50-70 Thoughts

[J.B.]

Good news indeed Mike. Photos please... and plenty of feed back on loads and how she performs. I know I love my 50 and as most who load for them have indicated , they are pretty easy to get shooting well. Photos !

[Mike]

JB, I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about it. This is my 2nd .50/70 and I'll just start by using the same loads that my other C. Sharps Arms .50/70 likes. And some exploring will be done as well. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Mike]

Just to keep things going on this, here is a 5-shot 50-yard group with my new .50/70 using #515141 over 65 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F with the bullet being pushed out by a Walters' veggie wad of .060". Now I'll work more at longer ranges. Shoot sharp, Mike

[bobw]

Why not a hard card and 70 grs? Don't understand how you and Don figured you would get 90-100 grs in a 2" 50 if all you can get in the 1 3/4 is 65. The old guys didn't compress the hell out of their loads and it sure would take a press and compression die for that. Especially so if your talking greasers anyway. bobw

[Mike]

BobW, For my shooting I don't find 70 grains of powder necessary, yet. We'll have to see what gives in that regard. About 90 grains in a 2" case, that's a lot more Don's idea than mine. I was just asking if anyone knew what the Sharps load was for the 2" case because I can't find a thing about it. Still wondering about that. Shoot sharp, Mike

[Kurt]

There is a guy at our range that shoots a .50-70 roller carbine. That little short barreled rifle will shoot a group at 200 yards like yours Mike.
That rifle is one of a few rifles that is a true MOA rifle at 200 yards that I have seen shooting blk powder.
The little .50 is a fine cartridge.

My .50-2.5 is also a fine shooter. And it will shoot just about shoot any powder load I use in it from 90 gr to 118 gr. But with the 1/22 ROT I'm limited with the bullets I can use and hold the fine accuracy it has.
The big bore .50's are great, but they can bite you too if you make a mistake the way your holding them.

Kurt

[Mike]

There is a guy at our range that shoots a .50-70 roller carbine. That little short barreled rifle will shoot a group at 200 yards like yours Mike.
That rifle is one of a few rifles that is a true MOA rifle at 200 yards that I have seen shooting blk powder.
The little .50 is a fine cartridge.

My .50-2.5 is also a fine shooter. And it will shoot just about shoot any powder load I use in it from 90 gr to 118 gr. But with the 1/22 ROT I'm limited with the bullets I can use and hold the fine accuracy it has.
The big bore .50's are great, but they can bite you too if you make a mistake the way your holding them.

Kurt

Hey Kurt, I just got back from the range with my new .50/70 and it is doing so well I just might need to get my eyes fixed to keep up with it.

[Kurt]

[J.B.]

Mike I've just checked some notes I made on a post in the Shiloh forum and using a long range transition MVA, I had a setting around 98 pts for 600 yds with a 28" barrel. I dont think you'll have problems sneaking it out to 800 yds or so on a midrange post. The shorter barrel helps a little here. As for bullets and loads... judging from the photo, you may be onto something already. They can be sweet shooters for sure. Keep us posted .
Gavin

[Mike]

Gavin, Thanks for that data. With my .44/77 my sight setting is 1.14 on the ladder for 800 yards so your 0.98 at 600 yards is in the same ballpark. And my .44/77 also has a 28" barrel. One little difference is that the sight on my .50/70 has a different scale on the ladder although that ladder is the same height. So far I haven't shot it further than 100 yards. Now I'm looking forward to some longer ranges and 200 yards comes on Wednesday. Shoot sharp, Mike