Don't mean to hijack here, but I'm going to put in a plug for one of my favorite carbines. Merrill's do not leave a cartridge behind either, and if you can find one with a good bore they are are as accurate as a Sharps.
Don't mean to hijack here, but I'm going to put in a plug for one of my favorite carbines. Merrill's do not leave a cartridge behind either, and if you can find one with a good bore they are are as accurate as a Sharps.
I don't think you are hijacking at all. Merrills are super neat, but way out of my price range. I'm probably derailing it a bit, but after disassembling this one a few times and thinking about the routine of cleaning after firing, I am leaning heavily towards trading this and another defarbed musket towards either something like a Smith carbine or a musket that is set up and ready to go with a taller/easier to use sight. No clue what this thing is worth but it should get me part way there hopefully.
Before you take the carbine to Larry Flees for an O-ring job, shoot it the way it is. I've been shooting a Farmingdale Shiloh carbine for 40+ years and never had any need for O-rings. My breechblock face plate is also tight, even after 40+ years. I take it out only occasionally to find my routine cleaning is adequate. After scraping out the crud that accumulates in the breech cavity, I soak my breechblock in hot water without taking the face plate off. After drying I'll spray with WD-40 to displace any residual moisture. Be sure to remove the clean-out screw on the side of the breechblock as well as the nipple. The flash channel always needs a good cleaning with a pipe cleaner.
Jim Burgess, 15th Conn. Vol. Inf.
I agree with Jim Burgess. That carbine is worth more than you realize. I would keep it, if it were mine, and shoot it.
I'll third that. With a little load development, that Sharps will probably break a lot of targets. I put up the Merrill after 20 years skirmishing with it, mostly because I'm afraid I'll wear it out, and have been shooting a Sharps. Very happy with it!
I think I'm going to keep it now that I have pondered for a while. I bought it thinking it was Italian, and it was priced at well below what even that was, but the bore is literally band new so I couldn't say no. I've been concerned with taking it down to clean after firing. There are so many more places for fouling to get into and a full removal of the lock, stock, breech block, etc would take me literally hours to do. That is the main reason why I have been reading up on the o ring conversions. They seem to have the universal benefit of keeping the fouling in the breech/barrel area so I wouldn't have to completely remove the lock every single time I fire it. Right now I just have a defarbed Miroku made 1863 3 bander, and cleaning that is a breeze, even with removing the lock. My problem with the 63 is the sights, I just can't use them well so it isn't very enjoyable. These sights are much better. If I can get this to shoot half decent accuracy wise, keep it shooting for 30-60 rounds without needing a wipe down, and cleaning is not hours long I will be overjoyed.
One thing I am confused on with these are load development. With regular muskets its easy for me to understand. Pour the powder charge, seat the bullet, and go. With these, paper cartridge or loose powder, I cannot comprehend having different powder charges. If the chamber is a set length and the bullet is seated into the chamber as it should be, how can you load less or more powder per round while filling up the rest of the space? Cornmeal, cream of wheat, or do you mess with thickness of the paper cartridge to fill the space? Sorry for all the questions, this is all very new. I'm going to slug the bore tomorrow if I can and see what bullet mold to get.
I don't shoot a Sharps, but I have read of many using cream of wheat as a filler.
Gil Davis Tercenio
# 3020V
34th Battalion, Virginia Cavalry
Great, great grandson of Cpl Elijah S Davis, Co I, 6th Alabama Inf CSA
It shouldn?t take you hours to clean that carbine and you will never fill that entire chamber with loose powder. If you use a cartridge the chamber length is key. You want the back of the cartridge at the face of the breech block. If your accuracy load doesn?t fill that cartridge length you can then use a filler. I?m not sure what all you researched but start again. Type Hahn cartridge tubes in the search box and go. Also go to shilohrifle.com scroll to the bottom of the first page and click on shiloh forums, then scroll down to 1863 support/shooting. Good luck.
Go over to http://hahnmachineworks.com/html/PaperCartridge.html This will get you started on load development. Use the grease he recommends on the breech, breechblock and gas plate. Alternatively, you can use Mobile 1 synthetic grease. Charlie's cartridge tubes work great. My personal favorite load is 35 gr. of Swiss 1.5f with the old NEI Sharps bullet, and in spite of Charlie not recommending it, I do use cream of wheat filler. Works for me. With this load and the sight leaf down it's dead on at 50. With the sight flipped up it's dead on at 100.
For cleaning, remove the block and gas plate then clean everything you can reach. At the end of the season, pull the forestock and lock and clean those. Coat the metal parts with a good gun oil when you put it back together. Modern caps are non-corrosive, and black powder isn't particularly corrosive unless humidity is high. What little fouling gets in the lock and under the stock won't cause problems as long as you don't leave it forever.
Stop by Charlie's booth at the national. He will get you going. Also, talk to Sharps shooters on the line. Most are very happy to bend your ear about their favorite carbine.
I do not roll paper cartridges or Charlie's tubes in my Sharps but if you want to use a reduced charge with filler you would need to go that route. I use 50 grains of loose FFg behind the Lyman ringtail bullet which does not completely fill the chamber. Fouling does not get into the lock and I only remove it once a year to regrease. You should routinely clean off the nose of the hammer with a toothbrush and water while holding the gun inverted to prevent water from getting into the lock. I do remove the forearm and clean around the lever spring. As stated before, cleaning the vent in the breechblock is critical but I do not need to remove the breechblock faceplate on a routine basis after soaking it in water, drying and applying WD-40. I'm very anal about cleaning my guns but I can get my Sharps clean in less than an hour.
Jim Burgess, 15th CVI
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