Info needed on Black Powder Cartridge Rifles

[Powderman]

Hi, all!

I have been bitten hard by the BPCR bug. Specifically, I want a Sharps. I want one badly....and I will get one!

The only thing I am stuck on is caliber--and of course, the durability and capability of the rifle. Why do I want one? For stress relief!

Anything that roars, puts out a bunch of flame and smoke, and puts out a thick heavy bullet that will THUMP something HARD at longer ranges puts a smile on my face.

However, I also lean toward the traditional. I just LOVE the lines of the Sharps 1874 and 1875 rifles. Now, about caliber.....

I want something that will put out those big, fat slugs at good velocities. When I started my research, I was looking at and chose the .45-70 for my caliber. That, however, was before I read about the .45-120. Now, THAT'S a manly cartridge, especially when fired from a good hunk of American steel!!

Of course, I also want the "brag" factor--there's just something appealing about stuffing a 3 1/4 inch case into the breech and lighting off a shoulder fired howitzer....

So, here are my questions:

1. For those of you with Sharps rifles, how fast can I safely move those big slugs, out of the .45-70 and the .45-120? Now, I've seen some screaming velocities published--but, no rifle info.

2. Is there a real difference in the performance from the .45-120 and the .45-70, in the Sharps rifle?

3. Do you use smokeless powder in your Sharps rifles? What kind of performance are you getting?

4. If you cast your own, what kind of lube do you use? Do you use gas checked bullets?

5. What do you use for wads and fillers?

I look forward to the answers--thanks for all your help!!!

 

[Eric F]

wow I thought I was the only guy that liked bp cartrages. It is funny to see the looks you get while putting "a peice of brass kitchen sink pipe" in the breech of a gun.
1. I dont know I never chrono-ed one you are safe with bp though its hard to go faster than case capacity allows.
2.yes its almost double the powder charge I have shot the 120 twice and it is a noticable diffrence.
3.other than factory loads I only reloaded with bp
4.I used a bullet mold from laymen it was a gas check type bullet and I used a high temp wheel bearing grease for lube I found that in hot weather it did not get runny and melt like some bp lubes do I never put a thought into using the blue stuff you see on some factory cast bullets
5. I used a 2ply felt sheet and punched wads through it in between the felt there was a thin disc of heavy construction paper. I used no fillers as I loaded to max capacity bp
so in short I had an emf sharps double trigger 45/70 used a 405 gr bullet followed by a double felt wad with a card disc between the felt wads then 70 gr by volume bp
now diffrent powders gave diffrent results fg was the best for recoil fffg(not suposed to be used in 45/70) was sharp I suspect I was pushing the pressure limits with this. I used cannon grade once didnt work too well either it was still burning as the bullet left the barrel and threw burning powder 10 feet in front of the muzzle. I setteled with ffg giving the best concistanty and accuracy.

 

[Ozark Tracker]

here's a link to CAS city, Buffalo rifles of the old west. a lot of Buffalo rifle shooters over there, you should find what ya need, if not just ask, you'll get answers.

http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/board,77.0.html