I have one of each: a C. Sharps 1875 and an 1874 Shiloh.  The inletting on the Shiloh is superior to the C. Sharps, but both are great rifles. I had the 1875 rebarreled from a 45/70 to a 38/55.  Took about 30 days and the folks there were a pleasure to deal with. Great customer service.

B, I always felt that holding grudges just increases the load yer already packin'. Plus, if you hold grudges, then the ones you ought to be the most irritated with would be yer own kids- nobody has pissed you off more often. Get over it, you'll be happy you did.

One of these days I will get it out enough to justify it. So far I have only shot some factory stuff (for the brass), and some Trail Boss reloads.

Funny story. My TB load is 17gr under a 405gr bullet. I was hoping it fire form the brass enough to be able to seat a bullet by hand but it wasn't. Anyway, I have a friend that has a whole litter of kids from 5 to 16. They all came up to do some shooting at my 4th of July party. Troy is pretty much broke so his guns are mainly cheapies. He brought a Savage 223 rifle to shoot and the kids took turns with it, but weren't impressed. Well I brought the Sharps out with my TB loads to see if the kids wanted to give it a try. All but the littlest one were all over it and each shot a round. I finally convinced the 5 year old to give it a try. I loaded it, cocked it, and set the trigger for him and gave him a little instruction on how to use the sights. You could tell he was a little nervous but he pulled the trigger and got a hit. His eyes got as big as saucers, but he was reluctant to try it again. Well the other kids had another turn and when it came back around to the little guy he decided to give it another go. Well by the time we went through about 50 rounds or so, the little one was right in there with the rest of the kids.
The next day the kids all showed their Dad the fresh bruise on their shoulders which was like a trophy to them. The littlest was proudest of his. Troy told me later I saved him 100's of dollars in fireworks and the kids had the best 4th they've ever had.

calledflyer wrote on Oct 20^th, 2016 at 1:36pm:


Yep as in Model 29 S&W. That's another funny story about this rifle. I was looking for something completely unrelated and it took me to the S&W Forum. I had to join to do anything in the classifieds. I am a nut for Model 29's and one of them was my very first new gun. So, 29aholic.
Anyway, not long after I traded for this rifle I put a WTB for brass on that forum. About 30mins later a guy sent me a PM to send him my address and he would just send me a handful. Turns out they were turned cases. I ended up sending him a set of 41mag dies as he had lost most of his stuff in a flood.

29alholic: regarding the 4th of July, you done good!

First of all:  I've no dog in this comparison, k'.

I've a Farmingdale 1874 military rile (fitted with both .45 2 1/10 and .50 1 3/4 barrels); a Farmingdale 1874 military carbine .45 2 1/10; and a C. Sharps 1877 J. P. Lower Sporting Rifle .40 2 1/2.  Other than these, Peabody's consume most of my range time...

The below is my 2 cents worth tossed in here, free of charge and worth exactly that!!

Somewhat of a toss-up anymore, or so it seems?
Pros:
1. action cast or billet steel shaped action, both work, I prefer a billet shaped steel action - just personal preference
2. C. Sharps: you can tailor your rifle to your wants, they will work with you in putting together 'your' rifle.
3. C. Sharps - good delivery times, also models on shelf to buy.
4. Shiloh has some finished models available at times. Not sure what their wait time is these days?
Cons: If any?
1. Shiloh, only models offered in their catalog are available.

Other:
1. C. Sharps now uses McGowen barrels (mostly), though others may be available? Call'em.
2.  Shiloh uses their own in house barrels - which do quite well most of the time.

Otherwise, it kinda comes down to a Ford or Dodge situation it seems?  And no, not wanting to get into a whizzin' contest in here either, k'!!

Pedersoli's:  I've seen/handled several and they seem well built overall for the price range (and that is not a put down on them either).  I've talked with several folks over the years and the Pedersoli rifles have been accurate shooting irons. Folks that have them seem to like 'em just fine.  I've a Gemmer 1874 setting in the other room (new/no box/not fired outside of factory) and the fit n' finish is quite good, made in the 1990's. I'd be a happy camper with a Pedersoil fer shooting 'n huntin'.

Budget constraints; nostalgia; reminiscing thoughts from times past; and so forth gonna have their say in a choice also.

Whatever you come up with:  take it out to shoot and/or hunt with it and enjoy your time together . . . seems that's what's gonna count in the long run.

I'm late to this party and can only add what folks with experience with both have already stated.

My wife bought me a rifle in late 2004 early 2005, and it was a CSharps 1885. I just had to have a 1885, but Schoffstol  (spelling?) suggested to her a 1874. I passed on the 1874 and got my 1885. Many times I wished I had gotten the 1874 for no other reason than I didn't have one. My 1885 was ordered as a target rifle with all the goodies. The wood was Xfancy but without the extra finish many expect, so I did it myself and the wood is drop dead gorgeous. This was not a problem because the extra finish was not paid for or part of that deal. Their sights I ordered on the rifle have been in a box since 2005,. Again this was not their problem as I wanted MVA Soule style and bought them myself. The rifle I got was all I could want and has shot so well over the years I will pass it on to my son (who may or may not want to do all the stuff needed to shoot a BPCTR). My 1885 has a Badger barrel and it shoots as well as the "good" reviews say they do. Well over 2500 rounds down the barrel and it looks new using a Hawkeye. Nice as a new Krieger or Bartlien  (and I've got a safe full of those). To finish this long paragraph,  I feel CSharps treated my wife extremely well and I got what I asked for. Whether you like John Schoffstol or not, he personally dealt with my wife.

Now to Shiloh. A shooting friend left a Shiloh no3 40/65 with me for a year as he did not load for the caliber or use black powder. He wanted to know what it would do. Maybe the fit in finish was nicer, but it shot no better than the CSharps, which means it shot fantastic. Oh how I wish I still had it!

I'm now a Hepburn man so I've gone over to the dark side, but if Shiloh can deliver on a liveable schedule, I really love the look of their 1887. I agree that it is really hard to decide as both companies are better than good and I am glad both still make rifles! I wish I was rich!