A friend buys a new in box Sharps 45/70, which I think was $2750. We go to shoot it last weekend and it is shaving brass off of the back of the case and primer as you close the action. We tried our reloads with WW brass, factory Winchester ammo and Hornady factory ammo. All shaved the brass.

So he calls Sharps and they say cannot be the rifle must be bad brass. They suggest he file or sand down the brass until it stops shaving.

What do you think?

I think they are goofy.

BigB

They sure sound goofy to me too.
The rim recess of the ejector needs to be deepened by a few thou.
They just screwed up the finish on that part, or maybe the entire chamber rim recess?

All that brass cannot be out of spec!

Shiloh Sharps? C. Sharps? Pedersoli Sharps? Armi Sport Sharps? IAB Sharps? Axtell Sharps? What Sharps? I can't imagine Kirk at Shiloh giving that response.

Bill,

Sorry, C. Sharps is who made the gun.

BigB

RIP is correct. Either the extractor or the chamber recess is not cut properly. C. Sharps is giving you the run around. The rifle should accept standard brass without modification, period.

Remove the extractor and see if a round will chamber without it. If it will, the extractor is the culprit, and a couple of strokes with a Swiss file on the offending part will solve the problem. If a round still will not chamber properly, then the chamber recess AND EXTRACTOR will have to be recut with a chamber reamer.

You will have a couple hundred bucks tied up in shipping getting the rifle back to C. Sharps and home again. C. Sharps will give you a lot of flack about fixing it, as they aren't exactly known for good customer service. Your best bet is to find a good gunsmith that can take care of it--it will be simpler and cheaper in the long run.

Both Shilohs and C Sharps are set with very tight head space. That and different brands of cases can have rims running from .061 to .067" can cause problems. My 45-70 is very picky on what it will accept. My 40-90 SBN (made from Starline 45-2.6) will hang up the majority of the time unless the rims are thinned. Sucks to spend money on an alrady expensive rifle but increasing the head space on the rifle is the easiest fix.

If its shaving Brass, Where is the sharp edge? Is it a bushed firing pin? Breech block. Where is it. Sometimes a Burr will cause this and a simple stone or dremel polishing fixes the problem.-Rob

I have several Shiloh's, a CPA, an Axtell,and have owned three of the early Pedersoli/Dixie's. None have had the problem you describe. C. Sharps, on the other hand, has some QC issues now and then. I'd send it back and call John Schofstall right after it went out.

Rich

Rob, On a Sharps it's not that simple. The firing pin is not bushed. It comes out through the breech block. The breech block is a falling block, and the cartridge case bears directly on it. The breech block is case hardened, and you cannot stone the face of the breech block to adjust the head space without removing enough metal to remove the cased surface which provides the hardness needed for wear resistance.

A Sharps is typically set up for .001-.003 clearance on headspace, and this is achieved by the rim recess being cut to the proper depth when the barrel is chambered.

We took the rifle down to Harry McGowen today and the rifle did not want to close on a go gauge. Harry will fix it as the owner did not want to send it back to C. Sharps. I guess that is better than sanding the brass.

BigB

$2750 new and they won't fix a manufacturing defect?

That's certainly interesting customer service.

quote:

Originally posted by BigB:
We took the rifle down to Harry McGowen today and the rifle did not want to close on a go gauge. Harry will fix it as the owner did not want to send it back to C. Sharps. I guess that is better than sanding the brass.

BigB

BigB ..you might ask Harry McGowen to state on his repair invoice the the make,model and serial# and repairs made then send a copy to CSharps just so they know that just maybe they should have fixed that rifle before it left their factory...
Might help someone else out in the future...
Just a thought..

Just for giggles, I would request reimbursement of the gunsmithing charge too!

To be fair: I just called John and told him about this. His response was to have you call him at 1-406-932-4353 and make arrangements to ship the rifle and a couple of pieces of brass that are shaving back to them. He said they will fix it and get it back to you asap.

Rich

Rich,

Thanks for the effort but by the time shipping is paid, and we pay an FFL to get it back it is less expensive to have Harry fix it. My buddy purchased the gun from an out of state dealer and had it shipped here. All that plus the attitude of C. Sharps when he called has left him not wanting to do any more business with them. I will give him the number but doubt he will call.

By the way the dealer where he bought it offered to pay for the repair. Stand up dealer I think.

Thanks

BigB

Ejector, extractor, whatever ... chambered too shallow ... whatever ... won't take much to fix.
A few very light hand twists of a reamer with some cutting oil on it ought to do it.
Glad to hear Harry McGowen is still at it.
He had sand enough to make .395 barrels.
I too would rather have Good Ol' Harry fix it than ship it back to Negligence, Inc.

RIPersonally, I'll stick to playing Quigley Down Under with a Ruger No.1 with ejector, and Bell & Carlson synthetic stock.
A 450 NE 3.25" is an awful lot like a 450/120/500, and can be loaded down to those slowpoke levels.

Sharpsguy- I know how a sharps action works. I own 5 originals and 2 repros. I was referring to the possibility of a Burr on the firing pin hole in the breech face. Should be a easy fix irregardless.-Rob

you can't play Quigley with a hammerless rifle. It would be like doing it wearing a dress.

Rich
Sharps 74 owner

Rich,
Actually, I do not play Quigley.
I was just playing with you.
When I play cowboy, I use a "Mare's Laig" like Josh Randall.
Gotta "smoke brown" Stetson "Revenger" too.
My best X-mas present ever was a plastic sawed-off Winchester '92 when I was 6 years old.
I popped a lot of caps in that baby!
... And my Ruger No.1 in 500 A-Square will do more than a "Quigley" ever could, no miniskirt nor panty hose required.

The results justify the means.