Maillemaker
07-08-2019, 08:41 AM
Over the Fourth of July weekend I was able to get out and finally do a load workup with the new Eras Gone Richmond Sharps bullet. This bullet is a reproduction of a Sharps bullet produced by the Confederacy in Richmond.
https://i.imgur.com/cOwFpOHl.png
I was shooting these out of a Pedersoli 1859 Sharps Carbine that has had the gas check plate modification done by Larry Flees. I shot off a bench at 50 yards. I did workups from 30 grains up to 65 grains in 5 grain increments. I was using 3F Goex powder. At 60 grains of powder the blowback through the nipple was sufficient to blow the hammer back to half cock. So, I quit at 65 grains even though I had planned to go up to 70. I fired 5-shot groups, brushing between every 5 shots, though I forgot to brush between 30 and 35 grains. Cartridges are made using 17 lb vellum with hair curler rear-ends. The bullets were cast using 1:20 tin:lead alloy.
I also noticed, to my dismay, that with my new stronger contacts I cannot focus on the front sight of the carbine any longer. I can see the target great, but the front sight is fuzzy. To remedy this, I shot with 1.25X reading glasses! I am going to have to go to my eye doctor and get a weaker contact for my right eye.
The best group was achieved at 45 grains 3F Goex.
https://i.imgur.com/oOr1nXTl.png
As you can see, the average group size is about 3/4 of an inch. 4 shots are within the size of a 10-ring. I think this will be my new competition bullet for this gun. Previously I shot the Pedersoli Christmas Tree bullet, and it produced very good groups with 40 grains 3F powder, but there are a few things I really like about the Eras Gone Richmond bullet:
First, it's a double-cavity mold. This lets me crank out the bullets twice as fast as the Pedersoli mold.
Second, I like the long heel on this bullet. With the small ring tail on the Pedersoli bullet I had to use superglue to attach the bullet to my cartridges, and even then it was not uncommon during competition to reach into my cartridge box and pull out a bullet only to discover the bullet had detached from the cartridge. The long heel on the Richmond bullet gives a lot more surface area for the bullet to glue to the paper cartridge.
Finally, I like that the heel, being about .53" in diameter, gets shaved by the rifling as the bullet passes down the bore. This means that the bullet engages the rifling along nearly all of the non-ogive portion of the bullet. This also means that the paper should be fully stripped from the heel on shooting, leaving no remnants clinging to it that might affect accuracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DboPmjTcg
Steve
* Disclaimer: I do the design work for Eras Gone Bullet Molds and am compensated for that.
https://i.imgur.com/cOwFpOHl.png
I was shooting these out of a Pedersoli 1859 Sharps Carbine that has had the gas check plate modification done by Larry Flees. I shot off a bench at 50 yards. I did workups from 30 grains up to 65 grains in 5 grain increments. I was using 3F Goex powder. At 60 grains of powder the blowback through the nipple was sufficient to blow the hammer back to half cock. So, I quit at 65 grains even though I had planned to go up to 70. I fired 5-shot groups, brushing between every 5 shots, though I forgot to brush between 30 and 35 grains. Cartridges are made using 17 lb vellum with hair curler rear-ends. The bullets were cast using 1:20 tin:lead alloy.
I also noticed, to my dismay, that with my new stronger contacts I cannot focus on the front sight of the carbine any longer. I can see the target great, but the front sight is fuzzy. To remedy this, I shot with 1.25X reading glasses! I am going to have to go to my eye doctor and get a weaker contact for my right eye.
The best group was achieved at 45 grains 3F Goex.
https://i.imgur.com/oOr1nXTl.png
As you can see, the average group size is about 3/4 of an inch. 4 shots are within the size of a 10-ring. I think this will be my new competition bullet for this gun. Previously I shot the Pedersoli Christmas Tree bullet, and it produced very good groups with 40 grains 3F powder, but there are a few things I really like about the Eras Gone Richmond bullet:
First, it's a double-cavity mold. This lets me crank out the bullets twice as fast as the Pedersoli mold.
Second, I like the long heel on this bullet. With the small ring tail on the Pedersoli bullet I had to use superglue to attach the bullet to my cartridges, and even then it was not uncommon during competition to reach into my cartridge box and pull out a bullet only to discover the bullet had detached from the cartridge. The long heel on the Richmond bullet gives a lot more surface area for the bullet to glue to the paper cartridge.
Finally, I like that the heel, being about .53" in diameter, gets shaved by the rifling as the bullet passes down the bore. This means that the bullet engages the rifling along nearly all of the non-ogive portion of the bullet. This also means that the paper should be fully stripped from the heel on shooting, leaving no remnants clinging to it that might affect accuracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0DboPmjTcg
Steve
* Disclaimer: I do the design work for Eras Gone Bullet Molds and am compensated for that.