50 http://www.riflemagazine.com Rifle 305start was rocky. By 1983 however,
the firm was prosperous enough
to move to Big Timber, Montana,
where it still resides as Shiloh
Rifle Manufacturing.
In its New York years Shiloh
jobbed out much of its rifles’ parts
such as small screws, barrels and
stocks. Investment casting of re-
ceivers and small parts was done
by other outfits. Things changed
in Montana. Not to get into a full
history of the company, Shiloh
now has state-of-the-art CNC ma-
chinery, expert stock-fitters, and
it produces match quality barrels
for all its rifles. A Montana family,
Robert, Phyllis, Kirk and Lucinda
Bryan, bought Shiloh in 1991. Be-
sides modernizing their rifle man-
ufacturing, they built the Boulder
River Foundry next door to the ri-
fle plant so all investment casting
is done right in Big Timber.
Late in 2018, there came from
Shiloh another connection (of
sorts) to the Creedmoor range
on Long Island. It was the first of
the company’s new Model 1877
Sharps. Because Shiloh has been
consistently back-ordered on
Model 1874s anywhere from one
to five years, development of the
new rifle was slow. The only inter-
changeable parts between ’74s and
’77s are some screws, buttplates,
barrels and breechblocks.
In its 2019 catalog, the new rifle
is billed as the Shiloh English
Rifle. Also, it comes in No. 1 and
No. 2 grades, the primary differ-
ence being the first has a pistol-grip stock and the second a
straight grip. However, Shiloh has
not tried to lock buyers into strict
’77 parameters. Nontraditional
options include half-round/half-
octagonal and full-octagonal bar-
rels along with regular round
barrels. These new ’77s can have
barrels from 26 to 34 inches in 2-
inch increments. Also, double-set
triggers are available.
Traditional options include the
“Rigby Flat” atop barrels, side pan-
els on forearms and ebony inlays
in the forearm schnabel and pis-
tol grip. American black walnut
is standard, but options include
semi-fancy, fancy and presenta-
tion grade. Semi-buckhorn rear
and blade front sights can be
chosen for those shooters who
will hunt more than target shoot.
Shiloh stocks Montana Vintage
Arms match front and rear sights
for target competitors. Checkeringis also a popular option. Receiver
finish options include standard
color case hardening or “pack
hardening,” as was used on orig-
inal Sharps rifles.
As noted, original Model 1877s
were available chambered only
for .45 2.40-inch and .45 2.60-inch
cases. Besides those, two new
Model 1877s can be had for eight
more cartridges ranging from
.38-55 through a variety of .40s
in both straight and bottleneck
shapes, and of course the .45-70.
When production of the new
rifle was announced, friend Kirk
Stovall of Bozeman, Montana, was
one of the first to put his name on
the list. It took a while, but within
days of Montana’s 2018 general
hunting season, Kirk’s brand-new
Model 1877 No. 1 was ready, and
it’s a beauty. Kirk stuck to tradi-
tion by getting the 32-inch full
round barrel, “Rigby Flat” atop
the barrel and raised panels in the
stock forearm. His wood choice
was fancy American Black Walnut.
The barrel was matte blue, and
the entire action was color case
hardened by the pack method.
With due consideration, he chose
.45-70. Although Kirk is one of the
most avid and successful hunters
I’ve ever known, instead of putting
open sights on such an exquisite
rifle he had Shiloh mount com-
petition-grade sights. At front isThis close up of the Shiloh Model 1877 Sharps shows its much smaller lockplate
compared to those on Model 1874s.The original Model 1877 Sharps had a “Rigby Flat”
machined as part of the round barrel. Shiloh
offers this feature as an option.Shiloh
Model 1877