The Goose
NES Member
I have been working up this round for almost 2 years now. You might say it is a passion of mine. For those not familiar with the 50/90 it was introduced in 1872 by the Sharps Rifle Co. It was created for one purpose only, to kill buffalo. It was never a target round and had little appeal to the sportsman hunter, it was the tool of the professional hide hunter. It was the "Big Fifty" and the choice of noted hunters such as J. Wright Mooar, Jim White and Billy Dixon. It was also the round that Billy Dixon used at the Battle of Adobe Walls to shoot an Indian off of his horse at over 1500 yards. It was usually referred to as the .50 2 1/2" and was loaded with 100 grains or more of black powder, the term 50/90 came much later. It is a big honkin' round with authority at both ends, it hits hard going forward and back.
About 2 years ago I acquired a Pedersoli Quigley model Sharps. It it has a 34" barrel and I replaced the factory sights with a Montana Vintage Arms midrange Soule rear tang sight and a Kelly globe front sight with a spirit level. I got my hands on 20 pieces of brass and locally the only bullet I could find was some 425 gr bullets meant for the 50/70 round, I loaded them up with some smokeless 5744 powder. The results were abysmal. I could barely get on the paper at 50 yards. I was discouraged. I started doing some reading; Paul Mathews, Mike Venturino, Steve Garbe etc and began experimenting with black powder. I also got into bullet casting. I experimented with different powders, bullets, lubes, primers and so on. Always I tried to change only one thing at a time. Sometimes I got dome decent results and other times I was shooting 10" groups at 100 yards. There are just so many variables involved with loading and shooting the BPCR
Yesterday I was at the range and had the best session I have ever had. I may be getting close finally (to what I have no clue). The best bullet I have found so far, for my rifle is a 700 gr. roundnose designed by Dave Higgenbotham of Lone Star Rifle co. in Conroe, Texas, the mold is made by NEI. He calls it his "buffalo bullet" and references loading it over 100 grs of 2F. I cast this bullet from a 20:1 alloy and use SPG lube. It is sized to .512 on a Lyman sizer. The brass is Starline and the primer is Winchester Magnum Large Rifle. I use Swiss 1.5 powder, 95 grs. weighed exactly on a scale for consistency then dropped down a 24" drop tube then a Walters .060 vegetable fiber wad and a slight compression on the load.
Below is one of my targets from yesterday. The single hole to the lower right is a fouling shot from a clean and cold barrel, then 10 consecutive shots with 3 breaths through a blow tube between each shot. (at 100 yards) Not bad for for a 139 year old round loaded with black powder from an equally old rifle design with iron sights.
The round
and the rifle
About 2 years ago I acquired a Pedersoli Quigley model Sharps. It it has a 34" barrel and I replaced the factory sights with a Montana Vintage Arms midrange Soule rear tang sight and a Kelly globe front sight with a spirit level. I got my hands on 20 pieces of brass and locally the only bullet I could find was some 425 gr bullets meant for the 50/70 round, I loaded them up with some smokeless 5744 powder. The results were abysmal. I could barely get on the paper at 50 yards. I was discouraged. I started doing some reading; Paul Mathews, Mike Venturino, Steve Garbe etc and began experimenting with black powder. I also got into bullet casting. I experimented with different powders, bullets, lubes, primers and so on. Always I tried to change only one thing at a time. Sometimes I got dome decent results and other times I was shooting 10" groups at 100 yards. There are just so many variables involved with loading and shooting the BPCR
Yesterday I was at the range and had the best session I have ever had. I may be getting close finally (to what I have no clue). The best bullet I have found so far, for my rifle is a 700 gr. roundnose designed by Dave Higgenbotham of Lone Star Rifle co. in Conroe, Texas, the mold is made by NEI. He calls it his "buffalo bullet" and references loading it over 100 grs of 2F. I cast this bullet from a 20:1 alloy and use SPG lube. It is sized to .512 on a Lyman sizer. The brass is Starline and the primer is Winchester Magnum Large Rifle. I use Swiss 1.5 powder, 95 grs. weighed exactly on a scale for consistency then dropped down a 24" drop tube then a Walters .060 vegetable fiber wad and a slight compression on the load.
Below is one of my targets from yesterday. The single hole to the lower right is a fouling shot from a clean and cold barrel, then 10 consecutive shots with 3 breaths through a blow tube between each shot. (at 100 yards) Not bad for for a 139 year old round loaded with black powder from an equally old rifle design with iron sights.
The round
and the rifle
Last edited:
