I'm pretty excited to get this one! One of those holy grail guns, that isn't often seen, and not on my radar screen either! John Dutcher shows 11 known serial numbers for the #7, and this is #12. This just arrived after the USPS fiasco that promised quick shipping, but delivered the long, slow, many stops route!
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The Ballard is a first year 1875 #7 Long Range, in .44-100 Ballard caliber. Gorgeous bore, and for a 141 year old gun, in pretty decent overall shape. Few handling or character marks, but well cared for! 
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It has the correct 34" half octagon Creedmoor barrel, and long range vernier sight. The bore is excellent, and the .44-100 cartridge looks like a handful at about 3.75" OAL!
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Now I need to learn about paper patching, and loading for it! I have dies, brass, bullets, and mold that came with the gun. Just need to start the learning curve!

You never stop amazing me. That's even cooler than the last time you scored big. (but I must say that snazzy Hepburn is more my kinda thing). Congratulations on a real prize.

Thanks guys! 
I've never paper patched. Don't shoot black powder. So now I need to learn all that, or find a grease groove bullet mold that works for this. I have a GG mold for my .44-77 SBN that's a 300 grain bullet, and it might work in this case? Need to slug this bore, and see what it is first. The mold is a brass mold that I believe is an Old West nose pour, adjustable. It drops from around 435-475 gr. paper patch bullet, of .442" diameter.
Anxious to build up some rounds and try it. Anyone have any recommendations on what BP to use? Maybe Fg, or Swiss 1 1/2?

Lucky man, nice gun. I like that

Wow, that's Great!

I shoot a Cody Copy...for silhouette.

Terry

4570sharpshooter wrote on Aug 15^th, 2016 at 7:07pm:


Thanks Dennis! 
Got a big shock from my wife. She never comments on old guns I buy. She walked into the dining room and asked, "Where's that new Ballard?"
I had it leaning close by, and handed it to her, expecting her to just look. She took it from my hands and said, "That's a pretty gun."
Could have knocked me over with a feather! First comment she's ever made about an old gun. Even my two engraved Ballards didn't get a comment.

shovel80 wrote on Aug 15^th, 2016 at 8:16pm:


Do you load BP or smokeless? What bullet weight? How is the recoil?

SSShooter wrote on Aug 15^th, 2016 at 8:45pm:

Does he use "Tom Klinger" as his user name? Sounds like a good source of knowledge for BP and PP.

I can't wait to get the range report on this one- and when you take it to your "getaway" to shoot with the long range guys, that'll be worth hearing about, too. Dang, that's nice. 
My wife wouldn't say a word either- for days.

Oh my.....stunning.  Congrats sir.

Thanks!
Here's a little comparison of some calibers I have in Ballards:

L to R.
.38-55-255 gr.
.45-70-500 gr.
,40-70-400 gr. Ballard
.44-100-475 gr. Ballard

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SgtDog0311 wrote on Aug 16^th, 2016 at 2:46pm:


Thanks John! You were a willing and eager participant! Most guys are once they've looked a Ballard over closely!

Slugged the bore today, and it's a larger .4515", vs. the .446" that COTW suggests. Great looking bore, so guessing it's just larger than what is "expected" on the .44-100 Ballard.
So I'm going to run several different weight .45-70 bullets through my .452" sizing die, and try some various weight bullets from 360 gr., .395 gr., 405 gr. 425 gr. and 500 gr. Should let me know what bullet weight, and charge gives the best accuracy, and not beat me to death also!

marlinguy wrote on Aug 18^th, 2016 at 6:06pm:

Good luck with that. When I shot Tom's 44-100 Hepburn Creedmoor I only shot two (2) rounds (think they were 400gr with 90gr of BP). First shot at a pig (300m) was a close miss (new to me trigger, etc.), but the second knocked the pig flying with authority. When I got my shirt off that evening and looked in the mirror I had a noticeable bruise exactly where the shotgun butt fit. Something I've never had with my 40-65 Hepburn (even with the 439gr/65gr load). Of course, my rifle also weighs ~13# with the scope on it and the Hepburn Creedmoor meets the old 10# weight limit of its day. Have fun.

Val: Its is my experience that the 44-90 Sharps and Remington are .451 and the Marlin Ballard in 44-100 also. My Lyman .446 molds for Sharps 44-77 casts at .451 so its worth taking a look at them.
Don