Hello guys, I got out the Sharps today

Support for the 1863 shooter. Discussions of powders, loads, bullets, etc.
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catfish101
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:57 pm

Hello guys, I got out the Sharps today

Post by catfish101 »

I let her fly today.

This gun holds allot more powder then I thought it would. With the 405g bullet touching the lands it holds 130g of powder. After the first shot the back of bullet would go in to where the powder chamber starts. It would hold 110 to 115. We were using a hand flask. The friend that was shooting with me was amazed at how much powder the gun would hold. I wouldn't hink it was burning it all but it does hold a bunch.

We were shooting some pyrodex 3fg that he had. It shot great.

Question. Why are the x-mas tree bullets tapered. Is the bottom band supposed to be the barrel size. 458" for example. I guess you have to hand lube these bullets also.

Do I need to try a bigger bullet considering how much powder the gun will hold. What I mean is since the powder chamber is pretty big was it built for a heavier bullet.

I am going to play with it in a gun vise and see what the best charge is for different bullets. That will keep me out of the mix. Let the gun do it's thing.

I know guys that shot muzzle loaders and they put some white sheets in from of the gun and adjust powder charges till they quit getting powder flying out of the barrel. Is that something you guys do?

Anyway I had allot of fun with it. I would really be interested in getting with the NSSA. It looks like allot of fun.

Chris
Rich Siegel
Posts: 610
Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2002 7:53 am
Location: Maine

Post by Rich Siegel »

Hi Chris,

I shoot on an N-SSA team from the northern Ohio area, General Sherman's Bodyguard though I have now moved to Maine. There are several N-SSA teams in the Lexington/ Cincinnati area that I know of. Your best bet is to go to www.n-ssa.org and see the different teams in the Mid-West and other regions. I'm sure every team welcomes new members. Unfortunately though, your 45 caliber Shiloh will not be allowed in matches. The Sharps may only be in 50 0r 54 cal. as this is as close to original calibers as guns are now made by gun makers.

You could, of course, spend $200 to have the barrel rebored or $500 for a new barrel.

Let me know if I can answer any more questions about the n-SSA.

Rich
Todd Birch
Posts: 2133
Joined: Wed Mar 03, 2004 12:01 pm
Location: Somewhere in the Cariboo ....

.54 Carbine

Post by Todd Birch »

Catfish

I too am amazed at the powder capacity of your .45 carbine! That equals the chamber of my .54 Sporter!

By all means, experiment with different bullet weights and types. If you want to shoot less powder, try Charlie Hahn's tubes which accept a .45 calibre bullet just fine. Once you settle on a load, they can be cut to chamber length and a filler used to bring the powder charge to where it can be reliably ignited.

Yes, the 'Xmas Tree' bullet had three different diameter driving bands, but a soft alloy bullet of one diameter will 'bump up' to groove size.

As for detecting unburned powder, shoot over snow if you have any, but I'll bet you aren't going to see much. Could be your load is 'over capacity' for the bore size, in which case it makes sense to use a reduced load with a filler.
"From birth to the packing house, we travel between the two eternities ....." Robert Duvall in "Broken Trail"
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