Sharps,

You don't say what purpose you bought the 1874 for?

Most shooters buy them for competition or hunting and load them in the traditional way just like their great grand-pappy.

For competition, there are strict rules that govern the way we use them and the ammo that you load, BPCR Silhouette, Long Range matches require straight black powder.

For hunting, you can use whatever you like, smokeless, blackpowder or duplex. Bear in mind however, that unless you are loading for a modern highwall, Ruger No.1 etc, the manufacturer has a disclaimer stamped along the barrel "For Black Powder OnlY"

For me, I shoot 3 competitions per month, hunt and just plink at the range for fun. The BPCR fascination is trying to obtain top accuracy with traditional loads.

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Am I correct in what I’m hearing that it sounds like it would not be wise to shoot any rounds over 500 grain bullets in my Sharps 45-70?

Sharps1874,

NO!

That was never mentioned as any kind of problem!

The problem is, as I see it, even thinking about using jacketed bullets in your 1874 Sharps. It doesn't matter how much they weigh, just don't shoot jacketed in the 45/70! 


Sharps1874 says: Ya I know some of you think that I’m crazy to shoot Smokeless in my Sharps, since more then anything else the rife was and still is designed to shoot Black Powder. 

F: Again, shooting smokless in your rifle is no problem. There are many, many excellent smokeless powder loads in everyday use in rifles designed for the 45/70 back in the 1800's. I use plenty of smokeless in my (weak) Ballard as only one example. Just don't ever, ever shoot jacketed bullets in these rifles!

Good afternoon,
Forrest

Hello Everyone,

           I finally received my Sharps Rifle, and well it’s an incredible site to look at. I’m sure that I’m going to have years of fun with my rifle. Under normal circumstances, I usually play around with the new things that I get before reading the owners manual, yet with the Sharps I’ve decided to read everything first. So far this has been a wise decision. 


           Good news, the end of the hunting season has turned out very good for me. I ended up with a very good Blacktail on the last Wednesday of the season about 2 weeks ago. One of the other hunters from the club pushed it my way and all I had to do was sit my butt down and wait for it to run to me. My buck turned out to be a very nice 3 pointer with exceptional eye guards. 2 days later, my Dad killed his deer, a nice fork horn with tall forks. It was great seeing my Dad kill what may be the last deer hill shoot in his life. I think at the age of 78 that he has hunted his last year. Most of the deer this season on the ranch that I hunt on killed their deer in the last few days of the season. We were lucky this year that we were in the rut that last 3 weeks of the season. The same thing happened last year. I ended up with the best buck of the season on the ranch. I’ll get my plaque for that this Saturday at the end of the season hunting party. This will be my second one since we started scoring in 1993. And I already picked up my deer meat from my butcher last Sunday. 

           I’m getting ready to get the last of my reloading stuff. Soon I’ll be shooting my Sharps. 


           OK, how has everyone else done? It’s been very quiet from all of you.

I have had little experience with American Black Powder calibres, but I do have a lot of experience with big bore British calibres, i.e. ,450 to .577

The one thing you cannot do, is overload a cartridge case with Black Powder. With Nitro Powders it is easier to do so.

If you've bought a replica of a rifle that was originally built during the Black Powder era, why not just shoot it using the precise loads that it was designed for.

Certainly shooting Black Powder loads is a bit messy and (to some) a smelly pastime, but Hell, that's why we do it, it's part of the fun.

If you go in for Black Powder Target Competition, it takes a lot more skill than blasting off ten rapid rounds from grandpappy's old A3 O3 Springfield in 30.06. You will have to develope loads that will shoot accurately from 100 to 1000 yards, learn how to use the old fashioned vernier sights, learn to judge wind drift, and a dozen other things.

It's also a far more leisurely pastime, fire a shot at a target 1000 yards away and you have nearly enough time for a cup of coffee before the bullet get there.

Give Black Powder a try, once you have, you'll not be looking for smokeless loads for that rifle in future. Have some fun.

Harry