Quigley Rifle?

[Henry T Harrison]

If you are looking for a "Heritage" rifle, look into the Trapdoor Springfield.

Not as pretty, not as accurate at distance but can be had as an original for a lot less money that the reproduction Sharps style of gun.

Certainly will shoot good enough for most of the SASS Long Range side matches. Around here that means 100 to 300 yards. I'd habve to drive 3 or more hours to find a 1000 yard range.

 

I looked at a really nice one at a gun show this weeked for $800, didn't have $800 sadly

[Cpt Dan Blodgett, SASS #75655]

I shoot a remington rolling block Navy Arms (Pedersoli) with a heavy 26 inch barrel and Armi Sports (Chiappa) Sharps with a 32 inch barrel. Some of the bullets that shoot just fine out of the shorter barrel do not do very well out of the longer 32 inch barreled Sharps. This generally has to do with the amount of lube the bullet carries. Adding a lube cookie under those bullets helps a lot. With a 34 inch barrel more lube will be needed than the amount required to just get the job done with a 32 inch barrel.

 

The joys of black powder are figuring out what bullet, what powder, what lube, how much lube, what patch material, what patch thickness, what kind of powder, how heavy a charge, what compression and on and on.

 

If you are only shooting a few hundred yards, at big enough targets that sum minute of angle load is not required. At long ranges say 500 to 1000 yards very accurate loads in the 1 minute of angle range certainly help.

 

Once you get the gun shooting exactly how you like it, the time will have come to learn the voodoo of reading mirage and doping the wind.

 

It really is a fun, rewarding, challenging and sometimes very frustrating journey.