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P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps (Read 13903 times)

powderman Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 335 Location: British Columbia Joined: Feb 26^th, 2005	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #15 - Aug 28^th, 2015 at 9:50pm	Print Post
	Huvius, In your photo, the rear buckhorn barrel sight appears to not have a notch in the bottom of the opening of the buckhorn, or is this just the camera angle? Regards, Powderman


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Huvius Junior Member Offline Posts: 73 Location: Wheat Ridge Joined: Apr 12^th, 2011	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #16 - Aug 30^th, 2015 at 12:27pm	Print Post
	powderman wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 9:50pm: Huvius, In your photo, the rear buckhorn barrel sight appears to not have a notch in the bottom of the opening of the buckhorn, or is this just the camera angle? Regards, Powderman There is a notch. I'm not thinking that the 40-90 is underpowered for any North American big game. It is very similar in powder capacity and bullet weights to the 450/400 3-1/4"BPE rifles from England and they are very capable. I have also read that as the great Bison herds thinned, the .40cal rifles came into wider use. I left a phone message with Dr. Labowskie last weekend and haven't heard back. Will try him on a weekday and see if he picks up.


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westerner Frequent Elocutionist Offline deleted posts and threads record holder. Posts: 11521 Location: Why, out West of course Joined: May 29^th, 2006	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #17 - Aug 30^th, 2015 at 1:30pm	Print Post
	To kill as many buffalo as they did in such a short time, most any rifle was used. That's what I've always thought. Not what I've read. Did the old time authors stretch the truth? Wrote what they saw on a couple trips out West? Joe.

	A blind squirrel runs into a tree every once in a while.
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coljimmy Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 283 Joined: Nov 10^th, 2012	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #18 - Aug 31^st, 2015 at 1:54am	Print Post
	Well, John in PA, the fellow that butt shot that buffalo must have been one of those northern Kansas hunters, us Texans are better shots than that. Early in the commercial buffalo hunting, about anything was used to hunt, giving some validity to the unproven rumor that the army offered 50-70 ammunition free gratis, but after June 1872 when the big 50 was introduced, many of the better equipped hunters used them and Sellers made the point that the 40's were used later which were more economical in lead and powder, with adequate penetration. This makes my 40-70 SS look good. There was , however a time out from June 1874 to mid 1875 for the Red River (Buffalo) War when the Quahadi Comanche finally moved to Fort Sill leaving a respite for the southern herd. J. Wright Mooar's big 50 is currently on loan to Frontier Texas museum in Abilene (Texas, of course) and Henry Sackett's 50-2&1/2 is still locally owned. James


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bruce moulds Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 290 Location: the antipodes Joined: Mar 14^th, 2015	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #19 - Aug 31^st, 2015 at 7:01am	Print Post
	while the 40/70 would well have killed some bison, it was not the gun that the 40/90 was. the smaller case used a lighter bullet, about 330 gns, and was really a ballistic twin of the 40/65, really a deer cartridge par excellance. rifles for the bigger case were reputedly rebarrelled by gunsmiths with faster twists capable of handling 400+ gn bullets that needed powder volume to be effective. the std load was a 370/380 gn bullet at 1450 fps. all the legends of the 50/2.5 tend to overpower the truth. the 50s ran bullets of lower sectional density than the 45s and 40s due to recoil, and so had less penetration. keep safe, bruce.

	ventum est amicus meus
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Huvius Junior Member Offline Posts: 73 Location: Wheat Ridge Joined: Apr 12^th, 2011	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #20 - Aug 31^st, 2015 at 7:18pm	Print Post
	I was able to talk to Dr. Labowskie today and he did shed some light on the rifle. It was shipped March 5th 1874 to G. O. Latham in Iron Mountain W.T. He is not sure if it is Wyoming Territory or Washington Territory. There was a Latham family in Iron Mountain Wyo. at the time and the patriarch, Stanton Latham, had a son named Gordon, so this Gordon could possibly be the original owner and this would place the rifle in close proximity to Bergersen in Cheyenne. Here is a site with a little information on the family: (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links)


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westerner Frequent Elocutionist Offline deleted posts and threads record holder. Posts: 11521 Location: Why, out West of course Joined: May 29^th, 2006	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #21 - Sep 2^nd, 2015 at 11:05am	Print Post
	I saw a Antelope on the back of a Lathams horse. Your rifle most likely shot all sorts of game. Maybe even a buffalo or two. Joe.

	A blind squirrel runs into a tree every once in a while.
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SchwarzStock Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1207 Location: SchwarzWald Joined: Mar 23^rd, 2010	Re: P. Bergersen 40-90 Sharps Reply #22 - Sep 3^rd, 2015 at 5:28pm	Print Post
	coljimmy wrote on Aug 28^th, 2015 at 11:42am: J.Wright Mooar in his very factual record stated that he loaded 110 grains in his 2&1/2 inch cases. This is the same caliber Billy Dixon used to knock an Indian off of his horse at what was later measured as 1028 yards the day after the main battle. Didn't kill him but broke a rib according to the Indian account of the fight. James Believe Dixon was using a Big 50, not a 40 caliber SS

	If your rifle is not in 7.62 and you can't hit what you are aiming at with de-linked machinegun ammo you are a pretender.
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