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Thread: Did a load workup with the Eras Gone Richmond Sharps bullet this weekend.

  1. #1
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    Did a load workup with the Eras Gone Richmond Sharps bullet this weekend.

    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.



    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.



    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.



    Steve

    * Disclaimer: I do the design work for Eras Gone Bullet Molds and am compensated for that.
    Last edited by Maillemaker; 07-08-2019 at 08:52 AM.

  2. #2
    Randall is offline
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    I was curious about them too. It's too bad he doesn't make a mold that fits Charlies tubes with that long smooth tail. That would be great to have that much surface to attach to.

  3. #3
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    Who knows, Charlie may come up with something. It would need to be thin, like paper drinking straws.

    Steve

  4. #4
    bobanderson is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maillemaker View Post
    .
    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.
    Steve,
    Because the front sight is the most important thing to focus on, I had my eye doctor (Dr. Rene Laliberte, Main Street Optometry, Pinckney, MI) make me a custom pair of shooting glasses with my reading script in the lower, bifocal lens portion of both sides, a plain lens in the upper portion of my left eye, and a lower reading prescription in the upper lens of my right (dominant) eye. This lets the front sight come in crystal clear. This setup is sometimes called "monovision" where the close or near sighted eye takes over depending on what you're looking at. Since I switched to this method, my shooting has definitely improved.


    Quote Originally Posted by Maillemaker View Post
    .
    * Disclaimer: I do the design work for Eras Gone Bullet Molds and am compensated for that.
    Since we're doing commercials now, I'd suggest anyone looking for another Sharps bullet to check out Moose Moulds new bullet based on the Dave France design but now with a short ringtail that lets you glue a Hahn tube to the base. The Moose calls it some number or another, but I've christened it the "Bobtail".
    I shot an honest-to-God 39-3x 4 shot group off a rest at 100 yards with my Shiloh during a sight in session.
    THAT is my new competition bullet.

    The shots outside the 10 ring on the picture below were made as I adjusted my 100 yard sights.

    Name:  B6BEDB8D-C883-437A-8576-0FD77D7812FE.jpg
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Size:  7.9 KB
    Last edited by bobanderson; 07-09-2019 at 05:39 AM.
    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

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  6. #6
    bobanderson is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maillemaker View Post
    No, it's a Dave France Sharps bullet with a short tail. Looks like their 542-485 (https://moosemoulds.wixsite.com/mm20...lightbox=c1w32) with about a 1/8" long tail. Moose made it for me because I've always liked the France bullet (I'm actually the reason he made that mould in the first place) and I wanted one to fit the Hahn tubes. Talking to him one day he said he could do it and so I ordered it. Needless to say, I'm thrilled with it. Here's a picture...

    Name:  Sharps Bobtail.jpg
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    The only down side is he uses pre-made mould blocks and there isn't room, because of the locating pins, to cut a double cavity mould. I'm going to work on him a bit to get him to move the pins so he can make this mould into a double cavity.
    In the mean time, I'm going to experiment (with EXTREME CAUTION) to see if the single cavity mould can be adapted for use in my Master Caster.
    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

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    Steve,

    You might try one of those aperture deals you stick to your shooting glasses with a suction cup. I use one and it helps tremendously.

    https://www.midwayusa.com/product/10...th-suction-cup

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    moosette is offline
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    Holy MOLY Bob - So glad to see that the "BOBTAIL" worked so well for you!! 👍👍We love hearing these happy results from our customers 😁 (I will work on the double cavity for ya, just don't tell the boss I said so&#128521

    Moosette
    Last edited by moosette; 07-14-2019 at 09:35 PM. Reason: Punctuation

  9. #9
    bobanderson is offline
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    Quote Originally Posted by moosette View Post
    Holy MOLY Bob - So glad to see that the "BOBTAIL" worked so well for you!! 👍👍We love hearing these happy results from our customers 😁 (I will work on the double cavity for ya, just don't tell the boss I said so&#128521

    Moosette
    You build it, I'll buy it.

    We all know who steers the ship at Moose Moulds.
    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

  10. #10
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    So this past weekend I had a chance to do another load workup session with the Eras Gone Richmond Sharps bullet.

    This time I used pure lead, instead of the 1:20 tin:lead alloy I tried the first time. I don't see any real difference, so this is good news as I don't have to bother making alloy anymore. As before, 45 grains seems a good load. But also as before, 30 grains also did very, very well. This is interesting as it shows the gun has two "sweet spots" where it groups well, but falls apart on either side of that charge. I can't believe 30 grains works as well as it does. I'm going to have to try this at 100 yards and see how it does. As you might expect, the gun has virtually no recoil at 30 grains.



    I also shot off 10 more of the 1:20 tin lead alloy with 45 grains, to confirm last weekend's results. Looks like 45 grains works well there, also. I had one hangfire, which explains the flier.



    Steve

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