50-70 Shiloh Sharps Military Rifle

[Eric Johanen]

Time for another run with the Shiloh Military Rifle and paper patched ammo. Fired, neck sized Bertram brass, CCI BR2 primer,70 grains of Swiss 1.5, OJ card wad compressed to .518, 1/8th inch DGL lube wad topped with another OJ card. BACO Swaged pure lead 500 grain bullet patched to .500 diameter. Seated by hand into the case and it is a nice snug fit. OAL is 2.550. I'll be testing these along with the Accurate 51-465S bullet and 72.0 grains of OE on Monday and will post a report.

[J.B.]

Eric ..as always I'll be interested in your feedback and results. That 465S I had Tom produce for me when I was shooting a 50/70. Given its lube groove forward of the case mouth it's probably not a good bet for the field but was a very good performer on paper in the 1/36" twist Shiloh I had at the time. Just another rifle I regret selling ... but at least it helped pay for the next rifle I bought

Gavin.

[Eric Johanen]

Received some Accurate Molds 50-470T paper patch bullets from a forum member to try out. These look to be very nice bullets for using in un-sized fired brass. Patched with .0025 100% bond paper, they fit nicely in my OS Bertram and DIXIE brass fired in my standard Shiloh chamber. (I do not have any fired Starline brass empty to try for size) Weight is 483-484 grains. Dimensions are as posted on Tom's site. Bases measure .4985, at the break/top of the patch they go .493-.494. Patch height is 23/32'nds with 3/32'nds of it folded under the base. Patched they measure .5065 and at the top of the patch .5010. These are wet patched. I am loading 10 of them to try on Monday. These will use fired un-sized OS DIXIE brass with the same load data as above for the BACO 500 grain swaged bullets. OAL will necessarily come out a bit different. I'll shoot them at 100 yards with a few at 200 yards and will be interested in how they compare to the BACO swaged bullets. These are really nice looking bullets with a good fit in unsized brass and I hope they fly right!

[Eric Johanen]

Nice day to be out on the range. Shiloh Military Rifle at 200 yards bench rest Target SR 42 (300 yard rapid fire reduced for 200). Blade block front and semi-buckhorn rear. Wiped between shots: 1 wet and 1 dry. Load#1.) Fired neck sized Bertram brass, CCI BR 2 primer, 70.0 grains Swiss 1.5 fg, Powder level with 1 OJ card .155 from top of the case, compressed .363 to .518 total from case mouth. 1/8" DGL lube wad followed by 1 OJ card just put snug on the grease wad. Bullet carefully seated on top to give OAL of 2.550. These fit tight and will not fall out when upside down and shaken. 2 sighter's 6 inches right of center, tapped left and two landed 4 inches left of center. Tapped a bit right and pretty much down the middle. Another tap or so and following shots were right down the middle on top of the front sight just below the bull holding a line of white. Satisfied they are just on top of the front sight at 200. 1 great 3 shot group at 1inch horizontal and 1.25 vertical. Load#2.) Fired un- sized Dixie brass, CCI BR2 primer, 70.0 grains of Swiss 1.5 fg, powder level with a OJ card .155 from top of the case, compressed .300 to .455 total from the case mouth. 1/8"DGL lube wad followed by 1 OJ card just snug on the grease wad. Accurate 50/470T seated to OAL of 2.535. Taper crimp to keep the bullet in when turned upside down. (They will turn in the case but not move forward). These shot center also and the group imposed on to the previous shots. 1 group of 4 shots went 1inch horizontal and 2 3/8'th vertical. I got a bit wide on several shots (4) and held up a smidge too much front blade on a few more (3). Total group size for both loads: 8" horizontal by 8 1/4" vertical. The core group for both loads went 4 3/4" wide by 3 3/4" high. Both of these loads shot pretty well and I believe could do better with younger eye's. The 50-470T's need to be seated a bit deeper in the case to chamber in a fouled bore due to the larger diameter at the top of the patch compared to the BACO straight sided .494 bullet. The BACO bullet will chamber 3 shots with no following control, the 4'th was a bit too snug for my taste. I think seated a bit deeper the 50-470T could also work for follow up shots with no fouling control. More work needs to be done but I think they would work well for hunting using paper patch bullets in this rifle.

[Mike]

Eric, You did some good shooting! Good work with 50-470T. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Eric Johanen]

Thank's Mike. Both loads shot pretty well at 200 yards. The 1/8" DGL lube wad kept the fouling soft all they way to the muzzle and the patches pushed through with no resistance. Lube star on the muzzle so with that Swiss charge compressed it worked quite well. The paper was cut into very fine little bits and the OJ cards were clean with no lube stuck to them. Look's like all the lube was left in the barrel. My goal here is to get 4-5 shots with good accuracy and no fouling control for a hunting load. After that a blow tube or a wipe to control fouling and repeat the shooting process. It's starting to look like it can be done. With the Accurate 51-465S this can be done quite easily. (good greaser for dirty shooting).

[Eric Johanen]

    Just finished up a big casting session for the 50-70. BACO #JIM492500 cast pretty soft, came out at 491-492 grains and patched with .002 100% bond paper. Nice snug fit on my sized Bertrum and Dixie brass. Fit with Starline is a little too loose so they will be used for greasers. I think I've worked out the seating depth so there will be no interference with fouling at the chamber end. Should a be able to shoot this load dirty. The next series of tests will be using CCI BR2's and Winchester LR Standard primers and 1.5 Swiss and OE. I believe I am getting close to having a very good load for this rifle.