50-70 Shiloh Sharps Military Rifle

[Mike]

Mike, that might place you in no man's land: may be too slow for heavy bullets and too fast for lighter ones. I believe I chose well when I spec'ed my military rifle for 1X36 in a light rifle. Can not think of anything that a 450 to 500 grain .50 cal. bullet won't put down and the recoil is very pleasant. I really like the 1X26 for bullet weights of 550 to 625 with the weight of the #2 barreled Bridgeport. I think a 1X22 twist using very heavy bullets would take a lot of the fun out of shooting this rifle. If I get another 50, either a 50 70 or a 50 90 I think I'd go with a 30 inch standard octagon barrel and have a 10.5 pound hunting rifle. This would be very shootable. (Am thinking about a Business rifle like the one in "the Unforgiven" with a paper patch chamber and a 1X36 twist) 450 to 500 grain paper patched bullet in a 9 to 10.5 pound hunting would be easy to carry and hard hitting.

Eric, I'm using 450 grain bullets in my .50/70 rifles that have the 1 in 26" twist and they do just fine. And in my .50/90 with the 1 in 36" twist I've never shot any bullets heavier than 500 grains. That is my Gemmer with the 30" standard weight barrel. I've had that rifle for over 30 years. Shoot sharp, Mike