I%26#039;m thinking about buying a Shiloh 1874 Creedmore target rifle or a 1874 Shiloh Quigley rifle and I%26#039;m not sure what caliber I want it in.|||Here%26#039;s one site to get you started...
the 45 in 45-110 or 45-120 is the caliber; the 110 or 120 is the powder load.
Have fun.|||Just how big a boy are ya?
In BP Silhouette 45-70s are shot at 500 Yd.s., and
after a 40 rd. match, you know they kick.
Can you hold tight enough to justify another 40 or 50 Gr.s of powder?|||The Sharps rifles in all of the .45 calibers are used to shoot silhouettes out to 500 yards. From an ethical standpoint, I never take shots at animals farther than about 200 yards. I want to to be sure that I kill the animal cleanly rather than wounding it. The trajectorys of the .45 110 and the .45 120 are not very flat at all. At those long ranges, you are lobbing the round in and it is striking the target at a high angle. The slightest misjudgement of the distance and your bullet either falls too far on the far side of the target or too far short of the target. The difference between the trajectorys of these old cartridges and modern cartridges is significant. That being said, they are a ball to shoot. I have a Quigley Sharps that is chambered for the .45-120 round and, when fully loaded with a black powder load and a 500 grain bullet, it kicks like an army mule, it can bruse your shoulder and it ain%26#039;t for the faint of heart. A while back, the Dr. put me on a blood thinner for a temporaty condition that I had. During this time, he wouldn%26#039;t let me shoot my Sharps because instead of a bruse, it would have made a deep hematoma (blood clot in the muscle tissue) that would have been a serious condition that would have required surgery to correct.
Aside from the recoil, the other problem is the cost for the ammo. Loaded .45-120 cartridges are availab le form only one source that I have found and at a cost of $7 per round. I am a reloader and so I load my own ammo for it. Even the empty brass is expensive. I pay $2 per shell for it when I buy 20 rounds at a time. If you can stand the cost, it is a bit cheaper if you buy 100 rounds of the empty brass at a time.
My rifle came with a less than acceptable sight for long range shooting and I had to buy a replacement sight made by Pedersoli to the tune of $400. The same sight can cost anywhere from $400 to $600 depending on where you buy it so shop around. I got mine from Cabela%26#039;s.
I really enjoy my .45-120 in spite of the recoil. If you reload, you can load your cartridges with a smokeless powder, such as Accurate Arms XMP 5744, and use lighter loads for less recoil. If you shoot black powder or a black powder substitute, the case MUST BE COMPLETELY FULL. If you leave any airspace in the cartridge, you can exceed the recommended maximum pressure for the rifle and damage your rifle and possibly injure yourself. I have a way of down loading with black powder for lighter loads and if you are interested, send me an email and I will tell you how to do it safely.
Would I buy another .45-120? No way, one is enough....... but I wouldn%26#039;t sell it either. If I were in the market for another Sharps .45 caliber rifle, I would buy a .45-70. Ammo is readily available and is WAY cheaper than any of the other .45 calibers. Plus, you don%26#039;t have to take the punishment from the recoil like you do with a .45-120 or even a .45-110 or .45-90. I%26#039;ll admit that those huge .45-120 rounds hanging on your cartridge belt to look impressive but looking cool comes at a price.
If you would like to calculate the recoil and the muzzle energy, you can use this program:
http://www.usacarry.com/index.php/ballis鈥?/a>
This neat little energy calculator was written by a friend of mine. Jus fill the top four blanks and hit calculate.|||10 grams
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