Has anybody ever shot .45 cal Barnes bullets out of a pedersolli built 45-120 sharps?

Question

I haven't shot the barnes as they were just given to me. I actually bought this pedersoli from the company direct. She sure is a beauty with a nice maple stock and 32" tube.

And BTW, I already am shooting at 1700 fps.

I also have a 4" tang on her already ;-)

Answer 1

You really don't need jacketed bullets in that Sharps, and you danged sure don't need a solid copper bullet.

I mean you won't be getting much more than 1500 fps velocity. Were it my rifle, it would never shoot anything but cast bullets and FFg blackpowder.

I highly recommend RCBS Mold 45-500-BPS. Cast with straight wheelweights, these bullets run about 510 grains, and when water quenched, they run from 18-22 on a SAECO Hardness Tester. A friend tried some of my bullets and bought a mold. He used these bullets to win the Montana State Championship on the Long Range Blackpowder Cartridge Rifle competition, the range was 800 yards..

Enjoy your Quigley Rifle.

Doc

Answer 2

I agree with Doc except for one point. I don't recommend using black powder because it is messy and corrosive. I have a Quigley that is chambered for the .45-120 round and I shoot Triple 7 in it. Easier to clean and not as corrosive as black powder. A common bullet for the .45-120 is a 500 grain bullet. I found that 500 grain bullet with a full case of Triple 7 has a significant recoil. I have started loading only 50 grains of Triple 7 and a 300 grain bullet. It is a nice comfortable load to shoot and I found the accuracy markedly improved over the full charge. I save the full charge for long range shooting and for hunting. If you want to try this load, there is some VERY important information that you need. The cartridge case MUST be absolutely FULL. You cannot just put a reduced charge in the shell and stick a bullet in it. Doing this could result in damage to your gun and possibly to you. The proper way to make up a reduced load is to put in the desired amount of powder follwed by a wad. I use a piece of cardboard cut to the inside diameter of the case. Press this into place on top of the powder with a dowel rod. Then fill the case with either coarsely ground corn meal or Cream of Wheat. This is a filler that will keep the cartridge from exploding when it is fired. Leave just enough room for the bullet to be seated with a slight crushing of the filler material. This will give you a nice safe round. As a side benefit, when you fire a round that is loaded with corn meal, you will smell something somewhat like the smell of a tortilla mixed in with the smell of the smoke. No, I'm not joking, it really does have a tortilla-like smell and will elicit comments from your fellow shooters. Cream of Wheat has a somewhat similar smell. You can use ground corn cob, too. Whatever you do, don't use any plastic, nylon or similar pellets because they will melt and leave a mess in your bore. Do not use sand or anything abrasive or you will ruin your bore. Use only natural granular material such as I have mentioned.

Have fun. You're going to really like that Quigley Sharps. I know mine has become one of my favorite guns. Someday you might want to consider saving up the money and buying a tang sight for it to replace the sights that come on it. Pedersoli makes the best but a boxed set of front and rear sights will cost you $400 from Cabela's...... and they are the cheapest place to buy them. Places like Dixie Gun Works sell the exact set of sights for $600.

Answer 3

I shoot the 405 grain laser cast bullets in my 45/70 buffalo rifle. I shoot mostly IMR trailboss as the propellant it duplicates very close to black powder loads but it is smokeless when I feel the need to get nostalgic I mix 2f and 3f Swiss black (take a pound of 2f and a pound of 3f and pour them together mix them up then load my powder charges)

Answer 4

45-120 omg i saw the price of the ammo on that monster 120 bucks a box seems to be a nice rifle i can see why you reload for it