Help me build a whitetail rifle

[sackett]

Looking to order another Shiloh, this time for whitetail hunting in the New England woods. it's just been a long time since I messed with a Sharps and I'm looking for a bit of help in making the right rifle.

Rifle will have:

26" barrel - half oct/half round, not sure if heavy or standard weight?? with a short barrel, how much weight difference would there really be?
single trigger (If i can still order a rifle with one)
steel shotgun buttplate
semi-buckhorn sight, blade up front maybe?
I'm assuming the MVA scopes in the dawn and dusk (low light) will be tough to see through....or is my assumption wrong?
AA finish - I think my Hartford Model has it, I need to find my old receipt to confirm
Bedding: this is new since i bought my 45-110. I have read it is a good option for a deer gun in possible wet conditions
Pack-hardened vs stand color cased: is there a noticeable difference? google wasn't kind in my search and I came up empty
Round forearm end, if I can get it in wood and not in ebony
Caliber not sure and would love to have some input: I am thinking 44-77 or 40-70ss or ?? (not interested in the 45-70, already have that in a pre-checkered Marlin 1895SS and I already have a 34" barreled 45-110 with an RHO scope on it).

I do have quite a bit of OE 1.5 powder. Not really sure if any of the rounds I mentioned really like the 1.5F or if they prefer the 2F. it seems like a toss-up from my readings
I figure I will have a couple years to assemble the brass and molds, so I'm not concerned about the current limited/zero supply.
Will probably start with GG bullets and then eventually try PP.

Range probably 50-150 yards

Would anyone like to comment on how far off in left field I'm in on my choices.......

[Distant Thunder]

sackett,

I used a Sharps in .50-70 as my hunting rifle for a number of years and the rifle and cartridge served me well on deer and antelope and a buffalo. Most shots on whitetails in northern Wisconsin are under 100 yards and 40 yards is pretty much the average distance. The .50-70 speaks with authority on deer sized animals a those ranges. It will reach out as far as iron sights are useable in the field. I shot my antelope at 190 yards, which we laser measured after the one shot kill.

If I were to use a Sharps for hunting today I believe I'd go with my .44-77 and I'd use a scope to help my aging eyes. I am impressed with the accuracy and flat shooting of the .44 - 2 1/ 4. I can easily see why it was very popular in the early 1870s for both hunting and target. With a properly loaded .44-77, a scope and a laser range finder the effective range could be extended to 400 yards easily.

Both of the above rifles have a 30" heavy fill octagon barrel. I never had a problem carrying my .50-70 in the field, I guess I just got used to the weight.

The .44-77 would take a bit more work to get up and running than a .50-70 but it would be the better choice in many ways. Other cartridges would work well to, those are just the two I would choose. And both work very well with paper patch bullets which is my preferred projectile.

[bpcr shooter]

38-55, 38-50, 40-65, 40-82 should all be good for deer.

[semtav]

40-50 sbn
I'd probably have to go shoot my first deer in 40 years if i had a light Shiloh in that caliber.

[pacecars]

Saddle Rifle with pewter tip, semi-fancy wood, AA finish, standard weight half octagon polished barrel, semi buckhorn sight and in .40-70 straight or bottle neck

[bobw]

I think you would be well served with standard weight barrel. My 40-70 bn has one at 26" and it shoots great out to 400 yards on gongs. You know a vast majority of Hartford models in the early 1870's were std barrel weight they carried them far and shot a lot of animals with them. Get a copy of Roy Marco's book on the Sharps 74 and look at the pics to give you a historical perspective of a representative sample. You will enjoy the book and it will give you plenty of ideas. bobw

[mdeland]

I have a friend with a Shiloh Sharps with a 26 inch barrel in 30-30. Probably one of the best whitetail cartridges and lead bullet cases on the planet!
The barrel is light and round. Cool little carbine length rifle.

[mdeland]

Ooops, I just remembered that it is actually half round and 26 inches.

[bruce m]

how would the 40/60 maynard go on whitetail at those ranges.
it might have easy brass availability with commonly available 303 british brass.
bruce.

[sackett]

I should have mentioned that I would prefer an original Sharps round.

I have looked for the Marcot book, but the best I could find was $295 for Volume II, and I cannot justify that much for a book. Call me cheap if you want.....

[bruce m]

in that case 40/70 straight or bottleneck depending on the model rifle.
but when you think about it the 50/70 has all the range you need and would stop a whitetail farting in church.
bruce.

[sackett]

Never really thought of the 50-70....need to do a bit of looking for molds and bullet weights......

Think a standard barrel would still be fine? Or would the heavier be better for a 50-70?

[bruce m]

using a slow twist and lighter weight for calibre bullets, a std wt barrel might point and balance better.
others could advise better on this.
bruce.

[Dennis Armistead]

Never really thought of the 50-70....need to do a bit of looking for molds and bullet weights......

Think a standard barrel would still be fine? Or would the heavier be better for a 50-70?

One of my hunting Sharps is in .50-70, Hartford model with a 28" Heavy barrel, 36 twist. A great load is the Lyman 450 gr. #515141. It's a great round and is the oldest in the Sharps line up.
Dennis

[Distant Thunder]

A .50-70 loaded with the Lyman 5151141 and a charge of BP that it likes would have all the accuracy and range you would need. Such could be fired from a short light barrel without any problem especially with a shotgun butt. I have an original carbine that is very pleasant to shoot with that bullet and even with the poor military sights shoots reasonably well and is a heck of a lot of fun to just shoot.

You can't get much older than the .50-70 for Sharps cartridges. It is accurate, has .50 caliber knock down, can be loaded with very manageable recoil even in a carbine weight. It is limited in range and is therefore much over looked by BPCR target shooters today, but it has plenty of range for hunting.

Hunting in the woods limits your range in and of itself and when you consider that deer are most active early and late in the day when the light is low and you're trying to sight on a target designed to blend into it's surroundings the .50-70 isn't going be the thing that limits your range in the end. A 450 grain (lust over an once) .50 caliber bullet will hit like a 12 ga. slug. Every animal I hit well went down where it stood or within a few steps and did not get up again. It hits with authority!

I'm sure any of the Sharps cartridges when properly loaded will work and all have their limitations. You just need to pick the one that fits you criteria and you will enjoy hunting with. Today I would take my .44-77 because I can and I want to, but I had no complaints with my .50-70.