New Shiloh Carbine//Historical Question

[Cotton Eye Joe]

Good afternoon!

I received my first Shiloh this month, an 1874 carbine in 50-70. Until then, I'd only had Italian carbines. My personal 2 cents on that:

Pedersoli = good
Chiappa = not so good
Shiloh = like a more refined Pedersoli

I'm mainly interested in older guns and repros for the history. My degree was in US History, and it had an objectionable lack of Old West history classes. Hunting, sure, if the opportunity presents itself. Competitions, same, if the opportunity presents itself. But you'll generally find me on public land shooting at my oversized 18" gong (at close range), trying to convince myself I can hit something. No rules, no fees, no range officers.

Historical Question:

How common was the 1874 carbine in 50-70? I feel like far more common were the 1859s and 1863s converted to 50-70 metallic cartridge. Were most 1874s in 50-70 of the longer barrel'd variety?

If Shiloh made a replica 1859 conversion, I'd be over the moon. I was very influenced by the book Taming the Nueces Strip, and the movie True Grit, which both feature 50-70 carbines, just not 1874 model.

Thanks!
-Cotton Eye Joe

[George Babits]

I think there were between 450 and 500 Model 1874 carbines made. According to Marcot, most of the "military carbines" were 50-70 I think the military modles were the ones that had a barrel band and a 22 inch barrel.
I've had two of the Shiloh military carbines, both in 45-70. I traded them both off over the years. Now I have an original 50-70 conversion and an original percussion and shoot both of them. There is something magic to me about shooting the originals. I have never owned any of the Italian replicas so can't really comment on them. My general take is that there are three kinds of Sharps Rifles: the originals; Shiloh; all others. I quit competing a long time ago. With the original carbines I am pretty happy to see 6" groups offhand at about 75 yards, but on a good day I can do a lot better. I can conjer up lots of excuses: the sights; the heavy trigger pull; bad light. Your Shiloh, once you get a good load figured our, is capable of a lot better because the trigger pull is a whole lot lighter.

George.

[bohemianway]

I posted a write up similar to Georges but it did not take. I will add there were about 30,000 conversions so these are easy to get nice shooters for less than a new Shiloh. Although be aware that the conversions are not as robust as an original 1874 or a Shiloh so load with care.

Charles

[George Babits]

Yup, If you are going to shoot an original, stick to black powder. Admittedly there are safe smokless powder loads, but part of the magic of an original is shooting it the way it was done 150 years ago. The biggest danger with smokless powder is getting a double charge and that is why I keep things the way they were designed to be. Go with a Shiloh if you don't want to use black powder, but you still need to be pretty careful with your loading. And, as Charlie said, if you look around you can probably find an original for less than a Shiloh. I thnk I only paid arounf $1500 for my percussion Sharps carbine. Has a good bore, but did need a little work. My 50-70 Sharps carbine was a bit higher priced than a Shiloh at the time, but I think prices have lowered since then.

George

[Cotton Eye Joe]

I appreciate the replies, guys. I've been dragging me feet with black powder ever since I started reloading, so it's just smokeless for now. I can't say I've seen an original Sharps for less than my Shiloh price that didn't worry me a little. But I'm just looking online, usually, where prices are a bit higher. I haven't seen a lot of original Sharps in person since I left the east coast. Pennsylvania gun shows had a ton of Civil War weapons, including a lot of percussion Sharps.

Only 450-500 made of the 1874 carbines, huh? Good to know that there's a little historical justification!

[Cotton Eye Joe]

Just posting a nice photo of my new carbine in the bush. At least, as nice a photo as the file size permits haha

[Randy Bohannon]

How’s the trigger ? Is it heavy ? Nice rifle.

[Cotton Eye Joe]

No, I definitely wouldn't say it's a heavy trigger. It's not like a competition hair trigger, but it's better than an AR trigger.

Maybe I need to buy a trigger-weight scale.