New to me Shiloh Sharps

[bobw]

1st Magnum Hadley I bought does indeed cover the windage settings. Fact of the matter is you find the aperature size you like and hardly ever move it more than 1 or 2 up or down. The last 2 I bought are regular Hadleys. Bobw

[doug_bailey]

Here's a cartoon of what I think the sight picture looked like through the peep. The front sight more or less fit the target, I was using the "crosshairs" insert from the MVA "a" sight card. The peep hole was very wide and so the frame of reference for the rear felt very inexact. I think I'll buy the small Hadley anyway based on recommendations, but I'd appreciate feedback on whether this proportionality is what I should be going for or whether I should make the peephole smaller.

Sight picture.jpg

[gunlaker]

When using aperture sights, a round target will generally work best. You can get scaled down versions of the NRA 600 yard target that will work nicely with your sights. I use the 200 yard reduced versions quite a bit. There are also 100 yard reduced versions too.

Chris.

[powderburner]

The rear sight ring should be only periferial.
The front aperature should be the focus.
Yours is really busy. A lot going on.
Trying to center a target that fills the front aperature is difficult. As gunlaker says with the aperature sight a round target bull is best. And the bull should be 1/3 the dia of the front aperature your eye will naturally center the bull in the aperature.
The cross hair should be used for vert and horizontal alignment not the main aiming point.
What you are doing is using the rear as the centering device instead of the front.
The front is the main part of the system the rear is the ghost part. Clear as mud huh?

[bobw]

Was to me powder burner, you and gunlaker hit it on the nut. I saw his picture very early this morning it tired so much I fell back to sleep. Bobw

[doug_bailey]

I ordered the adjustable peephole sight, built some "Quigley" type shooting sticks and had another go out at the range. Much, much more comfortable - totally different experience. Also, managed a 1.75" to 2" group at 100 yards, twice, with one shot from each group of 5 in the red.

I'm still using flat nose factory ammo left over from my 1886 Winchester and I stuck with the crosshairs front sight. I think I can do better by switching to the cross hairs with the little circle in the middle - I'll try that next time.

Question - what should I expect to get for a group at that range, and how much of the group is likely to be the ammo vs the operator? I wish there was someone at the range to chat with, but everyone seems to be shooting high tech hunting rifles with monster optics, or AR look-alikes. I'm not an experienced shooter and it's hard to calibrate what I'm getting, and figure out next steps. Ideas?

[Randy Bohannon]

The rifle is capable of 5 shots with all touching into a nice group @ 100 yds and beyond when it’s needs are met. It got boring now everything is done at 200 yards or more.

[doug_bailey]

Hmmm - that's a bit sobering. It means I have to reduce the spread to about 15% of what it is right now. An interesting challenge....

The most obvious is to upgrade the ammo from flat nosed to something designed for accuracy. And practice. Probably I'm going to need to learn to re-load to get the bullet that I want and to be able to afford to shoot enough to get better.

[bobw]

You are starting to figure it out and be my guess Randy B wasn't talking reloading smokeless..mb

[gunlaker]

If you aren't loading your own ammo you definitely won't get the most out of it.

If you are just getting into loading your own cartridges, you'll be best off jumping right into black powder or else you'll end up learning a bunch of stuff you'll have to unlearn. You will also want to get into casting. Do it with a ladle and get advice here. Once you get the hang of it, you'll make much better bullets than you can buy.

Don't fall into the trap of buying commercial hard cast bullets. They will wok, but you'll never get really better than plinking accuracy and frustrate you. You might be able to buy good bullets cast in the right alloy from Buffalo Arms to get you started.

Once you get a 200 yard load that looks like it'll hold the 10 ring ( or very close to it ) of the 200 yard MR-52 target, then load and shoot as often as you can. You need to shoot these guns a lot to really figure them out. After you get consistent results for a while, then continue to tweak the loads. It won't take long before your holding ability is the limit and not the ammo.

Chris.

[Randy Bohannon]

BobW is is right , B/P is the only powder my Shiloh’s have ever seen.

[doug_bailey]

I think I'll get the reloading setup sorted out and do that for a little while, then try casting bullets. I have a bunch of lead that came out of an old sailboat, so sourcing the material is not a problem - except that it's got "US Navy" written on it and it's in a cylindrical form - probably I should pass a geiger counter over it before I heat it up with my face near it.

I have been looking at a bunch of YouTubes and the work flow for cleaning, preparing and re-loading seems straightforward, although all of the guys seem to have a "twist" on the theme. My main question at this point is whether a lubricizer is necessary and, if so, what die size to go with for the Shiloh Sharps 45-70. 0.458 seems right, but if I'm buying lubed bullets from Buffalo while I learn the basics, can I skip this?

I was thinking about this bullet from Buffalo: 458" 545 Grain Creedmoor Cast Lead Bullet 20-1 Alloy SPG Lube Box of 50. Is this a good place to start?

[desert deuce]

What Gunlaker said.

[powderburner]

That bullet is a good choice abd only needs lubing , no sizing, dont compress the charge with the bullet and you are off to a good start.

[Ray Newman]

" have a bunch of lead that came out of an old sailboat, so sourcing the material is not a problem - except that it's got "US Navy" written on it and it's in a cylindrical form...."
doug_bailey

Best better find someone with a lead hardness tester to determine the Brinell Hardness Number of that lead. I was once given some lead from a boat keel and after making a few sample plugs, it was way too hard and very difficult to cast as it needed very high heat. I found it better to purchase the tin and certified lead from a source Like Buffalo Arms. Premixed alloy (20:1, 30:1 etc.) is also available from Buffalo Arms.