I've wanted a .50-70 carbine for some time, but as I focus on military rifles, its always been a particular .50-70, the Post war Sharps conversion. This constituted the vast majority of .50-70 carbines issued, supplemented by a few trials versions of the various marks of Trapdoor.
Originals I can neither afford, nor wish to abuse. This leaves replicas. Much as I love the Montana riflemakers, they don't make what I want right now. (Should they in the future, I will get in line)
The only maker of what I want, in the caliber I want, Is Chiappa/Armi Sport. And even this is spotty. So when one popped up in Buds Gun Shop online, at a very reasonable price, I plunked down the plastic as soon as my Christmas money cleared the bank. (fwiw, I was actually tracking 6 sites, with Buds having the best price. As soon as I bought it, they all listed out of stock. Seems they were all selling the same carbine) My Chiappa Spencer has given good service, so I'm willing to try it.
It arrived this last friday. Impressions: Its a solid chunk, a good 1.5 lbs heavier than my .45 TD carbine. I would guess most of that is in the barrel. This likely accounts for most of the impression of gentle recoil the 50 Gov gives. It balances well between the hands, and carrys lighter than it weighs, thanks to its compact length.
Wood to metal is very good! Not as organic as a Shiloh, but better than most any mass produced wood stocked rifle I've handled lately. Case hardening is very attractive. Not sure if it's true case hardening or a chemical treatment, but it is well done. Nice straight grained american walnut, oil finished, not the reddish stain that sometimes afflicts Italian guns. Small parts look like castings, big parts, forgings. The firing pin is a 2 piece unit, with a separate small diameter pin, well supported. I like this design, should reduce if not eliminate pin breakage. The barrel is 6 groove, .510 diameter. That is interesting to me, the orginal Sharps Percussion barrels were 6 groove, .54, as opposed to the 3 groove .515 nominal Springfield supplied liners. The lockplate vaguely suggests the Lawerance priming system, which is as much as any maker does. All the proper patent stampings are there, including the Lawerence patent. The top of the barrel between the action and sight is marked "New Model 1863". Dark even blueing.
One jarring thing: The hammer is wrong! It is simply the Percussion hammer with the nose filled in. The orginal was a unique piece that split the difference between the Percussion and later Cartridge designed guns. This one is too tall, too long, and hits the striker at an awkward seeming angle. It works fine, but someone cheaped out here, a few bucks more would have looked a lot better IMHO. Butchs Antique Gun Parts has original Sharps Conversion hammers, ($20!) my calipers tells me it should work, so one is ordered, and will be sent off for polishing and case hardening. Another cheap feature is the striker is the same part number as Chiappa's M1874, thus is shorter vertically than the original. Again, works fine, but c'mon! The striker is exposed at the back of the breechblock, this is correct for conversions, although the Italians also incorrectly use this block on the 74s. The barrel band was just a tad loose, a playing card shim fixed that. I end up doing that to a lot of Military barrel bands.
The Trigger breaks at just over 5 lbs. Just a touch of creep, fine for a military arm. The tumbler does have a fly, works quite well.
Midway just down the road provided Starline brass, and a Lee 515-450 mold. Unsized at .514 with my alloy, loaded over 65
grains OE 3f, down a 30" drop tube. No wad, light compression, OAL 2.20". Got off work at 1630, sun sets at 1700. A quick run out to the farm gave me just enough light to get off 5 rounds at 50 yards. Nice group low centered on an 8" paper plate, just under 2". With no load development, this is acceptable right off the bat for GAF skirmish work. (Finally a use for my formerly useless Lyman .56/50 dies!)
A nice feature is a tall front blade, secured to the sight base with 2 tiny roll pins. The Lawerence rear sight is ok for skirmish work, and this one has enough tension on the ladder slide to hold under recoil. It is drilled and tapped for a tang sight, I can see a Marbles going on here for serious down range work.
At half the price of the lowest price Montana 1874, this seems a good gun for GAF work in the appropriate time period. Its a natural platform for the Grand Old .50-70. We'll see how it holds up.