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Yakiman
03-23-2018, 02:39 PM
Using the ringtail bullet (Lee mold) both of my Pedersoli Sharps use a 1.375 Hahn tube. I now have a Garrett and am surprised at how shallow the chamber is. Does anyone know why they were made that way? Here's a picture of the cartridge for the Pedersolis, the ink mark on tube is the Garrett chamber depth.
ms3635v
03-23-2018, 03:43 PM
Check with Charlie Hahn, he will know the answer to that. I do know that my Shilo Sharps and a teammates Shilo Sharps have different length chambers. Not sure why this is.
P.Altland
03-23-2018, 06:39 PM
My left-hand Garret uses 1.0 tubes and my right-hand uses 1.125. Both with the NEI 540-490 ringtail.


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Southron Sr.
03-23-2018, 08:41 PM
I distinctly remember Frank Garrett saying the chamber of his Sharps Carbine was designed to hold 60 grains of black powder. This was at a Nationals many years ago.
gemmer
03-24-2018, 08:16 AM
My Pedersoli Sporter also uses an 1.375 tube and Lee'e ringtail. If the Garrett chamber was designed for 60 gr. of loose powder, I can see why a short tube would be needed. The Pedersoli chamber will take 80gr. loose but the tube will only take 60.
bobanderson
03-24-2018, 06:30 PM
Are you sure the difference isn't caused by how your bullet fits into the chamber? A different bullet, one that has a bore riding portion that sits on the top of the lands may well seat deeper into the chamber and allow a longer tube/more powder. An easy way to check is to try to insert the bullet into the muzzle. If it fits to the top driving band and shows no "wiggle" aka looseness where it sits on the lands, that's a good fit. If it won't go in to the top band, that's why you can't use your longer tube.

If it was me, I'd slug the bore and see what I've got.

PS - I went through this last year with a Garrett I bought from a reenactor. I'm using a Moose 544-480 Ringtail mould, a Hahn 1 3/8" tube and 40 grains of Goex 3F. I had Larry Flees do a chamber sleeve and gas check job and he profiled my chamber to fit my bullet. I use the exact same load in an old Shiloh Sharps with the same Dobbin gas check and sleeve.