Sharps Borschardt 45 2.6 1000 yard match rifle
Around 1990 a friend of mine, Charlie Fischer, who hunted elk at my house up on King Mountain told me he had a rifle I might be interested in. I had aquired a lot of nice old guns from Charlie, a 1895 303 Winchester and a 1887 Winchester lever action shotgun, to name a few.
So I told Charlie I would be interested and what he produced was an almost pristine 1878 Sharps Borschardt Military rifle in 45 2.1 or 45/70.
I say almost pristine, like alot of old guns this one had been altered at one time, and what they did was drill holes for scope mounts some where along its then 112 year history, and one of the holes was drilled right in the middle of the “Old Reliable” trademark, ruining whatever collectors value the rifle might ever have.
But it was a fun shooter, I shot it for severl months and with the elevator barrel sights even hit a pepper popper at 1000 yards off hand with three witnesses, albiet small witnesses, my three little kids. Being the whore I am I told them to remember that event and they do in fact still remember it.
I decided I wanted to alter the now non collector rifle to a sporting rifle. I had Charlies parents who were internationaly known stockmakers and had made several custiom Mausers for me, to do the wood out of nice but non spectacular walnut, the reciever engraved by George Wilson, an aging engraver of some fame, and a Douglas barrel put on it by a machinest friend who also recontoured the reciever to sporting rilfe specs without the trademark side cut outs, then have the entire rifles metal work fininshed by the then and now famous firearms restorer Doug Turnbull.
Basically I was shipping it out in steps to the masters of the day.
I returned a beautiful engraved handy rifle with a 28 inch barrel in 45/70 in 1993. I used it for some time, hunting and killing deer and elk with it with Black powder cartridges.
Then I got interested in 1000 yard gong shooting and by 2000 had won the SASS Oregons state long range title at Horse Ridge outside of Bend, with a 1874 Sharps #1 sporting rifle in 4570. But I found the short 2.1 was lacking in volume for the amount of Black Powder I wished to burn, so I had JGS reamers in Coos Bay Oregon make me a 45/100 or 45 2.6 reamer.
I had the Douglas barrel drilled for a scope mount and cut to 16 inches for hunting elk in the thick brush mounted with a Leupold 1×5 scope and I had a 2nd barrel, a 30 inch Kreiger 45/100 barrel fitted for long range competetion.
With the long barrel and the Hocke tapered 550 grain bullet and 83 grains of Swiss #2 the rifle will put 10 shots into 3 inches at 200 yards,, standing off sticks, but the first three will usually print a cloverleaf until the fouling takes over.
The scope is a handmade Montana Vintage Arms 6 power mildot 23 inch period reproduction. The belt and holster are my creations and I wore them daily riding with the revolver of the day.
I shot it for several years, and when my adopted son, David, one of those three little guys who witnessed that 1000 yard shot, went off to fight in Iraq with the USMC, while he was gone, I promised myself if he returned from that hell hole alive, I would give him the Borschardt as a token of my love and respect for him. He came back and he now owns the rifle.
Here it is.
Regards,
Roachcreek
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yes sometimes RC it truly is Amateur Hour when it comes to projectile design and Big Bore airguns
Right now I am starting to play around with a UK built Parker Hale 3 band Henry bored .450 target rifle from the 1970s
not one of the current Italian fakes
anyways this is going to be a serious learning curve getting it set up
already had to spring for a set of custom platinum lined nipples as stock ones burn out in under 50 shots due to the chamber pressures these guns generate regardless whether they have the Whitworth Hex bore or the Rigby or Henry rifling
Had a Whitworth some years ago, was a pain in the ass with any of the molds I bought for it…couple shots and you were too fouled to drive the hex slug home
there is alot of attempts to reinvent the wheel with big bore slugs…
thing is as I have long made note of most everything has already been tried in the 19th century when it comes to the bores at the velocities we are driving them at
it would be interesting to see what a Henry pattern barrel could do on something like your XP with the correct slugs and Krieger Does make Henry rifled blanks 😉
There is a post on the Adventures forum by Vogel, Mr Hollow point and the spitzer bullets he is casting.
Jack Haley repsonded that they would be devestating in 58 caliber.
Devestating on what Jack? Spitzer cast bullets are the single worst cast bullet design ever for imparting shock on game animals.
I doubt that Vogel or Haley will like my reply, altho I did try to ekkp it civil, but like my favorite quote from Tombstone, “Sometimes I feel like I am dealing with my brotherinlaws kids.”
Notice the gun belt in the picture has spitzers. They were left over from my experimenting with the Lyman 457358 mold for long range. The reason they are still in that belt is that I just simply quit shooting them.
Dr Mann stated it correctly that nose design has no effect on subsonnic bullets.
It always amase me how fucking ignorant, our air gun and air gun bulletmakers like Haley, DAQ and Vogel are on the subject of bullet design and hunting.
I mean fuck guys this is cast bullet design 101, these facts were realized 80 to 100 years ago. You never heard of Elmer Keith?
Regards,
Roachcreek
no problema RC…
the vast bulk of real high end production really never saw Africa…just wasn’t the wealth there except in a few families
India on the other hand had all manner of Nobility in its Sultans, Pashas, ect and when they placed an order with an English Gunmaker it usually wasn’t just one gun, it was a dozen or even over a hundred in some cases…absolutely NUTS!
here is another little tidbit of history regarding the indirect fire rear ladder volley sights you find on most early Africa guns
reason they have them is that every male Afrikaner was militia and the indirect fire sights were pretty much mandated both both the Boer and later the Brits for wiping the indigenous black population off the Veldt
think you get a 100 riflemen raining .450, .500 and .577 slugs down on a village, its about the 19th century equalvalent of an AC130 Gunship
not much within the impact zone will survive, mind you the attacking force might be well over a 1000 yards away.
this is how the war was fought there and to a great deal more effect than our amatuer tactics used against our own native population.
one other point is the favored round in the Elephant hunting trade was not an Express round
nope, most professionals preferred the .280 Rigby, what us Yanks call the 7mm Mauser
The Express rounds had some issues penetrating an Elephants skull
7mm Mauser sailed right through
last thing you want is an Elephant with a headache after you 😉
Turnbull does wonderful work but they are crazy high on labor these days
well over a $100.00 an hour
just to polish out and case a basic action through them runs the better part of two grand now. I recently consulted with them regarding an original Remington #1 sporter with the rare 1 and a eigth across the flats “buffalo” barrel…action is in great shape but was told it would likely be well over $1500.00 just in labor for them to polish it out to 800#
that should be at best a $400.00 job
conversely I know smiths that do just as fine of work for $20.00 an hour
basically these days you are mostly paying alot extra for the Turnbull name
RS,
The Indian guns were somthing I never followed much, thanks for the history lesson.
RC
not really an Africa gun RC
the silver plate on the bottom of the stock is done in Farsi
my intuition is that is was built for the Tiger hunting in India ca mid 1870s and was likely one of a lot ordered by some Pasha for his gun bearers to administer follow up shots in case he missed
common practice in Tiger hunting in the sub continent as were the shorter length barrels.
Have another Henry thats a real work of art in .577 BPE
fully scroll engraved, story was it was a Sultan’s personal rifle
Africa guns are usually longer barreled with volley fire ladder sights
early ones are mostly Martini Henry based, have a Westley Richards Martini sporting rifle that came to me via Cape Town in .500 BPE that has a Boer War history behind it.
used to be tons of nice double rifle and big single shots in India
most were bought up back in the 70s and 80s by American and British dealers but there is still a quite lively gun culture in India that is little acknowledged in the West
South Africa was a great place for some of this until recently when the black government after having made firearms possession very difficult then prohibited export of the early stuff as Cultural Heritage artifacts
Sounds like you have quite the son to be proud of!
RS,
That is a fine african rifle.
I can recommend Doug Turnbull whole heartedly, there is a reson he is considered the very best in the country.
When he case colored my gun and finished the barrel, I paid the extra money and had him put it all together.
The reason you know of course Jim, but the others here probably do not, is that the heat of the case color treatment often warps the action, so I wanted to make sure it went back togehter and it did of course.
My son David watched this entire process. He was 4 when I got the rifle, and 4 when he witnessed that shot I told him to always remember, and 7 when I got it back in the form it is now, and 17 when I got that scope on it. He helped haul the elk and deer down the moutain to the house and helped me butcher them, and he ate the meat it made.
He shot it in a few matches and it was always in his life. I knew that I would never shoot it again at 1000 yards after I moved away from Burns, so he was the perfect person to pass it on down to. When I gave it to him, I told him that the world and history would not appreciate the sarafice that he made for his country in Iraq, but I did and I also realized how lucky I was to had the honor to be his father. He gets a 40% disability from the Veterans for the injuries he suffered there
I adopted him at the age of 2.5 years of age and his half brother at 1.5 years of age from the Oregon State Child services divison. I raised him on the mountain and when my Border Line Personality disorder exwife left me, she litteraly ripped him out of my life when he was only 11. He came back to live whith me the second he was old enough to make the legal descision to do so.
He had his own two story cabin on the mountain, he helped me fall the trees and make the lumber for it, and until he returned I never took his stuff out of that cabin, I just could not bear to do that.
He was always a very level headed child, very conscientious and giving to others, always volenteering for mentor, drug awareness and law enforcement volenteer programs.
He now has a new 2 story house and a new car from money he saved while in the USMC and is going to college to be a nurse and getting straight A’s, quite a acomplishment considering he has dyslexia, all the time while working full time in hospital.
The experience of being an adoptive parent is by far the most rewarding experience I have ever had.
Regards,
Roachcreek
That is one heck of a rifle RC
never been real crazy about the hammerless Sharps but can respect the time and money that went into that build and can’t deny the much faster lock time.
Here is one you might enjoy
original Alexander Henry tiger gun in .450 3.25″ Black Powder Express
been thinking on having the rifle reworked a bit
basic job, recase, new action pins and some stock work
bore is very clean in it and yes that short length is factory but the muzzle blast is pretty hairy
It’s the Henry rifling down the bore of course
and no guys, this is NOT a “left handed” rifle…Henry initially designed his single shot with a left side lock as he felt it was faster for a right hander to cock a left side hammer than the right side mounted ones, think where your thumb is. He was correct but by the 1870s right side locks were a matter of convention carried over from the muzzle loading era.
Beautiful firearm! Bet it uses some BIG pellets, huh? My fav part of the story is your passing it on to your Son. I commend you. Thank him for his service, my Friend.
Damn RC, what a stunning gun man. You definitely have some nice gear. You and your son are both lucky to have each other.
Thanx for the pics and than for that story.
Jerry,
Yes and at one time I even had an engraved gold and silver inlaid Colt SAA.
Had carved ivory grips too, but not pearl, only pimps have pearl grips. 😆
I did have a Drilling with a buffalo horn butplate, does that count?
Regards,
Roachcreek
Very nice rifle.
So, case hardened finish, engraving, fancy repro scope, fancy barrels and you give me shit for some inlaid elk antler? 😆
That is a real beauty. I have a soft spot for older Sharps rifles, especially Schuetzens.
Charlie,
Thanks for sharing this story. And what an honor that must have been for you to hand him such a beautiful rifle and for him to receive such a gift from a great father! God bless you!
p.s. thanks for the package you sent. Can’t wait to get the rings mounted…
Joe
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Lol, post deleted….
Damn I’m funny when I’m drunk…
😆 😉