40-90 Sharps Bottleneck?

[Gunner500]

I have a hankering for a new Sharps rifle to play with, many Thanks for all the thoughts and experiences on the 44-77/44-90 thread.

What do you guys think about a 40-90 SBN? thinking 30" barrel and 370 to 400 grains of paper patch bullet over Black Powder.

Rifle will be for hunting all conus game and maybe some African plains game as well as steel out to 500 yards.

[Don McDowell]

It's a speed ball for sure. Get it with a heavy barrel to help manage the muzzle jump.
Mine shoots a .400 diameter 360 gr patched bullet and a 415 gr money bullet quite well when loaded with 94 grain of Eynsford 1f.

[Gunner500]

Thanks Don, guessing 18 to 1 alloy may help the bullet hold up a little better at those speeds when impacting heavy game.

As in 'speed ball' do you mean in excess of 1450 fps?

[Don McDowell]

16-1 mostly

It's got to be pushing 1500 pretty hard, one of these days I'll have to dig out the chronograph.

[Gunner500]

10-4 on the 16 to 1 alloy, and dang on the 1500 fps, that'll make for some very fine and close together knife marks up the ladder for sight correlation.

[Don McDowell]

I haven't shot the ladder sight past 100 yards, but the Hoke sight I have on it with the Baldwin front only requires about 170 pts. to make the 1k line.

[Gunner500]

Thanks Don, I haven't shot any tang sights, but have to believe 170 is flat shooting.

[Don McDowell]

It's pretty flat , altho my 44-77 with the 1.29 inch long bullets only need around 160 to make 1000.

[Gunner500]

Nice, I've tinkered with the idea of putting the Hoke rear sight and Distant Thunder front sight back on my 45-110, but, as simple minded as I am was afraid it'd mess up my hunting with the buckhorn barrel sights ;]

[Don McDowell]

Won't hurt anything to mount the target sights, so long as you keep shooting something with the barrel sights.