Hello, 
 
       I own a Shiloh Sharps Sporter #1, in a 45-70 with a 30” barrel that has a .459 bore. I got excited when I looked on the Paul Jones site and saw his 570 g AA Smerker Long Range Bullet. I said to myself, that was a bullet I wanted shot out of my Sharps. Yet the other day a friend of my questioned if, that bullet might be too long for my rifle. I emailed Paul Jones, and he thought I should call him since there was so much involved that an emailed would not work in answering my question. Before I call Paul and talk to him, I wanted the advice from those of you that have the same rifle, a rifle close to mine, or from those of you that just have that savvy knowledge that I need to hear from. It comes with 4 lube grooves, should I add one more lube groove or is the 4 enough. That might sound like a silly or foolish question, yet I’m throwing it out there just in case it’s not all that foolish of a question. I’m just now casting my own bullets, and I do not have the wealth of knowledge that many of you already have. So please do jump in and help me out if you can. 

     I already know what the optimum bullet length for my rifle is using the Greenhill Formula that is on the Hoch home page, (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links);

     Just so that you know, I already have the Lyman 457132 (535 gr Postell) bullet mould. I have been working with 420’s that I have bought and they just need some tweaking for my rifle. Because I have a good feeling with the 420’s I plan to buy the Lyman 457193 (405 gr). Some of you might be questioning my reasoning on wanting the 570-gr bullet, when my 535-gr bullet will get me out to 1,000 yards and more. That 570 has a impressive look and I’m not sure on how much farther it will go compared to my 535, yet something about it has stirred that little kid in me. I do appreciate what any of you can give me on if the 570 Paul Jones bullets are too long for my rifle. I do value your opinions, thanks in advance. 

Sharps,

All my 45/70 experence is with Trapdoors so weigh my advice against the exprenced Sharps & long range shooters.

The Goverment loads for 45/70's were 405 gr bullet for Carbines and Cadet rifles and 500's for the full rifle. I have found that to be a pretty good choice.  After all the testing the Goverment did on the load you would expect so. As far as shootablity I like the 405's much better due to less recoil but will use the 500 gr bullet for long range.  Long means over 600 yards. Under 600 there are not many reasons to use the 500's Rams @ 500 meters perhaps but not for paper targets. 

The rifles weight is a big factor. I don't know how much your Sporter Sharps weighs but if it's around 11 lbs 500 is about all I would want to shoot for long strings.

Of course for long range that 570 gr bullet will perform better than a 500, IF you can get it up to velocity.  I would question if you can get enough black powder behind a 570 gr bullet in a 45/70 case to get any real benifit from the heavy bullet. To my mind the 570's belong in front of a 45/90. 

I have a friend who shoots a fair amount of long range & heavy bullets. In one of his 45/70's I saw him breech seat with the powder charge rolled in a "tube" in order to get more into the chamber than his 45/70 case allows. He intends to re-chamber for the 45/90 case and used the "powder bag" dodge to see how it all works before altering the rifle. He said without enough powder the bullet would not do well at long range.

As far as the lube groves it's possable to seat the bullet out of the case with lube groves exposed but I would guess thats what you have to do if adding extra groves.  I would also guess that 4 groves carry enough good lube to proper lubracate the bullet. 

Anyway thats all I know about it.

Boats