.44-77 and paper patch?

[Caprock]

Just got done making these for my 44's.

Are those multiple wool wads stacked either end of the bristles or?

[Hiwall55]

Start with a brass nylon brush,cut a few bristles off the end and put a wool on the end then on the other end drill a wool pellet out .177 letter drill so you can slide a felt on that end then screw on a BACO wiper end. I took my VFD's apart but couldn't drill the old felts so put new ones on that end. These are for .44s

[Caprock]

Start with a brass nylon brush,cut a few bristles off the end and put a wool on the end then on the other end drill a wool pellet out .177 letter drill so you can slide a felt on that end then screw on a BACO wiper end. I took my VFD's apart but couldn't drill the old felts so put new ones on that end. These are for .44s

Thanks

[Distant Thunder]

So here is where I am right now.

Shiloh 1874 (1991 vintage).
Green Mountain 1 in 17 twist, #1 profile, 30" long. (I don't know how much that barrel weighs, but I trying to find out.)
The standard Shiloh .44-77 grease groove chamber.
It will have Distant Thunder sights front & rear (What else would they be?).
Straight grip stock with military buttplate, very plain walnut stock and forearm. This is the wood the rifle came with originally. I would like to replace this down the road and I have some very nice wood to work with, but we'll see.

I see two bullets being used, 1) an original Sharps style round nose 2-diameter PPB in the 475 to 480 grain range and 2) an elliptical nose Seitz design 2-diameter PPB in the 500+ grain range. The 17-twist will handle bullets up to 1.500" long.

I do have a couple grease groove molds that Brooks cut for me years ago, but those would only be used for fireforming cases or something like that. The purpose of this project for me is to have and shoot an 1874 Sharps chambered in the sexiest cartridge of all time, the .44-77 *.




* When loaded with PPB of course!!

[Don McDowell]

My roughrider with that #1 sharps profile barrel 32 inches comes over the scales at around 12 lb. 5.

[Distant Thunder]

Don,

I really would like to go with the 32" barrel, but I just feel that the 30" will have a better balance offhand and I need all the help I can get there.

For gong matches I would like to use irons, but for silhouette I really have to have the scope if I want to hit anything, at least on purpose. I do fairly well with simple geometric shapes and iron sights, circles, squares and diamonds, but those darn silhouettes are very ghost like for me through the iron sights. I never came close to shooting a master class score with irons, but with scope I'm often right on the edge of master.

The scope will add almost 2 LBS to the rifle and 14 or more LBS tends to wobble all over creation on me when I'm standing on my hind legs!

My .44-100 was a 32" and I can't say it held any advantage over a 30". I'm not sure how much that 2" of barrel will weigh, but it is right out there on the end where it matters the most.

My .50-70 has a 30" #1 heavy and I shoot that better offhand than almost any other rifle I have except maybe my .40-65 which has a 31" barrel. It's 31" because that was the longest I could get from the blank!

Choices have to be made and I'm trying real had not to get talked into 32"! Just maybe at 30" I would be able to make weight for irons. Maybe?

[Kurt]

Jim just one suggestion. When you order that barrel from GM make sure you stress the bore/groove dimensions. They seem to run a deep groove. I had one and a couple friends that ordered a cartridge barrel had issues.
I went through overly deep grooves with another barrel maker and had very bad vertical problems that I had to sent it back and even the second barrel came out of specks.

Don't fear a light weight barrel. My .44-77 Shiloh has a light 30" barrel .900" at the muzzle 1.00 at the breach comes in at 10#5oz. but it has the crescent buttplate. Also Shiloh will use your wood.

[Distant Thunder]

Kurt,

I figured Shiloh would use my wood. They seem very co-operative in many ways. If I had one complaint about Shiloh it would be that they have been a little difficult for me to get information from. Maybe I just have more questions than other people who order rifles from them.

I would be happy if I could just write an email with my questions and they would email me back the answers. Having said that I fully understand what they're up against. I can spend 1 to 2 hours a day answering emails and phone calls and I'm not even a 100th the size of Shiloh. Dealing with people like me would be a fulltime job for somebody there.

In this situation I am the customer and as such I expect answers, even though I am but a fly on the wall in the big scheme of things!

This barrel is just over 1.0" at the muzzle and 1.125" across the flats at the breech end. I can only hope the bore and groove aren't way to big! Though as long as the groove depth is .004"-ish I will be able to get it to work. I haven't had time to measure the bore and groove diameters yet but I will this week before I send it off to Shiloh.

[Don McDowell]

Jim, I'm sure that GM barrel cut down to 30 inches will make iron sight weight.
I just really like the 32 inch length, and don't really give a flip about the rifle making silhouette,, I do have other rifles that will work for that should I decide to partake. This rifle as well as my Hiwall and CSA 75 with 32 inch heavy barrels hold offhand quite well.
This GM #1 sharps profile fit right into the forearm wood on the roughrider which came from the factory with a 30 in. heavy barrel and made iron sight silhouette just fine, even when fitted with that midrange octagon front sight some guy in Wisconsin made and sold to me.

[Caprock]

Jim just one suggestion. When you order that barrel from GM make sure you stress the bore/groove dimensions. They seem to run a deep groove. I had one and a couple friends that ordered a cartridge barrel had issues.
I went through overly deep grooves with another barrel maker and had very bad vertical problems that I had to sent it back and even the second barrel came out of specks.

Don't fear a light weight barrel. My .44-77 Shiloh has a light 30" barrel .900" at the muzzle 1.00 at the breach comes in at 10#5oz. but it has the crescent buttplate. Also Shiloh will use your wood.

Kurt, what will they offer as standard and what do you think is more appropriate for PPB? No more than .004 groove?