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Thread: 63 Sharps Forend Stock cracked when fired

  1. #1
    johnefelts is offline
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    63 Sharps Forend Stock cracked when fired

    Sunday I was shooting 525gr ringtails with 60gr of FFFG with no problems and was hitting my gong at 100 yards with each shot,after 12 shots I decided to try out some 425gr minnies driven by 35 grains of powder behind coffee grounds,first shot bucked my rifle like a horse kicking and split my foreend about 8",everthing else looked fine so I took the foreend off and shot 5 more rounds of the ringtails with out incident,now my sharps is an 1863 sporting by pedersoli in .54,the breech was sticking a little but not bad,my breech has the wave washers in it and a none moving chamber sleeve.I dont understand how the minnie round split my stock and oh yeah hit 18" higher than the rintails,any Ideas?

  2. #2
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    johnefelts,

    What probably happened was loose powder accumulated into the space between the forearm and barrel right in front of the breech when the breechblock cuts the cartridge to expose the powder charge when loading, and some loose powder drops in that space. Then at that point when you fired there was leakage of hot gases and fire from between the breechblock pressure plate and chamber igniting the powder accumulated. In essance, a small bomb. I was told the Sharps is prone to this when loading it holding the gun straight up and down and to be aware of this situation by older Sharp's shooters. I shoot an original 1863 Sharps Carbine and have not experienced it at all, and don't want to. When I load a cartridge and close the breech, I hold the gun on it's side so no powder will go down there, and also wipe any residue off the top of the breechblock before applying the cap.

    It's the only thing I can think that happened. The only other thing that I can think of that would split the forearm would be the barrel bursting in that area, but that did not happen because you shot it afterward with no incident. Hope this helps.
    Francis J. Miller Jr. (Herb)
    Lancaster Fencibles / 79th PVI
    Middle Atlantic Region
    153-MA - 2601V
    Middle Atlantic Region Provost Marshal
    N-SSA National Provost Guard

  3. #3
    Dave Fox is offline
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    ...what Mr. Miller said. A cure is to buy a bag of Charlie Hahn's cardboard cartridge tubes. They function like the later type linen Sharps cartridges, no loose powder to work into the action recesses.

  4. #4
    Charlie Hahn is offline
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    What size was the mini ball? I was guess you tried a .534ish mini. Your bore should be .523ish. As the mini is straight, and has a cavity that most likely flared and contirbuted to the higher pressure. Assuming you didn't have powder in the fore arm, this could have caused a sevear leak of high preside gas into the fore arm. I would suggest you examine the fore arm to see if there is an accumulation of fouling from other shooting. Next look at the breech face for an etch path, as well as the face of the barrel. I expect you will see a path that leads down.As you are using close to a service load, and your gun is not modified you are going to see cutting as the old soldiers did.Charlie Hahn

  5. #5
    johnefelts is offline
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    Charlie the Minnie is a Lee .540,and yes the breech plate which is shiny steal has what appears to be etching all the way around that looks like a star burst,the forearm has burned marks in it.At present Im placing a brass plate at the back of the forend stock and bedding it.It would appear the wave washers from pedersoli are not doing its job,as I wish for this to be a serious hunting rifle,Im guessing a phone call to you in the near future will be coming to arrange a mod done.My rifle is currently shooting Pedersoli 525gr Ring tails which I pour into a 3 to 4 inch group at 100yds.

  6. #6
    Charlie Hahn is offline
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    The wave washers are a poor design option. They where intended to hold the plat forward to allow the gas to fill the breech block. They made one other change, and that was a smaller hole, (about .40 inch diameter) It blocks the gas, allows the gun pressure to push the plate back and no chance to move forward, and leaks like crazy. I have seen this design FUBARed in one outing. With the mini you described it confirms that the projectile was flared in the chamber before it tried to move forward. I would guess you where lucky the chamber is oversized, and the star erosion allowed the rapid leak down.

    Let me know when you are ready to fix this, and if you would like me to do it.

    Regards

    Charlie Hahn
    410-208-4736

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