rebarreling my C. Sharps 1874

[gunlaker]

Hi,

I have a C. Sharps 1874 that I plan on getting rebarreled. It's obviously a bit more complicated than your usual Rem 700 rebarrel job. I have a new Badger barrel ready for it.

Barry Jensen of Bits of Pieces in Delta B.C. has been recommended to me as a guy that does quality work. Has anyone dealt with him before? Any thoughts on them?

thanks,

Chris.

 

[ben hunchak]

Can i ask what is wrong with the orig. barrel? It would have been a badger as well....Ben

 

[gunlaker]

Can i ask what is wrong with the orig. barrel? It would have been a badger as well....Ben

It's a .50-140. It's a bit too much of a good thing . I bought it in a moment of weakness a few years ago at the Kamloops gun show.

I'm going to turn it into a .45-90.

Chris.

 

[cdnrokon]

what rate of twist is the new barrel? what are you shooting? why 45\90
If you are shooting silhouettes most of the top shooters are shooting a 1in 16 twist 45/70 with a 540 gr 30/1 bullet

 

[mooncoon]

Except that you already have the new barrel, a cheaper route would be to set the barrel back an inch or so and convert to 50-70

cheers mooncoon

 

[trevj]

Except that you already have the new barrel, a cheaper route would be to set the barrel back an inch or so and convert to 50-70

cheers mooncoon

You'd lose the round chamber end of the barrel doing that, no?

Kind of distinctive, part of the look, and then you'd need to find wood to match the now shorter tulip.

Would work OK maybe on any rifle with a straight profile barrel, but the chamber end of a Sharps is a wee bit less simple.

Cheers
Trev

 

[gunlaker]

what rate of twist is the new barrel? what are you shooting? why 45\90
If you are shooting silhouettes most of the top shooters are shooting a 1in 16 twist 45/70 with a 540 gr 30/1 bullet

I don't shoot silhouette, although I might head up to Kamloops one of these days and give it a try. I know that some folks have switched from 1:18 to 1:16, but I thought that the jury was still out on that one. I must admit that it would be interesting to play with a 1:16 twist barrel though!

My Badger barrel is a 1:18 twist. I chose .45-90 because I already have a few .45-70's, a couple of .45-110's, but only one lonely .45-90 . It's likely going to be chambered for bore diameter paper patched bullets. Reamer design is the one published in the winter 2008 edition of the Black Powder cartridge news. I have a .45-70 chambered with a shorter version of that chamber and it looks like it'll be a good shooter.

Chris.

 

[mooncoon]

You'd lose the round chamber end of the barrel doing that, no?

Kind of distinctive, part of the look, and then you'd need to find wood to match the now shorter tulip.

You would lose the radiused shoulder but it would save you somewhere between 200 and 400 dollars, if you do the work your self. It is not that difficult to set the forend back the amount you cut off or alternately make a new forend

cheers mooncoon

 

[cdnrokon]

What i am I saying!!! I see your problem you pay respect to the dark side...(Black Powder) I feel your pain brother need not say anything else i got to run now I have a meeting to get to at the gun of the month club
BTW do you have a litter of Ballards that you want to sell ??

I don't shoot silhouette, although I might head up to Kamloops one of these days and give it a try. I know that some folks have switched from 1:18 to 1:16, but I thought that the jury was still out on that one. I must admit that it would be interesting to play with a 1:16 twist barrel though!

My Badger barrel is a 1:18 twist. I chose .45-90 because I already have a few .45-70's, a couple of .45-110's, but only one lonely .45-90 . It's likely going to be chambered for bore diameter paper patched bullets. Reamer design is the one published in the winter 2008 edition of the Black Powder cartridge news. I have a .45-70 chambered with a shorter version of that chamber and it looks like it'll be a good shooter.

Chris.

 

[dingus]

I have and orignal rebarreled with a nice barrel its a Hex barrel ending in a round at the action mines 50 70 and longer than the orignal 1863 sharps Carbine barrels.

 

[Alonzo]

It's likely going to be chambered for bore diameter paper patched bullets.
Chris.

Have you done a lot of work with paper patched bullets?? They are time consuming!!!! Every one I have shot against using PP bullets have bragged about their accuracy...until they retrieve the target...they stand there looking at it scratching their head..."Huh, that's strange it shot a lot better then that last week." Mind you they were banging gongs the size of a Kenworth. Don't get me wrong...some guys have good success with PP, though when it comes down to punching groups for consistency, they just don't hold it together.
I had a 45 2 4/10 (45-90) Shiloh a number of years ago. It was an early gun with shallow rifling. I experimented with Black Powder in it for a full summer..tried paper patched bullets, and grease grooved bullet with different granulation of BP. Finally settled on Fg with a 36" drop tube and a 420 gr. flat point cast of Linotype/wheel weights, 90/10 mix. It was an awesome shooter and took no less then second place in every big match I shot it in. There were guys (Sharps shooters) laughing at how crazy I was not to use paper patched bullets...they stopped laughing after they saw the groups and scores the gun was turning in. There was no way they could compete with it.
I understand the 50-140 idea. I watched one of these Sharpshooters brag about his "big gun" and how accurate it was. He could handle 3 rounds off the cross-sticks and got a bit jittery...I think he could have clapped with his shoulder blades. It was accurate alright...garbage pail lid groups...at 50 yards!!!! I told him to nick name his gun..."ARTY"...short for ARTILLERY!!!!!
He looked at with one eye twitching and said..."It's not that bad."...Ohhh OK!!!!
Sounds like you have the range of 45's covered already...so the 90 would be a good addition as something different. Hope it works out for you!!!!!
Keep us updated on the progress!!

 

[gunlaker]

Alonzo, I wouldn't say that I have a lot of experience with paper patching, but I've been experimenting with bore diameter paper patch bullets for probably around a year. I find that generally I can make them shoot significantly better than grease groove bullets in my C. Sharps chambered rifles, but in my Shiloh the grease grooved bullets work quite well indeed. However, as a friend at the range told me, "paper patch bullets are the work of the devil ". I do find that when they go wrong you can get some BIG flyers .

I guess I like the challenge. One of the thing I find interesting is that in the original Creedmoor matches, the paper patch was king. In today's matches they are hardly used, although a few die hards are trying to bring 'em back.

Chris.