What I plan to do

[gmartin]

Well,
It has to be tried. That is, a custom rifle with a near modern twist rate in a caliber of say, .40, .44, or such, and sights applicable to long range shooting. Dare I say that a well constructed paper cartridge with a bullet designed for the task might perform well with the '74's. Trust me, alot of thought is given by some of us as to what we have designed to go down range, every bit as much as the same given by metallic cartridge shooters to their sport.
OK then, within my usual shot 100yd., my carbine has shot as well as I can, some modern shooters close by would never do as well, but that is the shooter I see unfortunately more and more. And yes, it's not 500 m.
Gregg

[Todd Birch]

Yep, that would make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, all right.

I can safely predict it won't be a route taken by some of my '63 associates. They tend to be on the conservative side of things.

Todd

[gmartin]

Todd,
Of course that includes myself. My mind wonders exactly what were the twist rates of original gas seal designs. I will have to look again at "Sharps Firearms" for help, though, and I may be wrong, I don't remember it mentioned. And, Shiloh's replicas first reproduced were taken from them, save for the bouching.
Otherwise, just speculation.
Gregg

[Todd Birch]

This being the Shiloh site, the emphasis is on the long range aspect of shooting, that being 500 yards and up.

Think I'll investigate the site of the NSSA and see what's up with these guys. Maybe we can get into another postal match with some guys shooting Civil War percussion rifles and carbines.

I did see the site of a Berdan Sharpshooter unit and was somewhat turned off by the "farbee-ism". For example, their equipment list specified a '59 as opposed to a '63; double set triggers as opposed to single, etc.

As an historiocal re-enactor myself, I feel that this attitude does more to discourage than encourage potential recruits. We practice the "10 foot rule" and leave the pursuit of perfection up to the individual.
We find that in time and encouragement, the individual will beome more concerned about historical authenticity.

Anyone who wants to know if my fly is buttoned or has a zipper is free to conduct a personal investigation and risk my reaction.

Todd

[Lee Stone]

Todd:

Would that reaction kind of depend on what she looks like?

[Todd Birch]

Lee

The ladies are free to make such an inspection at any and all times without fear of a negative reaction.

All others do so at their peril!

Todd

[gmartin]

Todd,
You are correct, the differences were often minor. The sight setting of the '63 was more optimistically changed to 800 yd. on the carbine from 700 yd., barrel length was more standardized from 30 and 36" in the '59 rifle to a 30" length on the '63 rifle. Other changes included certain co. markings and serial # in various places. And so on. Yes, some of Berdan's rifles were made with DST and included tang sights, these though were authorized by Berdan himself, and as soon as the Chief of Ordnance discovered this he stopped these additions.
This has been hashed over before, why the concern with precision correctness, as opposed to a well made replica with the spirit of the period foremost in design?
Be aware though that differences did occur, but to me these belong to a historical discussion amongst all us proud owners, rather than to a prejudicial review by some.
Myself, I'm looking forward to next years Postal Shoot, shooting with and against all '63 owners with my Shiloh Farmingdale carbine.
Gregg

[Texas Shooter]

Todd:

What is the site you referenced regarding the Berdan Sharpshooter's.

Has Shiloh ever produced one of these?

Texas Shooter

[Todd Birch]

Hit 'Berdan's Sharpshooters' on your search engine.

You'll get buried in sites, both historical and re-enactment. One re-enactment site stressed that you wouldn't have to fire your rifle, just look pretty at public displays!

I find it interesting that the term Sharpshooter is most likely an anglicization of the German 'Scharfshutzen'.

Todd

[Rabert]

Yes Todd, sharp = scharf, shooter(s) = Schütze(n), sharpshooters = Scharfschützen. Don't know which term is older, though...

Is the term sharpshoote used in modern english anyway? I thought the english translation of "Scharfschütze" would be "marksman".

Best regard

Rabert

[bwbayless]

Rabert,

The Marine Corps has three shooting badges, expert, sharpshooter & marksman. At least they did when I was in and I guess they still do.

Bob

[Josh A.]

Now wait just a second here guys. Ya'll telling me that your re-inactin' without exact historical correctedness?

Now, far be it from me to mention it, but aren't ya'll the same bunch of boys that are the barrel twist nazis? You boys are gonna need to get your britches up to speed if your going to go about with a Sharps!

J

[Rich Siegel]

Texas Shooter,

I believe Shiloh will make their '63 military rifle with dst for an additional cost. You might want to check with them by phone.

My opinion is don't worry about a dst. I ordered my '74 military carbine and requested a 3 pound, crisp, trigger pull. That's what I got! Unless you do offhand shooting where the set trigger comes in handy, the single trigger, with a crisp pull, works just fine. Shiloh might be able to give you a lighter trigger pull then 3 lbs., check with them. I beleive a while back on the board, set trigger vs standard trigger was discussed and the consensuses was that the a good standard single trigger was easier to shoot more accurately, then the set trigger.

Rich

[Todd Birch]

Good term; good point. I love it!

The difference is that the Farbees will pick fly shit out of pepper; i.e.: criticizing a British made Parker-Hale Enfield that was made with the original tools, dies and gauges and the 'sealed pattern' from the Tower collection as a model for being period incorrect for Civil War re-enacting.

Why? Because it has an incorrect ramrod channel, sling swivels and P-H stamped on the stock instead of VR.

In all other respects, including rate of twist, it is interchangeable with the original. The bitch being that the P-H is a later pattern Enfield than was commonly used during that conflict. The Enfield offered by Euroarms is apparently of the correct vintage and therefore gets the Farbee nod of approval.
You can get your P-H Enfield 'defarbed' for a price to make it acceptable.

Now, if you are going to strip down to skivvies and show them to be made of linsey-woolsey along with your hand knit socks, this makes sense. The people you are re-enacting for are interested in an historical representation, not a 100% recreation.

Now, back to the other thing.....the recreation of a cartridge with a heavier than historical bullet requiring a faster twist to stabilize it.....is this in the same league?

Todd