Can anyone tell me about Armi Sport single shot rifles? My dad gave me one that he bought off one of his friends, its a 45-110 sharps Billy Dixon model. Are they reliable rifles?, safe?, accurate?. It has a 32" heavy octagon barrel. Says it was manufactured for Cimarron Repeating arms company by Armi Sport Italy. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

I can't speak for the Armi Sport 1874 Sharps but I owned a A/S model 1861 musket.  Internal lock parts were very soft but the rifle was somewhat accurate.  Good starter musket for the N-SSA.  Four members of our team then bought new the A/S model 1842 musket and all four muskets had something wrong with them that had to be fixed by a gunsmith before they could be used.  I've heard the same about the model 1863 Sharps carbines by A/S.  But since you already have the gun, just enjoy shooting it.  The guns are safe with the exception of soft lock parts.  If it breaks, you will have had the experience with it before you invest in a better quality Sharps, at much higher prices.  I'd stick to black powder loads.  Use FG powder, not a finer grain powder.  Cartridges of that size like the single F powder.

  I'm a firm believer in "Made in the USA". Never had a problem with "any" that couldn't be fixed with a postage stamp. Why, would anyone buy a piece of crap, and expect it to perform as well as "THE REAL THING". 
            Martin

Thanks drc, like I said I don't have much in it, my dad bought it off his friend that is bad in health and he thought I would like it. I'm in Martinsburg WV, eastern panhandle, but, I was born and raised in New Martinsville WV, right below Wheeling. Go back there quite often, especially in hunting season, We have a farm out on Proctor hill about 1000 or so acres, REAL good hunten. And as for what Martin stated about "made in USA," I agree, BUT, I served in this countries armed forces and I've seen some pretty crappy american made stuff."ESPECIALLY" in certain weapons and firearms . I guess it all comes down to what day it was made on. I guess thats my two cents worth. Thanks again drc.

Hey drc, I know some Millers over that a way, some Millers boarder our farm, been to Shinston many times. Yeah that would be great to hook up, maybe go out to the farm and make some smoke fly, we could probably stretch out a 1500 to 1800 yard shot over there, that is, from hill side to hill side, not much flat land over there. Akron isn't that far from that neck of the woods, Plus if you wouldn't mind, maybe give me a few pointers on reloading some BP rounds. We have a complete reloading system set up at our cabin over there, and a bench with a 100 yard range. I think it would be a good time.

I don't have much as far as reloading BP, like I said I'm green in the BP area, the only BP I use is dumped down the barrel or rolled into a paper round for my origional new model 1863. I do have Lyman dies for the 110, miester 405gr, .458dia, flat nose bullets. I Have all flavors of BP,,,,,BUT no Fg, That I can take care of. I've been reading some stuff on it but I'm the type of person that likes to see it done. I guess I need a list of possibles to go shopping for.........sure am glad my wife loves me.... . I will send you a PM with the info that you asked for.
Thanks,
Dave

there is a bit of equipment that is needed to get a BPCR rifle shooting decently using blackpowder. once you see what you need, you might decide to try and work out the loads with one of the substitute powders or smokeless, but, it won't be as fun

here is a minimum of what you will need to buy or make

the bullets you have, what alloy are they, 20:1 is what I use, and they might be sorta light for a 110 but if they are not hard, should work, you need some "bump up" in a bprc rifle

bullet lube, SPG or DGL or 2 good ones

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drop tube, can be made with a funnel and brass tubing

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beam scale, you might already have one

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compression plug, for consistently compression powder in case, I got mine from CH4D, if you have access to a lathe, or have an acquaintance in a machine shop, you can make one from a bolt that will thread into a die body, check out CH4D also

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dial calipers, for measuring seating depth etc, you might already have these

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tumbler for cleaning brass, you can do it with a vibratory cleaner, but it will take longer and you will have to scrub the cases out, this is a trade off for manual labor

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I got my ceramic media from (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links). the media I got from BACO gets stuck in the primer pockets

LDPE wads, for over the powder, under the bullet

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this is just a start, make sure you have them include the payroll-deduction forms, shooting BPCR rifles is like golfing or owning a boat, or a race car, or other money pit, er I mean obsession, er I mean extremely gratifying hobby


Dave

I have three sets of scales, Lyman, lee and rcbs, also have rcbs digital scales, can I use them? have three different presses, have a lyman tumbler, I have the the stuff to lube just have to get the right size lubrisizer, and I mold my own bullets, just have to get the right mold. I have about 300 pounds of lead. I make all the balls for my flintlocks and bullets for my 1863. The rest I'll have to dip into my gunsmithing money and order it., but I know my loving wife will give me the money.....