45-70 help

cooterdog

cooterdog

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I am looking for a 45-70 single shot that can shoot BP and smokeless. I prefer BP shooting as I have two 50 cal front stuffers and a good supply of BP/lead. I have been looking at sharps and some others from Uberti. Does anybody have any insight or sugestions where to buy in canada? Also for cleaning BP what to look for like ease of cleaning, rolling blocks and so on.
 
It depends on which old make you prefer, the old side hammer '74 Sharps, the best of which are made by either C. Sharps or Shiloh Sharps in the USA, you order the rifle you want and someone like Prophet River will import it for you. If you like the Rem. Rollingblock, beautiful copies are made by Lonestar Rifles in the USA. C. Sharps also makes a beautiful copy of the 1885 Highwall. Browning/Winchester make a nice Highwall as well and I can recommend them because they use Badger Barrels, among the best! There are others as well, if you like the strongest of the Stevens SS actions, CPA make a beautiful and accurate copy, that is far better then the original unless H. Pope helped out with it. I have recommended only rifles that I would buy, there are cheaper copies out there, but not for me.
All are easy to clean because you clean them from the breach, Windex w/vinegar is all I use. Cleaning your empty cases is more work then the rifle. There are quite a few BPCR shooters on here and they would all be willing to help you, including myself, if you need help or have questions.....Ben
 
For ease of cleaning I favor H&R/NEF brake actions,falling and rolling block actions.
I have one of those myself and i shot the other 2 types and for me H&R/NEF products are the best in this regard.
Total (well,almost)disassembly takes 30 sec. to 1 minute,putting it back together is just as fast.
Good scrub and wipe with car antifreeze and gun oil takes about 5 -10 minutes.That's it.

On top of that money saved on the gun can be better spend on top quality molds,brass, sights or whatever you think you need.
 
cooterdog said:
I am looking for a 45-70 single shot that can shoot BP and smokeless. I prefer BP shooting as I have two 50 cal front stuffers and a good supply of BP/lead. I have been looking at sharps and some others from Uberti. Does anybody have any insight or sugestions where to buy in canada? Also for cleaning BP what to look for like ease of cleaning, rolling blocks and so on.
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Are you interestd in a long range rifle?
I have a Whitcliffe for sale, with a tang sight.
I can give you a killer deal on it!!:)
Cat
 
I'm pretty sure it's not a Whitcliffe, maybe a Wickliffe or some such, but the poster would be well served with that Highwall copy. I forgot another option, getting a old RB from Tradex and then hotrodding it into the BPCR of your dreams. One alteration that I like, is grinding off the stupid thumb lever that Euro RBs have and substituting a side lever from Lonestar.
 
Personally I prefer the Sharps action for black powder because the lock mechanism is completely isolated from fouling and the breach can be dropped out easily for cleaning, while washing the barrel.
I am not terribly impressed with Martinis or Peabodys for black powder because they cannot be cleaned from the breach.
Much as I like highwalls, they are not nearly as easy to strip as a Sharps.
All that said, my principle target rifles were first a highwall, then a Ballard, then and more or less now a rolling block and easing back to a Sharps. I had a Farmingdale Sharps years ago but traded it off because in 45-120 it kicked too much.

cheers mooncoon
 
If you don't mind a bit of a wait and some importing paperwork you can order directly from C. Sharps or Shiloh Sharps. I have both and am very happy with them.

Edit: Like Mooncoon says, the Sharps is very easy to clean and removal of the breach block is a cinch with no tools required. With an 1885 reproduction it's very easy to clean the bore but depending on the make, removal of the breech block varies in difficulty, in my C. Sharps 1885 you can remove the block in 2 minutes with the appropriate pin punch but putting it back in is a bit trickier :). With a newer Browning 1885 I think it's much harder to remove the breech block. I've never tried. I give the insides of the action a very liberal dose of Rem oil from a spray can and let any gunk drip out.

Chris.
 
I think the rifle was named after the town in OHIO, and may have been made there, although that's conjecture, as it's been awhile since I was involved in a Wickliffe.
 
If you do go for an 1874 Sharps action... get a Shiloh. If you want to do a High Wall... go with C. Sharps. I cannot under most circumstances recommend getting an Italian knock-off. Even those CPA Stevens reproductions look like fun little guns. Then you can go really exotic like the 1877 (hopefully Shiloh will start cranking them out), the Frank Wesson repros, and the list goes on. For me, it's about quality of workmanship, and not having a used gun that nobody wants if I ever send it down the road... which would be fairly dire.

Word of caution however. Shilohs and other high quality BPCRs are very addicitive. Like meth. Just once. :D

Best of luck to you.
 
Short Knife Johnson said:
If you do go for an 1874 Sharps action... get a Shiloh. If you want to do a High Wall... go with C. Sharps. I cannot under most circumstances recommend getting an Italian knock-off. Even those CPA Stevens reproductions look like fun little guns. Then you can go really exotic like the 1877 (hopefully Shiloh will start cranking them out), the Frank Wesson repros, and the list goes on. For me, it's about quality of workmanship, and not having a used gun that nobody wants if I ever send it down the road... which would be fairly dire.

Word of caution however. Shilohs and other high quality BPCRs are very addicitive. Like meth. Just once. :D

Best of luck to you.
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Know the debate is where in canada to get one or how to get one out of the states?
 
Order the rifle from C. Sharps or Shiloh, Shiloh can be a 18month wait, but they may have some made up, where they weren't picked up or some such. C. Sharps is a shorter wait, and they have a lot already made up, go to their site and click on "current inventory" or some such, and it gives you a full desc. of what's all ready to go. Make sure you look at the actual models on the site to see if it is the "look" you want ie: Buttplate, pewter nose cap, Hartford Collar, pistol grip.
Order the gun, you know you want to! CALL CLAY AT PROPHET RIVER, he will take care of the importation, no hassle......Now all that's left is to convince your wife that it is really needed!!
If you have any questions about, specs, or descriptions, feel free to contact me and I will try to help........Ben
 
Sometimes, if you are lucky, the wait at Shiloh can be quite a bit shorter than usual.

Shiloh does a run of bull barrel rifles every now and then. They started accepting orders this spring and I placed my order then for a .45-110 #3 Sporter with a 14# barrel. I guess I got lucky as they ran them recently and my rifle is expected to be done late this month or maybe early next month!

Edit: When I've ordered from C. Sharps or Shiloh I've used Questar International to handle import/export paperwork. It's not cheap, but they handle everything including import/export, shipping, verification and registry. You just have to hand them your credit card and place the order.

Chris.
 
I believe that Clay at Prophet river is less expensive, but don't want to start a Pi$$ing match, I'd never do that. Once you start looking at models of these two makes you will see that they are not much more money then some of the spaghetti sharps and much nicer. C. Sharps also makes the Model of 1875," the nicest rifle Sharps never made", it cost alot less then the '74 and has the same Badger Barrel. On all these models. prices are quite good until you start adding extras, one extra that i would consider on C. Sharps is a $200 wood upgrade......Ben
 
ben hunchak said:
I believe that Clay at Prophet river is less expensive, but don't want to start a Pi$$ing match, I'd never do that. Once you start looking at models of these two makes you will see that they are not much more money then some of the spaghetti sharps and much nicer. C. Sharps also makes the Model of 1875," the nicest rifle Sharps never made", it cost alot less then the '74 and has the same Badger Barrel. On all these models. prices are quite good until you start adding extras, one extra that i would consider on C. Sharps is a $200 wood upgrade......Ben
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I keep hearing Phophet River but cant find any guns listed!
 
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