44-77 Sharps paper patched load

[Kurt]

Eric It will be good to shoot with you again. I will try to make Merrill. I have to go to the Mayo clinic again on Friday for some more work done and if they don't get to rough on me this time I will make the trip to Merrill. I have some loads for the new .40-65 I want to try before shooting a Match at Alma using little Missy.

[Eric Johanen]

Kurt, hope you can make the Merrill shoot. No need to rush up the road as the range makes it difficult to see the targets much before noon with iron sights. With a scope you can begin shooting around 10/10:30. It is a fun laid back match with a bunch of real nice guy's and a good place to test loads. To 400 yards, both bullets shoot very well and from testing I've done with the bullets you sent I'll be sending 2 off to Mr. Brooks this fall for a mold.

[Fogman01]

After seeing some of the blogs answers to the dimensions of an original Remington Rolling Block Creedmoor bore and cartridge and comparing it to the chamber cast I had done, I decided to go with the original RB Creedmoor. I put 70 grains of powder in a Shiloh Sharps 44-77 case from BACO and used a .060 wad, grease cookie and another .060 wad to get the load almost to the case rim. After checking the bore diameter (about .451) I used a slick .444 diameter bullet that I paper patched and seated about 1/16" into the case, just so it chambered nicely. I didn't want to put any more powered in it until I saw how this old gun would shoot. I have only shot it out to 300 yards but I am hitting the steel swinging target at my range. The 100 yard groups are not bad and will improve with my load work ups. This old rifle shoots really nice and I like loading it the way it was done at the Creedmoor shoots.

My friend has an old Rem RB military rifle that was so rough on the outside that there were no markings other than the tang which said the last patent was 1874. He had bought it at an auction some years ago for $100 and had never shot it; he was told it was a 45-70 - not! After a chamber cast the closest cartridge would be .43 Spanish. The bore was surprisingly bright but not over sized like the Creedmoor - it matched the .43 Spanish dimensions pretty well. So again I loaded the unfired Shiloh 44-77 brass with a .432 dia bullet paper patched with 45 grains of powder for a gentle starting load, some corn meal filler and wads and grease cookie. My buddy shot the rifle yesterday and it did surprisingly well. We thought if it hit the paper at 75 yards we would be happy but his first two shots were in the 9 and 10 ring and the rest grouped well for his ability. It has a VERY hard trigger - maybe 15 -20 lbs and we aren't sure why that is. Considering that, the groups were excellent. So two originals with 44-77 type cartridges shooting pp bullets very well. Love it!!!!

[Eric Johanen]

This cartridge/rifle combination is accurate, hard hitting and just a whole bunch of fun! Cut with Orville's paper patch chamber and Brook's .431 Medford style mold 2 fg 74-75 grains KIK or 73 grains OE it is a very good shooter. Shell holder, universal de-capping die, Meachem bushing neck sizing die with a .448 bushing and a Buffalo Arms 43 Spanish compression die makes reloading very simple. Bullets are a tight slip fit in the neck sized Jamison brass and with the slight working this brass will probably last forever. The thin .450 card wads and DGL grease cookie leave it all in the bore. Recovered cards show no lube sticking to them so it appears that all the lube is deposited in the bore. There is a lube star at the 30 inch barrel muzzle. I may experiment with slightly more than a 1/8" lube wad to see if fouling will be softer at the case mouth. Working towards a dirty shooting load with enough accuracy for a lot of shots that will stay in the heart/lung area of a northern Whitetail deer out to 200 yards. No fly's or complications with a paper patched 44-77. Fogman01 keep working up your loads. I find generally that the more powder the better the accuracy.

[Eric Johanen]

Kurt, just got the news that the Merrill WI shoot is canceled due to Bob's illness. Hope you don't make the drive for a no shoot

[Kurt]

TNX. Eric.
Even for a no shoot it is a nice trip going North.

[Eric Johanen]

Yesterday was my last match of the season. The Buffalo Shoot. 500 yard buffalo reduced to 200 with 4 sighter's, 10 off stick's and 5 off hand. I ran the 44-77 using the Brook's 440 grain paper patched bullet and 75 grains of KIK 2 fg. Color buffalo 36 inches from hoof to hump and 44 inches nose to tail. Lung shot is one third up the body, the size of a clay target and scores 8 for center and 7 outside. Heart is smaller 10 for a center and 9 for outside ring sitting low in the body just to the right of the front leg bone. Irregular shape makes for some interesting hold points. Gamble on the 9 and 10 or play it safer with the 7 and 8. All other hits on the body score a 6. I do not have enough strength for off hand and elected to shoot the 5 sitting for no score along with the 10 record shots sitting off the sticks. Since I use this rifle with the open barrel sights I dispenced with the sighter's and shot for score right from the first round. First one cold bore hit the right horn in front of the high neck shot. Lowered my blade a little and stayed in the area between and around the lung and heart scoring rings. Horizontal was pretty good with vertical caused by the shading on the Buffalo's coat and lack of distinguishing aim point. Up the front leg and around one third of the way into the body and let her fly! first 10 were all in the light's and would have resulted in a good kill. The last 5 I was a bit tired and had some trouble centering the blade in the rear sight and had a middle centered body shot maybe just catching the liver and a miss I called just off the brisket when I pulled with the blade not quite centered. First 10 shots scored a 60 with many impacts very close to the 7 and 9 rings but not centers. Had a bunch of fun using the barrel sights, watching the paper bits fly at the muzzle and placing my shots into the heart/ lung area. Match was shot in mid afternoon and the light was behind me so it could have been a little brighter on the sights which would have improved the definition quite a lot. Still got it done. Two years ago I used my Shiloh Military Rifle with barrel sights and last year I had Lucrezia my C. Sharps 50-90 with paper patch ammo and barrel sights so this year it just seemed right to use the Shiloh Hartford 44-77. I am the only runner using barrel sights and get favorable comments for doing so. The Lawrence rear and Hartford front really work nicely for this kind of shooting. This is one of my favorite shoots as the buffalo does not give a good aim point to place your sights on so you have to figure out where the kill zone would be on a animal rather that target hold as on a bull's eye. All smiles during and after the shoot!

[Kurt]

Eric where was the shoot???

[Eric Johanen]

    Kurt, this match is in Sheboygan WI. Nice small range out to 200 yards. They do have pits and pull targets. This is an approximation of the Buffalo target. Great fun match!

[Eric Johanen]

Shot the Sheboygan Buffalo Match yesterday and went with the Shiloh 44-77. I used a load of 75 grains of KIK 2fg with the same wad column I've worked out for the Medford style 440 grain bullet. I used a 480 grain RN Sharps style bullet Kurt was kind enough to send me for a trial. Also shot some of the same bullets from a new Brook's mold. Pick your spot on the buffalo and line up the sights and let it fly. Fired 20 rounds and had 3 out of the vitals due to poor sight alignment. 1 low in the front leg, 1 back a bit into the rear lung and liver and 1 I pulled to the left and shot him in the right eye. Wiped with 1 damp and 1 dry patch. All rounds chambered very nice and paper bits looked very good. A 10 and a few 9's and 8's. Couple of 7's and rest 6's. With the exception of the three off shots all landed nicely in the heart/lung area. I really do like the way this rifle and chamber is working, Just great fun to shoot. I have mounted the MVA tang sight base and will use the sight to test the 480 grain bullet at 200 yards for accuracy. I have also loaded some with 80 grains of KIK 2 fg seating the bullet out for a long range target load. Great fun match and a little something different for those used to shooting at standard targets.