounts are not as good. It might hold up OK for average loads, and not a lot of heavy shooting, but if you plan to shoot heavy loads it may end in grief.
I'd figure out what the twist rate of your present .45-70 barrel is, before deciding on a rechamber. Need to be certain the increased powder capacity will not over spin the bullet and lose accuracy.

[Buckshot]

...............Do a search for 45-120 and you'll come up with some info. It CAN shoot, and shoot well but as was mentioned, if you're going to be mainly using smokless stick with the 45-70. If I had a 45-70 and wanted to up the whumpus value in BP shooting I'd sure think long and hard about going to the 45-90.

..............Buckshot

[Don McDowell]

Just leave it as a 45-70. With smokeless powder you can make it out run anything that can safely happen in a 45-120 case. Even staying with black powder , using goex 3f express I've clocked 530 gr bullets from a 28 inch barrel doing 1275. That puts it squarely into 45-90 territory, and you're not spending 2$ per empty case.
Those Pedersoli made Uberti Rifles have the 1-18 twist so you can shoot up to 550 gr bullets or heavier without any problem.

I know a fella that tried the leatherwood scope, he says the scope was just fine but the mounts would come apart from the recoil. I believe they have improved the mounts since then. I would imagine how well the leatherwood holds up would depend on how much you shoot the thing.

[montana_charlie]

I fully agree with those who say to leave it chambered for 45/70...especially if smokeless powder is in your future.

But, I know how an itch for a longer case can bug you until you scratch it.

If your prediction is that you will (someday) deepen the chamber, I would take it out to 45/90 right now...before you spend money on a pile of 45/70 cases and, time on load development.

If 45/90 doesn't fill the bill (and it may take a few years to decide that) you can always dig a deeper hole.

The thing about recutting a 'fine shooter' like yours is...you have to hope the gunsmith keeps things lined up well enough so the rifle is still just as 'fine' when he's done.

I also agree with those who say to stay clear of the 45/120...

CM

[Boz330]

With the right boolit you can get 45-90 powder capacities from the 45-70 case and of course 45-90 can be upped as well with that same boolit.

Bob

[457132]

I went and did just that. Rechambered my Pedersoli Sharps from 45-70 to 45-120. Still have the reamer around here somewhere. Why? I was on a velocity/too many Quigley down Under viewings run at the time. Would I do it again? Yes. With smokeless (AA5744) load from Lyman (43.5 grs) I can push a (guess what) 457132 out the barrel at a chrono'd 1620 fps, for a load that will shoot long distances a heck of a lot better than I can. Theoretically the same with a BP load, though I havent chronographed those yet. And the look on peoples faces when they see that loooong case and bullet is particularly amusing. Drawbacks, as others have pointed out, cases are expensive and sometimes difficult to come by. There isnt a lot of load data out there, though I seem to have gotten lucky with the load I described. And recoil is a bit stout. But this is still my favorite rifle and load to shoot.

[NickSS]

I have tried the 45-3 1/4" and own a 45-90. I also own 10 45-70 rifles. The 45-90 started as a 45-70 but I had it run out to 45-90 for 800, 900, & 1000 yard matches. The extra 100 fps was needed at those ranges with black powder. By the way I put 105 gr of Swiss 1.5 F in that case with a tapered bullet from a Paul Jones mold. My advise is stay with the 45-70. It will do with proper loads about everything the other cartridges will do and do it cheaper. By the way I had to buy a new press to load the 45-120 as they would not fit in my RCBS Rockchucker press.