TriStar 1874 45-70 Sharps Rookie

[otterdriver]

New to the forum, and would appreciate any feedback on what you feel works good for your rifle. Am interested in mainly long distance target shooting for now.
Would appreciate any info, good or bad, from other TriStar owners, especially in relation to reloading pointers. Cant seem to shake a strange obsession I have with sending huge chunks of lead downrange to a distant target.. Chris

[NickSS]

I looked up TriStar Sharps and found the sight on the internet as I had never heard of them. From the picture and specs they look a lot like an IAB Italian made sharps. I had an older one a bunch of years ago and it shot reasonably well. If you are interested in long range target shooting the first thing you will need are good sights. These are not cheap and you can find them at Buffalo Arms. Second thing you need is a heavy bullet mold. I like the Lyman 500 gr round nose or the Lyman 535 gr Postel bullet molds for good inexpensive starting molds. Size your bullets to .459" diameter and lube with a good black powder lube. A good starting load with either bullet is 60 gr of GOEX FFG use a drop tube to put the powder in the case or if you have a vibrating tumbler place a loading block full of charged shells on it for about 10 seconds. This will settle the powder and give better accuracy. Place a wad over the powder. These can be bought precut from Buffalo arms. Then seat you bullet but do not crimp just remove the bell with the seating die. YOu are them ready to go. I do not know if you have experience shooting at long range but most shooters at matches will be overjoyed to help you with information. I looked at the tang sights they had on the TriStar web sight and they are the inexpensive Italian sights. I started with them and believe me if you are serious you need better sights.

[Boz330]

Chris, ditto on what Nick said but start saving your pennies since you probably won't be happy with the TriStar if the quality is anything like the IAB.
Do you fly single Otters or Twin. Below is a picture of my ride for 28 years.

Bob

[Trapper-Jack]

I have a Tri Star sharps. It is a good shooter but be prepared to do some tinkering with it. The lock parts seem to be a little soft. It is in the lower price range like IAB and not of the class like Shiloh or Pedersoli.
Mine has a 1:20 rate of twist in the rifling. The heaviest bullet I've shot is a 500 grain Lee, both the flat point and pointed. It seems to like the flat point better. I have the 500 grain Lyman mould but haven't had the time to cast some and try them. With a Lyman apriture sight on the frount and a Pedersoli tang sight I have shot about 2 MOA at 235 yards with the flat point. That was with about 65 grains of FFg Goex.
The lube I've been using is the mix of Crisco, Bee's Wax and Olive oil. I've been pan lubing.

[otterdriver]

You guys are awesome!!
Thanks for all the great info here! Some day I hope to acquire a Shiloh, but till then I am greatful for what I have!!! NickSS, are you by chance around Central Wa.? Boz330, I fly both Dash2's and Dash3's for Kenmore Air in Seattle. Been there 19 years. Your bird is a nice looking example, and even still has the original aft window! Is that a Baron Stol kit too?
Trapper Jack, I would be most appreciative of your lube recipe/ratio ... CB

[otterdriver]

Boz330,
Forgot to mention, I fly the single Otter with turboprop conversion, and also checked out in the Turbo Beaver. (Beaver on steroids!) Chris

[Boz330]

Boz330,
Forgot to mention, I fly the single Otter with turboprop conversion, and also checked out in the Turbo Beaver. (Beaver on steroids!) Chris

That has been a long time dream to fly one of the turbine Beavers.
This one doesn't belong to me I just flew it. It was a Nam Vet, still had bomb racks for 2- 500 pounders on it when we acquired it. And it was a true basket case or more like a jig saw puzzle. Took us 6 months to get it flying. The owner, a good friend, bought it for $17,000 in 1978 and put $6k in it to get it in the air. That is the 7th or maybe 8th engine since then. I thought that he should have changed the N # to 401K for what they are worth now.
Yes that is the Baron STOL kit and they came down and put it on a number of years back. Personally I liked it better in the original configuration. With a head wind it really shines but the strip we flew from was down hill and we took off and landed in one direction which usually gave us a quartering tailwind for takeoff. As good as it was into the wind it was that much worse taking off with the tailwind, and we were always at gross. I sure miss flying that sweetheart.
I am partners in 2 other aircraft a C-150 cuz it is cheap to fly and a C-180.

Bob

[otterdriver]

He stole it for that money!! We have 2 180's which are awesome machines. Zippy and nice!!CB
PS if he ever needs advice on anything related to the Beaver, we have a guy at Kenmore whose been restoring them for over 30 years.. Free advice!! Contact me .

[Trapper-Jack]

Otterdriver,
The lube I use is called Emmert's Lube. The recipe is 50% Beeswax
40% Crisco (the white, solid stuff)
10% olive oil

In real hot weather, you might want to make this a bit stiffer by using a bit more beeswax and a bit less Crisco - and in the winter, using less beeswax and more Crisco.

[NickSS]

I live on the Olympic peninsula near the Hood Canal. I also use a home made lube consisting of a 50-50 mix of bees wax and plain crisco. In the winter I add some olive oil to to thin it a bit. Works good for me.

[RMulhern]

I never cease to be amazed by people that buy cheap ****.....and then expect ultra-high quality performance from junk!!

[otterdriver]

I never cease to be amazed by people that buy cheap ****.....and then expect ultra-high quality performance from junk!!

The Tri Star was a gift from a friend. He knows my situation, raising 5 kids, and all that entails... He knew I dreamed of having a Sharps someday, and surprised me with it for my last birthday. I know they are not the finest, but perhaps I can gain a lot of knowledge and technique with it, and when I do get a Shiloh someday, I will be much further ahead in the game, than if I had nothing at all to shoot.

[otterdriver]

I live on the Olympic peninsula near the Hood Canal. I also use a home made lube consisting of a 50-50 mix of bees wax and plain crisco. In the winter I add some olive oil to to thin it a bit. Works good for me.

Have a Brother in Poulsbo... thanks for the lube info!! Chris

[otterdriver]

Otterdriver,
The lube I use is called Emmert's Lube. The recipe is 50% Beeswax
40% Crisco (the white, solid stuff)
10% olive oil

In real hot weather, you might want to make this a bit stiffer by using a bit more beeswax and a bit less Crisco - and in the winter, using less beeswax and more Crisco.

Thanks a million. I will go scrounge up some beeswax!! Chris

[Boz330]

He stole it for that money!! We have 2 180's which are awesome machines. Zippy and nice!!CB
PS if he ever needs advice on anything related to the Beaver, we have a guy at Kenmore whose been restoring them for over 30 years.. Free advice!! Contact me .

In 78 that was a good price but not a fantastic price. Airplanes went crazy in the late 80s and early 90s. The 180 in the picture was purchased wrecked for $4500 and we had 20K in it by the time we got it in the air. That was in 86.
The Beaver is going to be up for sale before long. It hasn't flown since 10/07. It has some issues that need to be sorted out before sale. That and the engine is about 300hrs short of TBO.
The above mentioned lubes will work just fine and like so many things there are more than one way to skin a cat. There are also some good commercial lubes for BP. Bullshop's NASA lube works well.
Not everyone can go out and drop 3 to 5K for a Sharps, the cheaper rifles serve to attract new folks into the sport. Once there they can see what they really want in a rifle and if this is the sport for them. Criticizing there choice of rifle is counter productive, especially for a beginner. Like a crack dealer you suck them in with the cheap stuff and then when they are hooked sell them on the good stuff.

Bob

[cajun shooter]

Your Tri Star will let you learn the basics. The lock parts are soft and prone to wear and breakage. The guys that have posted are very good at the sport and will help you. There are a number of books that you need to read. I own a 13lb Pedersoli Competition model that retails for $1600 and not the $3000 to $4000 of a Shiloh. I'm like you in the dream dept, my brain tells me to buy a Shiloh and my pocket told me Pedersoli. That is nothing to be ashamed of and so welcome to the forum. The sticky section will also help. Buy the books on the Buffalo rifles by Mike Venturino and also the BP Cartridge Reloading Primer by him and Steve Garbe. The molds that were posted by NickSS are great to start with. The Saeco 745 is another good one. The up bringing of your 5 children is much more important than the ownership of any rifle and you already know that. Family will be here when all steel has turned to rust. Take Care David

[NickSS]

Sometimes those less expensive rifles surprise you. A good frent of mine has an IAB that he got from EMF company because he could not afford a better rifle. He took the lock apart and did a little stoning and then case hardened the lock parts with casenit and a torch. That's all he did and right now he is one of the very top scoring shooters in our monthly silhouette matches. We shoot at 200 yards on reduced targets but typically he shoots in the mid 30s with his rifle and I have seen him shoot 3 inch 200 yard ten shot groups so cheaper is not necessarily bad. Besides a $1000 for a rifle is not cheap in my opinion (my Shiloh only cost me $725 when I bought it.

[otterdriver]

Sound Wisdom...thank you to all who have replied.. Chris