I wasn't happy with the factory sights either. I put a PC tang sight on mine.Originally Posted by keweenaw
I wasn't happy with the factory sights either. I put a PC tang sight on mine.
I used to own the Pedersoli Sharps that was raffled off at Nationals some years ago. Only sold it because I could only Skirmish twice a year. Anyway, I have shot a 188 xxxxx with it at Nationals, so the gun shoots. I shoot the rapine bullet dipped in MCM lube, same as carbine, 50g of ffg Goex by weight, RWS caps. Any lighter or faster burning load may not group as the breech must be leaking right up until the bullet clears the crown. With this load, zero the gun at fifty with the ladder on the bottom detent and one click up should be on at 100.
As for misfires, yes I have had some since the flash channel diameter is too large. Yes, poke a hole in the rear and do NOT put the cartridge into the chamber than necessary. misfires will be reduced as the day goes on. The Flees mod of the flash channel is a good thing.
Just my experience, YRMV.
Greg
I was using the Moose 54 cal ringtail bullet. started with 40 grains of 2f Goex. Put wad on top of powder so powder stayed at rear of cartridge. Put some cream of wheat filler on top of wad so that the cartridge was tight right up to the base of the bullet.
Seems like most folks are mentioning the flash channel issue. Is there any practical remedy for this? Do other sharps manufacturers have this same problem?>
Is it possible to sleeve a portion of the flash channel (left to right of breechblock) so as to provide a narrower channel for the fire to pass through?
When we talk about the Flees breech block work, yes, the flash channel is sleeved.
As to wheather other mfrs have the same problem, I can only sprak for the Shiloh. As long as I poke a hole in the end of the cartridge, I have never had a misfire in the 14 years I have been competeing with my carbine.
You say you're loading40g of ffg Goex. what weight is your bullet please. The Rapine weighs 485g If your bullet is much heavier, you may want to bump the charge to 55g. As I said earlier, the breech MUST leak through the bullet exiting the muzzle. If not, accuracy will suffer. In fact the primary reason the infantry rifle I bought was for sale was accuracy. the owner was loading 38g of fffg Swiss. this will work in a carbine, but not in a rifle.
Greg
Thanks. I am using the Moose 544-480 which I presume is a 480 gr. bullet. The 40gr charge is in the middle of the range Charlie suggested. With that load there is some space left if you dont use the filler, but not much. Not sure what you mean by: the breech MUST leak through the bullet exiting the muzzle. The bullet I recovered from the backstop showed excellent rifling engraving on all rings, progressively deeper as you approach the base of the bullet. WRT to puncturing the base of the bullet, i had to puncture MANY time all over the base in order to have the gun fire. One hole was not enough. Thanks.
Years ago I had a similar problem with a Garrett. A teammate suggested putting a shot out musket nipple in during a match. Worked so good, that's what I used from then on.
Bob Anderson
Ordnance Sergeant
Company C, 1st Michigan Volunteer Infantry
Small Arms Committee
"I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a hand on.
I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."
- John Wayne in "The Shootist", 1976
Sorry I forgot to address the nipple issue. Bob is correct, the standard musket nipple has a hole that is too small. I use the Stainless Sharps nipple that I buy at the fort.
As for leaking, we all know that the Sharps is supposed to have a sealed breech. NOT TRUE. Have a friend shoot the gun after dark while you warch from the side. you will see fire exiting the breech straight up. That's leakage and if it's not doing that all the time while the bullet is traveling down the bore, accuracy will suffer due to inconsistent velocity. Check it with a chrono if you wish.
My suggestion for you is change the nipple, poke a hole in the base of the cartridge, put the load into the breech only enough to clear the breech block, and go to 50g of ffg Goex. Come back and let us know the results.
Greg
Went out to shoot again this AM (before reading your post). Updated charge to 45 gr (by volume) 2F Goex. Mounted tang sight with Hadley style eyecup. Used new box of caps. Cleaned fire channel the best I could. Same Moose mold bullet. Used nipple with medium size hole. Cleaned bore with wet patch between shots. Powder is right at back of the cartridge. Punctured the back of the cartridge with a dozen holes with nipple pick. Looked like a sieve. Still had some misfires. Accuracy is terrible. 8-9 inch groups at best. Shooting from a very solid rest at 50 yards. Bullets dug out of backstop show excellent riflling marks. Target showed no evidence of keyholing. cartridge base is right at back of the breech. Geez, I have a flintlock that will out shoot this all day long. When it does fire, it usually does not indicate any hangfires (though it sometimes happens.). There appears to be no issues with the barrel. Bore is mint, rifling sharp all the way to muzzle. Crown fine. Crazy question; given this has three barrel bands like a RM, would forearm pressure affect accuracy? No apparent binding, but.....??
You could try shooting it without the forearm. Since you have two issues, I would deal with the ignition problem first, since misfires, rather the anticipation of them, and hang fires are going to hurt accuracy. Have you spoken to Charlie about it? He might suggest that you send him the block or perhaps the entire rifle. Seems to me that if you're still getting misfires after what you've done to the end of the tube, then you certainly have a significant blockage.
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