Yeah, I clicked out of curiosity too. Wondered what a Sharps home-defense rifle might look like. Nevermind...

They're awesome for when you see nefarious types when they're still 782 yards out! :D

The .50-70 was known as the "50-70 Government", with its 1.75" long case. Custer himself had a Rolling Block so chambered. When Sharps lengthened the case to 2.50", their new cartridge became known as the "Big .50", because, well, it was bigger than the government round.

Sharps loaded it with either 90 or 100 grains of powder and either a 425 grain grease groove bullet or a 473 grain paper patched bullet. With these somewhat light for caliber bullets, it was meant to be kind of an "express" cartridge, although they didn't call it that. Barrels had very slow twists (somewhere around 1 in 42") so they didn't shoot heavy bullets all that well. Billy Dixon used a borrowed "Big .50" at Adobe Walls that day...

Sharps never chambered the 3 1/4" case in any caliber. The .50-140 and .45-120 didn't come along until years after they had gone out of business. These were early examples of "wildcat" cartridges, with several gunsmiths chambering rifles for them. And you'r right - most folks only shoot one once. Especially the .50-140 with a 750 grain bullet. Just no fun at all.

Demanding an addition to his house, so he has room for his new girlfriend Tilly.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674688733.jpg

Poor Ed .... ya let 'em have one stinkin' drawer and they take over the whole dawghouse!

But he sure looks happy :)

Ed's got a trophy wife, I see.

No offense intended but that kinda looks like an unneutered dog.

I don't see a ring on Ed's paw .... not yet!

That's why he looks so happy :D

LOL! Does that make it like one of these?

https://wpcdn.us-midwest-1.vip.tn-cl.../trucknuts.jpg

Took it to the range yesterday - I think I have reason to be optimistic, for the first time ever with this rifle. I went with two purposes in mind, one to check out the pistol grip and, two, to "fire lap" the barrel.

This rifle has always fouled excessively, to the point where I didn't always think my blow tube was effective in keeping the fouling soft. I even resorted at times to wiping after every shot (to no avail). So, I assembled ten rounds using JB Bore Compound as the bullet "lube", and fired each one through a clean barrel, wiping every shot. I even used a bullet it never really liked, just to get rid of them.

Well, lo and behold, it shot the smallest ten shot group at 200 yards I think it has ever managed. Well under 3" for ten rounds. More than competitive in black powder cartridge rifle competition. I had ten additional rounds loaded with the same bullet, but with SPG bullet lube on them, and it fired an even smaller group of ten. And this was with a bullet it never liked...

I'll be assembling some loads with a couple of my best bullets, a 540 grain Paul Jones Creedmoor and a 550 grain Hoch and heading back to the range. I'm excited. Maybe a little disappointed, in a way, that it was this "easy" - just add a pistol grip. The time I have spent on load development, money on bullet molds, and on and on... and a free, home made pistol grip "fixes" it... wouldn't that be something...

Oh well, at least if I can put this aside for awhile, I might have some time to work on that addition to Ed's dog house...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674780544.jpg


A Ted Brown built LRB to NM specs..using GI parts kit from CMP

That strikes a chord, tabby. "Military" rifles have never been my cup of tea, but I figure if a guy is going to own one, it ought to be an M1A. I know Springfields and Garands are far more "collectible", AR's are far more "useful", but M1A's seem to be my "Goldilocks" military rifle. I opted for the Squad Scout version from Springfield Armory. Nothing fancy, just a good honest "using'" rifle.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674782600.jpg

I've since removed the picatinny rail and installed a full length hand guard. That damn thing gets hot.

LRB and BULA uses forged receivers, where Springfield uses Cast receivers..

You should check out LRB...they essentially build custom M1A's.

I have a friend that was wanting to buy an M1A, but was not satisfied with Springfield, he showed me the rabbit hole of cognicity ..so I started with the search engines and a couple of months later found this one for what a Springfield would go for.

I like a little bit of everything..That gd Seahawk got me on a military kick when he talked about shooting his sons Moison....that led me to looking for- M39's..

I've checked out LRB's and have been duly impressed. I probably should have gone that route before just kind of impulse buying this Springfield off the rack at my buddy's gun store. Like I said, though, not really my cup of tea, I just wanted a representative example. I'll never shoot it enough for any differences in longevity or wear attributable to cast vs forged to rear their ugly head. This one shoots well enough for anything I'll ever "need" it for, I won't cry if it gets all beat up, and it's eminently disposable/replaceable. As close to being "just a tool" as any rifle I'll ever own.

The "next rifle" (at least the planned next rifle) is going to be a Jim Kibler "Southern Mountain Rifle" in either .32 or .36 caliber. I don't have a proper squirrel rifle. His kits have an outstanding reputation, and it's time to build another muzzle loader.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674855049.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674855049.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674855049.jpg

That's a heck of a thing!

Tell me/us more about it. How is that a squirrel rifle? .32 or .36 seems like an awful lot of "stopping power" for a squirrel. And how long is the barrel? Wow! Measured in feet vs the usual inches.

When I read ".32 or .36" and "squirrel rifle" and see those photos, I think "yeah, that's for hunting 50-100# squirrels from several hundred yards out."

Based on what I see, that's a flintlock, right? At some point, my dad built a percussion cap rifle. I don't remember if he got rid of it because we were moving with the military and were weight limited what we could take, or if it was stolen when our house was robbed. I think he shot it a handful of times at my uncles house when I was about 6-7. I remember him and my uncle being engulfed in a cloud of smoke after firing it. I remember they were shooting at a piece of plywood leaning up against a small tree, and the ball cut the top of the tree off.

Things are different with a muzzle loader. Round balls are the lightest for caliber projectiles extant. For example, a .310" diameter ball that would be used in the .32 caliber only weighs 45 grains, about what a standard bullet from a .22 long rifle cartridge weighs. A .350" diameter ball, as used in the .36 caliber, weighs 65 grains.

With light charges of black powder, these will only achieve 1,100 to 1,200 feet per second. So, essentially, these are "muzzle loading .22's". About the same range and effectiveness.

Yes, this is a flint lock. The barrel should wind up in the 41"-43" range. These barrels are "swamped", which means they are the largest across the flats at the breach end, then taper towards the muzzle, then flare back out again at the muzzle. Kind of an hour glass shape. This makes them balance off hand really well.

I've been shooting flint lock all of my life. It's certainly a challenge to get one to go off reliably, especially when out hunting on one of our typical Pacific Northwest fall days. But it can be done, and I've done it, having taken several deer with my .50 caliber Dixie Tennessee Mountain Rifle.

I built this one in my early 20's. It shoots a .490" diameter round ball of 180 grains weight. I load it up to almost 2,000 feet per second for hunting, which makes it entirely effective on deer. Pretty much the "bottom end" of the range that is actually effective on deer, especially with its round ball. I know .50 caliber sounds big, but in this world it really isn't. This one has a 43" barrel, by the way. The stock is cherry wood, with about 50 coats of boiled linseed oil rubbed into it over the years.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674858757.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1674858757.jpg

Making Progress
 

I think I'm getting there. The pistol grip certainly adds to my ability to control the rifle. It appears that my efforts in fire lapping the bore have been beneficial as well.

I went to my range today with three test loads in hand, with three different proven bullets. Each and every one of them have helped me win matches in one rifle or another, so I know they can shoot. Left to right, they are the RCBS .45-500 BPS weighing 500 grains, the Paul Jones "Creedmoor" at 540 grains, and the Hoch 550 at 550 grains:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1676084969.jpg

The rifle seemed to like the RCBS bullet the best. I was hoping it would prefer the heavier bullets, but these are still kind of early trials since having made the changes to the rifle. The important thing is that it actually shot all of them consistently, without the wild "what the hell was that???" flyers.

Its best group with the RCBS is a very, very competitive group in these circles. An honest 3 1/2" spread for ten shots at 200 yard in variable winds and lighting.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1676085186.jpg

It actually put the first seven in the upper part of the group before I dropped the last three a bit lower. The lighting changed, so that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

At any rate, I am, for once, encouraged to continue with this rifle. From here I can tweak seating depth, powder charge, and maybe neck tension to see if it has anything left on the table.

Very cool, Jeff!

Very nice but never felt the need given the weight of the rifle.... they are classy and your custom piece looks good.
I enjoy a good flintlock too.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1676134568.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1676134587.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1676134640.jpg

Beautiful rifles, Reiver. One notable hole in my collection is a nice Martini of some kind. I'm going to have to fix that someday. A nice little Cadet or something.