Anyone use a rifle in 45-90

[Klauss]

Son is turning 18 in a few months and is looking to purchase a Sharps rifle from Csharps or Shiloh Sharps

Our debate is between 45-70 and 45-90. I am sticking to 45-70 while he is more interested In 45-90

For practical purposes it’s easier for us to find 45-70, neither of us reload and he already had a lever in 45-70.

He’s read about 45-90 and it’s advantages it has a longer ranges vs 45-70 and is willing to reload for it when he can get the reloading equipment when he has the means to purchase it, until then he would shoot the very limited selection of factory.

Is there anything we are missing from our perspective considerations?

[Ashhoe]

The internet says you can shoot 45-70 in a 45-90 rifle as long as the feeding works, in a Sharps i assume it'd be perfect.
I might look for a 45-90 now.

[GimpyPaw]

My son has a Sharps and he picked 45/70 because he already has a Marlin lever action in 45/70 and ammo is available. If you can shoot 45/70 in a 45/90 chamber then this might seem like a good idea. I’m going to play Devils Advocate on it.

1) What is the main advantage of a 45/90? I’m guessing higher velocity? How much higher? What’s the gain?

2) Reloading ain’t cheap and it takes more time than you think. Press, dies, powder hopper, scale, those are the bare minimum. Those will produce factory like results. You want precision you need to add run out guage, comparitor, annealer, powder trickler, and upgrade the scale. Price out just the basics, then price out powder, primers, and bullets. See how many rounds you will need to shoot before you ever break even.

Now remind yourself that it’s a specialty gun. Fun to shoot, great for fun times and bragging rights, but they tend to be more of a safe queen. It’s a gun that honestly needs 300 to 800 yards just to challenge it’s abilities. How often are you going to get that opportunity?

3) Go back to the first question, how much better is the 45/90 over the 45/70? You planning on a lot of long range hits on bison? If you’re punching paper or ringing steel the 45/70 can do everything the 90 will do with a lot less pain in the process and / or costs. The 45/70 will drop any animal on the North American continent. Do you need a few extra fps. If you do, why not buy some hotter loads from Buffalo Bore for the 45/70? Buffalo Bore has a trapdoor safe load using 405 gn at 1300 fps.

4) Shooting a shorter cartridge in a longer chamber does have downsides. There’s more jump to the lands, which can be a negative on accuracy. Not always, but it’s something to be aware of. There’s also carbon buildup. I was shooting 38 spl in my 357 mag for a while. I noticed that a few hundred rounds of 38 spl would leave enough carbon on the cylinders that it was then difficult to chamber 357 mag. Had to thoroughly clean before I could swap. Not super annoying, but be aware of it before you assume it’s all that convenient.

[Klauss]

From my understanding it’s shoots a bit flatter at longer ranges, and if you are into competitive shooting it’s the better choice overall.

Getting into reloading is definitely expensive on the front end to get set up. The one benefit of getting into it young is long term ( assuming he sticks with it) it could be cheaper especially if he branches out to other calibers.

While he enjoys modern firearms to an extent , he really prefers ones from late 1800’s to early 1900’s plus BP. He jokes about getting a Handgonne if he ever gets the land to shoot it.

Unfortunately the land to shoot is the issue, with a couple of exceptions we are pretty much limited to 100 yard public ranges which I hate unless we make a day trip out of it.

He does plan on moving out west in the next few years where there are more opportunities to shoot longer range. One of his dreams is to try the Quigly shoot in Montana.

I’m definitely for him getting it in 45-70, he already has a lever in it and to me it makes more sense.

This is simply one of the things he wants before he has to start worrying about bills and family and the other joys of adulthood that might keep him from buying one when he’s older.

Who made your sons Sharps? Just curious.

[GimpyPaw]

He says it was made by I.A.B., but they are out of business now