# Do/Did any U watch a British TV show called Sharpes Rifles?



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

It is set during the Napolianic wars in Spain. Sharps squad has rifles as opposed to the army having muskets. To load, Sharpe shows spitting a ball down the rifle, then the powder, thump the butt on the ground to seat iit, pour some powder onto the flash pan cock and fire.
I have a 50 cal Hawkin that Its all I can do to get a bullet down the bore. Is/was there a way to do as the show suggests?


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I didn't watch it but I am familiar with this type of loading.

they would drop powder , bump on the ground ,drop ball possibly bump again, then keep muzzle up and prime pan , the cokk and fire , leveling the muzzle on the target as they then squeeze off the round.

there was an Indian fighter who would wear his powder flask around his neck , load his cheek up with round balls and carried a muzzle loading pistol. he could measure a powder charge drop it strait out of the flask into the muzzle ( do not do this very dangerous) then spit a ball down the muzzle , prime and fire all while riding his horse.

*in both of these loading types you must ask one question before you start , What is more likely to kill you the gun from miss loading or the enemy shooting at you? ONLY if the enemy shooting at you is the answer do you load like this.*

my suggestion for you is for your 50 cal hawkens you buy some .490 round balls and some different thicknesses of cotton cloth if you have a caliper take it with you cloth shopping if that cloth shopping is old cotton shirts in your closet or the fabric store it matters not you are looking for something .010" to .015" you want a patch that when lubed with spit will slide down the bore with a little effort but not so much you pounding it down with your hand generally 0.010 will do this but if you turn the muzzle down and bump the muzzle on a folded up rag on the floor a few times and the ball does not stay seated on the powder you need a thicker patch.

Black powder is an explosive it starts expanding at just a touch over 2000fps when not restricted if it then reaches a barrel obstruction half way down the barrel it has already built pressure and it does bad things. gun go kaboom to pieces!

if the projectile is firmly seated against the powder as it should be then the ball controls the expansion speed of the explosion and is propelled out the muzzle at a velocity less than 2000fps.

the Minnie ball , not really a ball at all but a conical. MInieballs loads similarly to the way your saying they loaded the sharps.

which is pour powder drop mini which is an undersized conical that should just slide down a clean barrel and just need a slight push down a fowled barrel.
the difference being that the Mini has a hollow base the explosion obturates the projectile .technically the meaning of obturate is to obstruct or block , in doing this the gas pressure looks for any way past the obstruction this causes the hollow base to expand the soft lead skirt of the miniball into the rifling making and even better gas seal then pushes the miniball down the bore carrying the fouling from the previous shot out with it. after the first shot or 2 the loading should technically be about the same each time so long as the lube in the lube grooves of the mini ball continues to keep the fouling soft.
these mini balls were widely used in the American Civil war 1861-1865.

a Maxi ball which is basically an over sized mini-ball that may have a flat rather than hollow base this is what we typically use for hunting now .

tight fitting patch and ball , very accurate for distances to about 75-100 yards when the wind and gravity start effecting the low ballistic coefficient projectile.

not as tight of patched round ball still reasonably accurate to around 50 yards but easier to load

you can get too tight of a patch , you want to fill the groove without pounding the ball out of round putting it down the barrel or it doesn't fly as well mashed out of shape

ball with no patch that will just roll down the barrel , loads faster more accurate than a smooth bore but less accurate than a patched ball if it comes off the powder it is dangerous and it can easily do this with no patch to hold it in place

Mini ball faster loading compromise with a bit better accuracy as the skirt expands into the rifling carried greater energy to target also must make sure it is seated on the powder to not be dangerous.

Maxi ball over-sized and you are engraving the rifling into the projectile as you push it down the barrel most accurate when use correctly and carries greater energy to target

modern Sabot , this is a plastic cup that holds a pistol or other modern bullet or even a lead conical but one that is undersized for the bore, the sabot cup separates from the projectile in flight , this gives a better gas seal , greater velocity when used with propellant black powder substitutes and not explosive real black powder. many people use these to shoot game now , they offer a better ballistic coefficient and for some more accuracy but mainly are fro greater velocity when using BP substitutes that are propellants that replicate black powder pressures.

there are also hybrid bullets with gas seals and mid bullet aligning belts like power-belt bullets treat it like a sabot but the seal doesn't leave the projectile


with all of these using real black or sub it is critical that the projectile be touching the powder with no air gap or it is really just a powder charge with a barrel obstruction.

check at the beginning of each day of hunting and a few times turning the day that the projectile has not moved off the charge. if it went down tight it generally will not move but easy to check , when you know you have it loaded down on the powder it is a good idea to scribe a line for loaded with your load on your ram rod so you know when you have it. also scribe a line for empty
the line for empty helps you know it really is empty and not a light load or a ball only.

some subs like to be compressed , some don't.
real black does not need hard compression typically burns better for me if I get the ball on the powder but do not over compress it beyond just making sure it is down on the powder and the powder is pressed slightly together under it . press the projectile on the powder but pounding it down tight not needed.
always do it the same to get the best accuracy.


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Was the indian fighters pistol rifled or smooth bore? I didnt say (They loaded the Sharps). They were using flint lock rifles. 1805. What I have Pete is conical rounds. I went to the biggest gun store, I think, in Tulsa and told them I wanted rounds for a 50 Cal Hakin. What I have is what they gave me. I dont use a patch. No need on a single shot.


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

IF you care too, you can watch the series on U Tubes, Titled, Sharpes Rifles


----------



## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

FarmboyBill said:


> Sharpe shows spitting a ball down the rifle, then the powder


It can't fire if you load it that way.
The powder has to go first.

Then you'd need to use a very loose fitting soft lead ball with no patch.
It's faster but it's far less accurate.

It's also very dangerous to put lead in your mouth.


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Your right Bear. Actually, if they DID do it that way, they wouldn't be more accurate with rifles than they were with smooth bores.


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

do you have a brand or any name on the box of projectiles you have ?

I did a little looking the Napoleonic war was 1803-1815 shortly after our own Revolution.
while Americans and our unique rifle companies were new and showed the french that fought with us how effective they could be I don't see any information on a Sharp's rifled barrel muzzle loader being used by the french not to say they weren't I could have missed it.

Sharpe was a commander in some battles during the Napoleonic war.

but the Arms used seem to have been the French Charelville 1777 and 1800 pattern musket , a smooth bore musket 
on the british side the Brown Bess was still being used European armies with take many more years to come around to Rifled arms , they used Volley fire , when we say " ready ,aim, fire" this is actually quite contemporary. in the American revolutionary war the Americans had Ready arms , take sight , Fire! while the British regulars had no command to aim or take sight ready arms and fire! they believed in volley fire. 
kinda the 18 century Gangsta method of shooting hurl a bunch of lead in a direction hope for a hit 

the lock on the brownbess used a huge pan and flint to get more reliable ignition as such their was a huge flash in the pan not being accustomed to shooting game to eat hitting ones target wasn't as important as it was for the colonists, it was apparently not that uncommon for red coats to turn their head awasy from the flash before touching off a volley. where the colonists with their 46 caliber rifled barrels were quite proficient at taking of game. not all colinists had rifles many had muskets and smaller bore muskets more like a trade rifle lead and powder were primarily imported resources and they had learned to conserve the resource and hut their targets .

the Sharps rifle used by the US was a breach loader and a few decades later.


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

Pete, again I say that I dont think I ever mentioned the Sharps rifle in the op. If I did, I didnt mean to. Yes I know that the brigs turned there heads away from the flash as real aiming wasnt all that important. Come to think on it, They, turning their heads, might have raised their rifles a tad ensuring a miss. The war with old Bonie coencided with their war with us in 1812 1815. As to the rounds I HAD, I just looked and cant find them. I suppose my boy has copped them


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

you are correct I miss read , I should put my readers on when I read some times.


Track of the wolf has many options for ball , mini , maxi for your hawken 50cal


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

So, how can I find him?? and thanks Pete


----------



## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

FarmboyBill said:


> So, how can I find him?? and thanks Pete


https://www.trackofthewolf.com/

he sells molds , cast balls , hornady balls , ball-etts boolits 

the hornady balls are available most at most any gun store they are a swagged ball with no sprue , the hand cast have a sprue that you load up

he also sells 0.10 , 0.15 , 0.18 and 0.20 cotton patch fabric by the half yard or 1 1/2 inch strip


----------



## FarmboyBill (Aug 19, 2005)

I Believe, If I remember correctly, (yeah right) That these I had were Hornady rounds


----------



## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

This is my husband's favourite show. If you read the books there is a lot of detail that is not in the show. If I remember correctly the detail includes a lot about the weaponry. And they are a fantastic read. There are about 24 books by Bernard Cornwell in this series.


----------

