1885 High Wall or 1874 Sharps?

[Mike]

Ed, About 75, huh? No wonder you write so well... Alright, now I will suggest that you get the Highwall just becaue I'm guessing how you might like it a bit better. The Highwall from Cimarron Arms start at about $1050 and who knows if they have one in stock. I did see an Italian Highwall that was rebarreled but now that ad has gone, maybe the gun too. I will suggest that you look at the Highwalls from C. Sharps Arms. Those being at about $1850 but they come with a shotgun butt which might prove to be a comfort. Also, with C. Sharps there is no real long wait, they'll have your gun finished before summer, that's an easy bet. Just something to think about. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Ed333]

I traveled to the gun shop which had the lightly used Uberti Sharps this morning. It has a round barrel with a black matte finish on the barrel, ladder sight. I found it to be rather short in length of pull for me, and when I set the sight for 600 yards, I had to lift my face off of the stock. This will not do. Quality did not look bad, the wood to metal fit was good laterally, but a bit proud of the metal. Trigger was nice, case coloring was decent on receiver, the crescent was a bit more pronounced than what the photos appeared to show, although not as extreme as some I have considered. I left the 'hold' on it, give it some more thought, but I was not ready to go with it this morning.
I am 6'3" with longish neck and long arms, is a relatively short length of pull a common feature of the Sharps? I am thinking that a HighWall with shotgun butt and cheekpiece might be a good thing. I could always put an extender/padded sleeve on if the LOP was too short.

[Gunlaker]

There is also Bill Goodman if you don't want to wait for the full Shiloh build time.

Chris.

[Don McDowell]

14 1/4 inch is the common length of pull on Shiloh and C Sharps. Going with a shotgun butt will give you a higher comb than the military stocks.
Haven't looked for awhile, but C Sharps had a fairly good selection of Sharps and Hiwalls ready to ship. Take a look at their web page and if you see something you like get on the horn Monday morning.. Tell em we sent you,,

[bobw]

What Don said, or get on GunsAmerica or Gunbroker and find a pre-owned Shiloh in 45-70 or 40-65 probably have it in 2 weeks max and more advice on how to make it work than you can stand. bobw

[Mike]

Ed, Go to GunBroker.com and look us Auction number 469706964. It's got you written all over it. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Ed333]

Thanks Mike, I had missed that. Looks like it just went on. I have put it on my Watch List, I suspect it will go for a good piece of change. In the meantime I just gave the greenlight and sent $ for a Browning Highwall BPCR, I'll get my feet wet with that.

Thanks to all for all the good advice and commentary! I will be back with questions, I am sure, this is new ground for me. Question #1, what is a good source for cast lead bullets? Not set up for casting, and I will probably start off with Hornady factory and get my brass that way.

I wonder if buffalo hunters ever used snowshoes....

[bobw]

ED333 if your getting a 45-70 don't buy Hornady factories with flex tip bullets.
A. The cases are way to short to reload anything but flex tip jacketed bullets.
B. You're 75 years old don't set yourself up for a beating physically that is.
C. get dies and brass for bp loading and the other guys here can tell you where to get the rest.
D. full throttle jacketed factory loads will provide hard recoil.
good luck

[Don McDowell]

Ed the Hornady component brass is proper length so if you can find it go for it,but as Bob said don't do the leverevolution stuff it's a bit short for lead bullets, otherwise Remington, Winchester or Starline.
For cast bullets check out John Olsens outfit. www.bigskycastbullets.com. The saeco 645 bullet is a good one.

[Mike]

Ed, It's good to know that you made a choice. Maybe you can keep us posted on your shootin'. Shoot sharp, Mike