Hunting with the .54 Shiloh

['63 Shiloh]

Hi Fellers,

I intend to hunt with my Shiloh, the game being targeted will be boars, donkey and camel.

Now, being new to BP Rifles and to the Shiloh; I am wondering what people see as the ideal bullet. I have an unidentified mold that was part of the accessories I received with the rifle.

By visual inspection, it seems to be a 'wadcutter' design. By the look of the mold I suspect it is a Ped item, at least 30-40 years old but in perfect condition.

I have also ordered a mold that is another Ped made, it is for the '63 Shiloh with a base that allows the hunter to tie the paper cartridge to the bullet. It throws a 535gn lead bullet.

Does anyone have any ballistic data using these bullets and Wano PPP, or similar?

Many thanks,

Mick

[Rich Siegel]

Mick,

Do you have a rifle or carbine? What caliber? My 54 caliber Shiloh carbine has a rather small chamber and with a 490 grain ringtail bullet (this is the type of bullet that you can tie or glue a paper cartridge to), my chamber holds just 50 grains of FFG GOEX black powder. As I recall, the bullet only clocks around 800 feet per second at the muzzle. With the rear barrel ladder sight up and the slide set at the bottom of the ladder I'm dead on at 50 yards and I must move the slide up about 1/8" to be on at 100 yards. My rifle does have a taller front sight though but this gives you an indication of the drop of the bullet between 50 and 100 yards.

The rifle holds more powder and thus gets better velocities.

Rich

['63 Shiloh]

Hi Rich,

Thanks for the reply mate.

I have purchased the .54cal carbine, it has a 30" barrel. I have not been able to see how much powder the chamber holds due to our firearms law. Hence, I have bought the rifle but I must wait for it to go through the painful licencing process.

I will find out during the week how much powder it will hold with the bullet from the mold that came with the rifle.

This is my first BP rifle, 800fps does not sound a lot, I have to remind myself of the massive slug being propelled at that speed however

I also own a Marlin XLR 45/70 and have found that a 480gn cast bullet of a 1:16 ratio lead/tin loaded with ADI AR2207 at a velocity of around 1750fps is excellent pig medicine.

I will hopefully be able to post a pic of a decent size boar taken with the Shiloh.

Cheers,

Mick

[Todd Birch]

Hey Cobber!

A carbine with a 30" barrel you say? Interesting .....

I own three 'paper' Sharps - two .50s and a .54 Sporter.

For the .54 I use Charlies tubes glued onto the ringtail of the Christmas Tree bullet. The chamber will hold 100+ grs of powder, more than I care to sit behind. The tubes let me reduce the charge without using a filler.

The .50s (carbine and a rifle) are easier to load with either a rolled paper cartridge and a lubed bullet or a .54 calibre 60 gr. Pyrodex pellet.

Read through the postings and you'll pick up on a lot of 'been-there-done-that' info that works. You'll be pleased with the accuracy potential of your rifle.

Good hunting, when you get the rifle! I haven't taken any game yet with a paper cartridge rifle, but I will.

[Plenty_Guns]

A flat base bullet seated into the rifling with a short starter and a chamber filled with loose powder, or a paper-wrapped powder charge took a number of deer and two fat elk in Colorado.. bet this recipe will work for you, too