Sharps 1874, Gemmer style rifle

[Choatecav]

As I get older, I am enjoying shooting the old guns more and more.  Especially those that use black powder.  

This is a reproduction of a Sharps 1874 in the "Gemmer" style with the cleaning rod running beneath the barrel.  It is chambered for 45-70, has a 32" barrel and is crazy accurate.  I have just added the venier tang sights and look forward to seeing what they add at longer distances.  While I have fired some factory loads through it, it works best with the black powder loads that a friend of mine creates.  He has all of the equipment to cast and load all calibers and the process that goes into finding just the right grain of bullet, the primer and of course, the amount of powder is just a fascinating thing to work with.  I have a lot to learn, for sure.  

[RED333]

1 hour ago, Choatecav said:

This is a reproduction of a Sharps 1874 in the "Gemmer" style with the cleaning rod running beneath the barrel.  It is chambered for 45-70, has a 32" barrel and is crazy accurate. 

Very nice smoke pole!

[Darrell]

I'm curious if you're using paper patches, or if you intend to. 

[Choatecav]

32 minutes ago, Darrell said:

I'm curious if you're using paper patches, or if you intend to. 

Yes, there are patches between the powder and the bullet in the cartridge.  

[RED333]

I think Darrell is talking about paper patch bullet. Used on older cartridge black powder firearms.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=paper+patch+bullet&t=newext&atb=v436-1&iax=images&ia=images

[Darrell]

47 minutes ago, RED333 said:

I think Darrell is talking about paper patch bullet.

Right! That's something I'd like to master. I've tried it, but my fingers are all thumbs and I've never managed a neat one.

[Choatecav]

2 hours ago, RED333 said:

I think Darrell is talking about paper patch bullet. Used on older cartridge black powder firearms.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=paper+patch+bullet&t=newext&atb=v436-1&iax=images&ia=images

Oh, I see.  No, it just uses the 45-70 cartridges.  Whether off the shelf or when loading our own.