Tale of the C. Sharps
In about 1994 I ordered a C. Sharps pattern Sharps Model 1874 from C. Sharps in Montana. I ordered the gun in 50 X 140 Caliber because “bigger is better” . When I ordered the gun I ordered it with the 34” heavy barrel and I ordered the full length 4 power scope. I also ordered Eladorado (?) casings I have since ordered some Bell brass. I also ordered some 640 gr and 550 gr bullets. I decided to use black powder substitutes because of the mess involved in cleaning regular black powder. I have trimmed the brass to 3.25 inches. Some of the brass had a case head that was to thick so it had to be thinned to chamber correctly. I Loaded with the 640 bullets using 120 gr. Of American Pioneer powder. I found that at 50 yards the bullets were tumbling and hitting sideways. I Called C. Sharps and was told to switch to the 550 gr. Bullet. They sent me some 550 gr gas checked bullets which were better. I have been trying Buffalo bullets in 530 flat based bullets. They mick out at .512. I e-mailed C. Sharps and they assured me that the barrel is .512 and that I should set the bullet 1/16 inch from the rifling. I have loaded a number of cart. Using 100 gr of American Pioneer powder. I use an over powder card wad and felt wads to fill the casing. I have in the past tried Triple Seven powder and the results were all over the paper. I read about using smokeless powder and contacted Accurate Arms to get loads for there Accurate 5477 powder. I loaded several boxes with varying loads from the loads provided. The results were unimpressive. I did not use wads in the smokeless loads as per Accurate Arms. I am now at a loss as to were to next. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Emmett Favreau