Edition 2012-1 Published by C. Sharps Arms Co., Inc. 10 Shots with.45-75-400 loads Manufacturers of A WORLD FAMOUS SERIES of Classic Metallic Cartridge Rifles and Classic Sights P.O. Box 885, Big Timber, MT 59011-Pnone: 406-932-4353-Fax: 406-932-4443 2012 csharps@ttc-cmc.net * www.csharpsarms.com 2012
A WAY TO GET STARTED by Mike Nesbitt We most certainly hope that all who read THE AMERICAN SHARPS SHOOTERS are not all seasoned and experienced buffalo runners. Shooting in those long range matches is certainly a challenge but we need some shorter shootin too, especially for tenderfeet who haven t boiled their coffee over buffalo chips as yet. Actually, I fall into that last category myself and I admit that just to let you know that I m speaking from the heart. So join with me for a few minutes to see how one club (and several others we can hope) breaks into shooting with the Sharps and other single shoot black powder cartridge rifles in a good easy way. First of all, this particular club, named the Puget Sound Free Trappers who mainly shoot muzzleloaders, have a range with a 100 yard limit. That just doesn t make it for long range shooting, of course. But at the very same time shots fired at 50 and 100 yards can really tell a tale. After all, the bullet s flight begins at the muzzle, not when the bullet passes 400 yards. So, getting it done at 50 and 100 yards is not only a good way to get started with black powder cartridge shooting, it s also a lot of fun. So, let s join this group in a way and read about a shoot they had on a summer morning last August when five rugged and ragged rangers gathered under the supervision of Rangemaster Bob Gietz for a cartridge match at the Capitol City Rifle & Revolver club near Olympia, Washington. All of the shooters used versions of the 1874 Sharps except for Doug Simpson who fired his H&R copy of an 1873 Springfield trapdoor carbine. And all shooters used.45-70 rifles except for me, I shot my.45-2 7/8ths Sharps at 100 yards. Then I fell back to my old tried and true.45-70 (using.45-75-400 paper patched loads) for my 50 yard target. While my big.45 might have been the loudest rifle in the match, using the 535 grain Postell bullet over 90 grains of GOEX Fg powder, it was not the highest scoring. The high scores for the day went to Kent Dunn who used his.45-70 position before shooting again. Kent by shooting and then reloading the empty cartridge while maintaining his sitting was the only shooter to score into the 90s on both of his targets. Let me explain that our course of fire included one target at 50 yards and another at 100 yards, shooting 10 shots at each target. Shooting was done from any unsupported position which basically means anything except from the shooting bench. Crosssticks are certainly okay. In this particular match we all shot from the sitting position, some with cross-sticks and some without. No one used the prone position. With only a few shooters firing 20 shots each, this match was a short one and all finished just before noon that day. We all agreed it was a very good way to begin the weekend. And the highest scoring individual target was the one I shot at 50 yards, using my old.45-70 from C. Sharps Arms. I ve had that rifle since either the very late 70s or the real early 80s and by now it is actually pretty well trained. As already mentioned, the load used was my favorite.45-75-400 paper patch loading using 75 grains of GOEX Cartridge powder. Those bullets were the swaged cup base bullets from Buffalo Arms. The chamber in this rifle is throated to accept non-tapered paper patch pills, done years ago. That target, as shown on the cover, scored a 94-XXX and that was quite pleasing while I do hope to do better. Other shooters had their own stories to tell. Bob DeLisle made a very good showing while shooting his.45-70 with its 32 barrel. This was the first time Bob has fired his rather new Sharps style rifle in a match but we can tell by the grin on his face that it won t be the last. And Doug Simpson was off to a fair start with his H&R trapdoor carbine but somehow the rear sight got loose and he quit on his 100 yard paper after just five shots. It was just the other way around for Will Ulry. He started at 100 yards with a nice score. But between then and when he started to shoot at 50 yards his sight showed him that it has a mind of its own. What actually happened to his sight we don t know and we don t know where his shots went either. There might be a very tight 10-shot group somewhere out there. Bob DeLilse with this new Sharps
The shooting for score went by rather quickly and it was followed by some good discussion about loads, sights, and hunting. It certainly wasn t hard to find things to talk about and every rifle has its own story to tell. So, let me suggest if you want to get started in shooting black powder cartridge rifles to do it with a good small group of shooters with some rather informal shooting. There is nothing wrong with what we might all refer to as short range shooting. After all, the very next step, if you have the facilities for such distances, is midrange shooting. We all can learn a great deal about shooting these rifles at short ranges and some of the mysteries of shooting black powder are solved in an easier way while shooting at these shorter distances. The biggest treat about shooting at the shorter distances, especially for shooters just getting started, is how much fun this shooting really is. If you ve read this far maybe you d be interested in starting a cartridge shooting group for shooting matches, or some hunting, and generally sharing of the good old cartridge technology. That can extend to informal workshops where new shooters can learn how to roll their own paper patched bullets as well as how to get those bullets into the cartridge cases without tearing the paper. There is more than that in making up good black powder cartridge loads, of course. We will still need to talk about lubricants, powders and powder charges. The real point about getting started is to simply do that, get started. And the easiest way to get started is to do it at the shorter ranges. That s where you have the most fun and do it faster too. Shooters list, in order of placement by score: 50 yards 100 yards total 1 st Kent Dunn 91 & 93X for 184X 2 nd Mike Nesbitt 94XX & 78X for 172XXX. 3 rd Bob DeLisle 78 & 89 for 167 4 th Doug Simpson 69 & 35 for 104 5 th Will Ulry 0 & 70X for 70X L-R, Doug, Bob, Mike, Kent, and Will OUTSTANDING PRODUCTS: Jamison Brass Returns to Market Rapid City, South Dakota..Brass Cartridge Case Manufacturer, Jamison International has been reconstituted as a Division of Captech International. This high quality manufacturer of unique, obsolete and hard to find brass cartridge cases, as well as military, hunting and African game calibers have moved operations from Sturgis to new facilities totaling 31,000 square feet in Rapid City, South Dakota. Marc Jamison oversees operational control assuring the stringent quality standards of the past will remain intact moving forward. The new facility also offers ample room for an ongoing program of expansion and machine refurbishment to reduce the cycles between production runs of many hard to find cartridge cases. The company is now accepting orders on all of the previously produced calibers as well as their basic brass line for forming. This is an exciting time for handloaders who have been without access to many the cartridge cases which have been difficult to impossible to find during this time of transition. Many unique cases are currently available in stock and more are in production each week, said a company spokesperson. Captech International, Jamison International Division, 2441 Dakota Craft Drive, Rapid City, SD 57701 Let me add to their press release by saying all of the calibers they list are available as empty new brass cases or as loaded ammunition. Of particular interest to us is their listing of the.44-77,.44-90 (two versions),.45-110,.45-120,.50-90, and.50-140 in addition to many others. Check for more on their website, at www.captechintl.com/products.html
Heilman Sporting Tang Sight by Mike Nesbitt After I asked Ron Heilman to make a good sporting tang sight or two for a couple of Model 1874 Sharps rifles that were coming my way, he jumped at the chance to do them. What I had asked for were sights with the ladders or the uprights that were mounted or hinged to the forward part of the base rather than the back. This is mainly to allow more room for the thumb of the trigger hand while holding and aiming the rifle. Ron started making those two sights right away and he showed one of them to me before it was completed. That sight has the standard sized hinge or knuckle and when it was mounted on a rifle, the hinge stood high enough to forbid cleaning the bore from the breech. So, that particular sight was completed with the knuckle at the back of the sight s base. The next sight was made with a much smaller knuckle and that one does allow cleaning the bore from the breech. Also, the sights with the upright on the forward part of the base use a smaller spring to hold the ladder upright and that spring is completely hidden underneath the base. Now, while my description will mainly favor the sight with the upright or ladder on the forward end of the sight s base, these characteristics will apply to both versions of the Heilman Sporting Tang Sight. The sights are adjustable for elevation simply by loosening the aperture cup and sliding the cup up or down. There are graduations on the left side of the ladder for keeping our guesses as close as possible when making a sight adjustment. Of course, when a proper elevation is found, it is wise to make a mark on the ladder for future reference. These sights also have some adjustment for windage. To slide the aperture cup either right or left, loosen the screw on the front of the ladder, then loosen the aperture cup too, and make the windage adjustment you might need. The windage plate also has graduation marks to the amount of movement can be seen. While shooting with the sights which have the upright mounted to the front or forward part of the sight base it puts the aperture cup only about one inch farther away from the shooter s eye. That is not a big difference but it can mean the shooter s nose might not get hit quite as much or nearly as hard due to the recoil of the rifle. I don t often get hit in the nose but it has happened. That combined with a more comfortable grip due to easier placement of the thumb across the wrist of the rifle makes this sight one of my favorites. These are not the sights to use if you are doing a lot of target shooting at various distances because frequent sight adjustments are not what a sporting sight is known for. Where these sights will be most favored is on hunting rifles with shots at moderate ranges. That s how I use them and for that use I highly recommend them. The Heilman Sporting Tang Sights are priced at $190.00 and that is with postage paid. If you have any questions about adaptability for rifles other than the Sharps, just ask Ron. The same goes if you want to request a taller ladder for shooting at greater distances. To contact Ron, either for ordering a sight or to ask questions, just write to; Ron Heilman, 16010 92nd Ave Ct E., Puyallup, WA 98375. His telephone number is 253-840-2623, and you can send an email note to him by using r.a.heilman@att.net.
Hodgdon Announces Launch of Facebook Page Shawnee Kansas, September 17, 2012-, Hodgdon The Brand That s True, the leading provider of smokeless and muzzleloading powders, is now the foremost resource for reloaders on Facebook. The new page, launched September 10, gives Hodgdon s fans and users an outlet to discuss reloading, hunting, muzzleloading, target shooting and any other powder-related topic they can conceive. We envision this page as a community for our friends, fans, and experts to get together and talk shop, said Chris Hodgdon, the company s Public Relations Manager. While so much of handloading is in the data and details, we also know there s a huge social component to it as well. Hodgdon has educational and entertaining content in the works for the page, he said. Powder profiles, cartridge histories and behind-the-scenes information will be featured on the page. In addition, Hodgdon will tap its staff of experts for their years of experience and know-how. We want to become the premier Facebook page for reloaders and muzzleloaders, Hodgdon said. If you have a question, a great hunting story to tell, or just want to brag about a nice tight group this is the place for you. Hodgdon Powders can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hodgdonpowder. To find out more about Hodgdon visit hodgdon.com, write to 6430 Vista Drive, Shawnee, KS 66218 or call 913-362-9455. For all your gunpowder needs it s Hodgdon -The Brand That s True