Black Powder Cartridge Fall 2020

It surely seems that lately the news has been comprised of more than enough negative stories. These are “interesting times” to be sure and one has to look hard to see any bright spots in current events. Of course, the media focuses on the sensational news occurring every day; positive developments rarely make it to the broadcasts of many “news” outlets. I’m using the word “news” loosely, as a good portion to what we listen to as news, is simply propaganda, or termed more correctly, “perception influencing.” ...Read More >

Our cover for this issue comes to us from Ron Paxton, friend and associate of William “Bill” Mapoles. Bill has written an exceptional article on the real-life accuracy of the Sharps New Model 1859 rifle using linen and paper cartridges. The rifle pictured on the cover is one of the 2,000 rifles specially produced for “Berdan’s Sharpshooters” of Civil War fame. Bill has exploded a few myths surrounding the ammunition for the early-day Sharps and it makes for especially interesting reading. ...Read More >

Standout offhand riflemen of the Schuetzen heyday came and went. Over time, each progressed to the top of their game and enjoyed a measure of notoriety, with some remaining in the limelight longer than others. A very few are remembered as the best of them, and in certain small circles, are household names yet. Among the “lesser-knowns” qualifying to be included in this class was New Jersey’s Michael Dorrler. Born in Germany in 1850, Dorrler immigrated to the U.S., landing in New York City when he was eight years old. When he was 26, he was working as a bookbinder and Annie Burns became his bride in 1879. Son George came along a year later. ...Read More >

The 2020 Wyoming State BPTR Mid-Range Championship saw some unique challenges this year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the match itself was an on-again/off-again event. It was finally decided at the last moment (about two weeks before) to hold the match as planned. There were a lot of last minute arrangements that needed to be accomplished such as getting the awards completed in time and obtaining all of the cleaning and sanitizing supplies that are necessary to follow COVID-19 guidelines for a gathering of more than 10 people.  ...Read More >

Back in early 1982, I was more than a little excited when my new Shiloh Sharps Model 1874 rifle arrived. It had been manufactured by the “Shiloh Rifle Mfg. Co., Farmingdale, N.Y.” and bore the “Old Reliable” stamp on its barrel. Just as I had ordered, my new rifle was their No. 1 Deluxe Sporter Model, with a 30-inch octagon barrel, weighing 10½ pounds, and was chambered for the .45-110 27⁄8-inch cartridge. I had purchased the rifle for hunting – as I had specified – and it came fitted with the basic Shiloh sporting tang sight and blade front sight. ...Read More >

In a lifetime of reading gun books and magazines, I have never seen a test of linen cartridges, nor have I ever seen an accuracy test of an original New Model 1859 Sharps rifle. The question I will answer is, “How accurate were they?” Precision accuracy tests as we know them today, were simply not done by the government back then. We also know that linen cartridges were widely used in the Civil War, and that this type of rifle was used by Berdan’s Sharpshooters, among others. Suffice it to say that Berdan’s men killed more Confederates than any other regiment in the Union Army, mostly using linen cartridges, so let’s see how well their rifles actually performed. ...Read More >

We are all aware of the modern technology to quantify gunpowder performance such as chronographs and pressure transducers, but have you ever thought about how black powder performance and quality control were measured before our current technology was available? This article is about a device called the “eprouvette” which, literally translated from French, means “test tube,” but in relation to firearms it is also simply referred to as a “powder tester.” Testing devices in many forms for measuring the strength of black powder were in use from the late 1500s until the mid -1800s. ...Read More >

The Winchester Model 1885 Single Shot was the work of two late nineteenth-century firearms geniuses. John M. Browning was the initial designer and William Mason redesigned Browning’s patent to make it more easily manufactured by Winchester’s mass production methods. It was a resounding success as the Model 1885 was manufactured from 1885 through 1920, producing approximately 140,000 rifles. ...Read More >

I am sure you probably know guys that can’t just leave something well enough alone; they have to “improve” whatever they are interested in, to the point that the project is basically ruined. Unfortunately, I have to admit to being amongst that crowd, at least part of the time. In about 50 percent of my personal gunsmithing projects, I’m divided between those improvements that actually do show some benefit, and those that are, well, are a bit lacking. I did, however, recently find something that showed a large improvement in accuracy and is also relatively simple to do. ...Read More >

Steve Anderson has been at it again and is now offering a premium version of his Wyoming Sight Drifter. The original Wyoming Sight Drifter came on the market in late 2016. It is a rather wondrous little tool that should be in every rifleman’s toolbox and gunroom. In my opinion, the Drifter replaces a hammer and punch as being the best way to adjust dovetailed sights, as well as move stubborn pins. ...Read More >