Shiloh Sharps-Would you buy it again?

[swifty]

I have a lot of questions before I place the order for a 45-70
1874 Sporter #1 for target shooting and some hunting.
The 45-70 is rifled with a 1 in 18 twist. Is this correct for a 405 grain bullet or do you have to stick with the 500 grain bullet.
How well does the sporter #1 shoot? Who make their barrels?
Does one lube clean up better than others?
Any Shiloh Sharps owners out there with comments or feedback.
I am looking very hard at placing an order for The 1874 Sporter#1. The $250 deposit is non-refundable so I am looking from a second opinion.  What do you like about your Shiloh Sharps, what would you do differently, which sights do you use? are there any options you wished you had ordered?

[Ray Newman]

I took delivery of my Shiloh .#1 45-2.4Â’ (AKA .45-90) in Aug 87.

It has XX wood, 14. 25" length of pull, pewter tip, accent line on the cheek rest, fire blued screws, & brass escutcheons. The barrel is also engraved “Donner Und Blizten” (German for Thunder & Lightning), Long range rear sight, spirit level w/ wind adjustment front sight.

The only thing things I would have done different would be to order it w/:

1.) A one-half octagon to one half round heavy weight barrel, instead of the one-half octagon to one half round standard weight barrel. Also, if a wedding band could have turned @ the juncture of the round to octagon, I would have done that also.

2.)  A glass bedded fore arm.

3.)  Drilled & taped for ‘scope blocks.

IIRC, Shiloh makes their own barrels. A 1:18 should handle the 405 bullet, but probably would shoot the heavier slugs more accurately.

You asked: “How well does the sporter #1 shoot? “

Answer some good; some so-so, but that is dependent upon the Shooters shooting abilities, reloading & casting techniques & ability, powder, sights, bullet selection, ambient light, etc.

You also asked: “Does one lube clean up better than others? “

BP lubes clean up very easy. If you shoot White/Nitro Powder (AKA Smokeless), a  White powder solvent will remove the lube.


http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/index.php

Links to BPCR reloading & casting primers:

http://www.ssbpcrc.co.uk/Resources/Introduction%20to%20BPCR%20Loading.pdf

http://www.longrangebpcr.com/8Phases.htm

[Capt. Call]

Swifty

Last year for my 50th Birthday I treated myself to a Shiloh 1874 Sporter #1 in 45-110.  Lets just say it was the best 4K dollar present I have ever gotten and I could not be more pleased. But no matter how you look at it .....it is a big investment for a gun and not to be taken lightly.

My advise to you Sir is join the Shiloh Forum and ask all the questions you want over there. That way you will get it right the first time. They are a great bunch of guys over there and you will get the right answers. I have  personaly met Kirk Bryan. He and his family are the owners of Shiloh Sharps. You will not find any company is this country that is more dedicated to their product.  If you want the ......VERY BEST :

http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/

[zrifleman]

Swifty--I currently own 3 Shiloh Sharps and have owned at least 10 over a 20 yr period. I have never had to order one from Shiloh. There are so many available on the market at reasonable prices with no long wait--so why order? The new ones now produced generally shoot better than the Farmingdale guns. 1-18 twist is at it's best with 500-550 gr bullets. The lightest bullets my Montana Shiloh will shoot accurately with smokeless is a 420 gr .  As to price--I paid $2450 NIB at a gun shop here in L.A. for a Hartford model with nose cap, checkered steel butt plate, nice wood, #1 heavy barrel. That is the highest I have paid. Lowest price $585 NIB In about 1978. Buy it right and they are a good investment. 45-70 is an excellent choice.

[fffffg]

i am not an expert on this so you will need a second opinion..  if the reason you want to shoot 400 grain bullets is to get more velocity and you wish to shoot 2000 feet per second, the shilo may not be the gun for you..  the sharps is designed to shoot in the black powder velocites, and im guessing somewhat  over that..   but if you want to shoot over  black powder velocities significantly you may need to get another type of gun like a 458 win mag in ruger number one or some such..   if you want a sharps then by all means go for it,, but thier twist will not be optimum for high velocity type loads..  when you get in the lower velocities the 500 grain bullets worked    better for me  in the wind,     ..the 400's  biggest asset would be less recoil.. i guess  it depends on what range you wish to shoot..  good luck. ..  dave..

[swifty]

Hi folks thanks for the replys. I will join the Sharps forum.
I plan to shoot the rifle as it is designed 45-70 or 45-90
500 grain cast bullet that I cast.
I plan to shoot this with black powder at the velocities it was designed.
I will order mine from sharps so I can get exactly what I want.

I am in the process of building a Tennessee/Western North Carolina
mountain rifle in 40 caliber. But that is a whole another story. Also I have have a birds eye maple blank that keeps calling to me. So many guns and so little time. :grin:

[sharps4590]

I have owned 3 Shiloh's, two of which I still own, and I wish I hadn't sold the other.  I'd buy all three of them again.  Calibers are/were, 45-70, the one I sold, 45-90 and 40-70.  The 40 is the most accurate of the three.  I've shot nothing but black in the two I own and can't say enough good about either of them.  I don't believe you'll be disappointed.

Vic