Shiloh Rifle Forums

Disclaimer: I've researched and read myself into a hole in the ground and am no closer to discovering an answer than when I first started. (Having worked through Steve Garbe and Mike Venturino's books and searched this site at length)

The rifle: A gently used Shiloh Sharps 1874 Long range express 50-90. 30" barrel with roughly 28" being the rifled portion
The twist: 1-30 checked and confirmed

I picked up this lovely rifle a while back, I've been researching, reading, pondering, and after much ado finally took it to my local smith for verification. The barrel was slugged and came out .507-.5075

Heres where I seem to go off the rails. His recommendation is to get a bullet mold at .509 (I've never casted a bullet in my life) and honestly just finally getting set up for reloading the BP cartridge has taken a toll on my mental health. I need to begin chucking lead to even understand what i've read. So here is my question for you learned scholars of the black powder world.

1. Will shooting a .510 cause a problem being .003" larger? I cannot seem to locate any sized production models as .509 currently
2. Being a slower twist is the 450-550 grain the range I should be striving for to get started? I only intend on shooting in the NRA BPCR matches at my home club out to 600 yards.

Thank you in advance for your help.

I run .512 diameter in my 50-70 and a buddy runs the same in his 50-90. These are grease groove not paper patched. This will all make a lot more sense after you've shot a bit. Relax and have some fun.

Quit chewing your nails get a paper patch mold and patch them. The 50-2.5" left buffalo carcasses all over the west and they were not loaded with greasers. Bobw

First off there should be two measurements in the barrel. A bore size and a groove size.
Is this a factory barrel?
Most 50s from shiloh are different from your measurements.
You should have your smith do a chamber cast with some rifling included and once you have that info you can work out what you need for a bullet.
Mostly the 50 is a casting rifle. You can find bullets but they will be spendy and may not fit your rifle.

“I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.”

This site is full of wonderful people who have “forgotten more than most will ever know” about Sharps rifles and black powder cartridge rifle shooting. They will freely share their knowledge, but you can drown in the details without a basic understanding, which is best gained through physical experience. It can be a “paralysis through analysis” thing. It sounds like you need help distilling the minute fine details down to the basics that you need to get started. I strongly suggest finding a “hands on mentor” to take you, first, shooting these wonderful works of art, and then, help with the reloading and casting adventures.

It may not be worth a drive clear out here to Kansas, but I bet there is someone on this forum within a couple of hours that would help. (When I was a rookie here, Ironramrod just happened to be preparing for a trip from North Dakota to visit family in my area, and volunteered to haul three of his rifles here to help me get started.)

Good morning, Mr. Bullets;

It has been over a year ago (yeeee Gods!) but I wrote a "kind of" guide here aimed at newbies exactly like you. There are a whole bunch of things that newbies DO NOT need to get tangled up with. If you would like to read my post, search on "Just for Newbies ... mostly".

Y'all be good;
horsefly

A might hefty thanks for the information so far. As far as I know the barrel is factory. My smith did all the chamber , land and groove measurements and twist, those were the numbers he came up with. I’ve never been one to take the easy path mostly by happenstance so I guess this venture will be no different. I’m going to visit the newbies thread to familiarize myself with some more basic info to get started, though this task seems arduous, I have set a goal to shoot in 1 NRA BPCR match this year even if only to just spend time around my local shooters and suck up some more knowledge.

Coffee and Bullets, I think you will need a 1.1inch bullet for your twist rate this should cover all aspects of the shooting game. Vic

After some good reading here and I had a good conversation with Mr. Brooks of brooks mounds he’s got me headed down the right path.