Rifle Magazine – July-August 2019

July-August 2019 http://www.riflemagazine.com 47

As might be obvious by the versions named above,
the company tried to please everyone in need of a
single-shot rifle. Four bore sizes were cataloged at one
time or another: .40, .44, .45 and .50. Then they were
chambered for many different cartridges collectively
ranging in length from 1^11 ⁄ 16 to 2^7 ⁄ 8 inches. Some .40s
and .44s were bottlenecked or straight in shape, but
all .45s and .50s featured straight cases.
Starting in 1871, a shooting competition began in
which the participants were far from rough-cut fron-
tiersmen. They were the bowler-hatted, three-piece-

suited crowd of the northeast. This sport consisted

of flinging bullets from single-shot rifles at targets

placed 800, 900 and 1,000 yards. The initial matches

were held on New York’s Long Island at a range named

Creedmoor, and that name caught and stuck to long-

range rifle events, even to this day. Americans and

the British started challenging one another, with the

former favoring cartridge rifles and the latter muz-

zleloaders. That international rivalry made the new

shooting sport headline worthy.

A then-new organization, The National Rifle Associ-

Mike tested the new Model 1877 .45-70 with loads that included

a (1) Lyman 457124 400-grain RN seated deeply for a reduced

powder charge, (2) Black Hills 405 “Cowboy” factory load,

(3) Lyman 457193 420 FN, (4) Steve Brooks 555 RN and a

(5) Steve Brooks 560-grain Creedmoor bullet.

1 2 3 4 5

© 2019 Photo Courtesy Kirk Stovall

New production Model 1877

Sharps rifles were introduced

by Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing

Company in late 2018.