Cody Smith, avid BPCR competitor and the “Main Man” at the Smithmoor Range in Carpenter, Wyoming, sent in a thought-provoking letter that we have included in this issue’s “Letters From Readers” section. He makes the argument that we may have reached the point in the history of BPCR Silhouette that requires a new organization, other than the NRA, to manage the promotion, recordkeeping and running of BPCR Silhouette matches at the national level. It does seem somewhat obvious that the NRA’s interest in BPCR Silhouette has seriously waned and it is doubtful that it will change in the near future. The NRA has many problems to deal with at the moment, most of them self-inflicted, and I have always questioned their dedication to a discipline that wasn’t a huge moneymaker for them. Those of us who participated in NRA BPCR Silhouette from its beginning have, quite frankly, seen this coming for quite some time. ...Read More >

Our cover for this issue has been provided compliments of Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing and Sheryll Garbe. Thanks to Shiloh for making the beautiful firearm and to Sheryll for taking the great photograph to show it off to its best advantage. ...Read More >

Historical narratives tell us that the linen cartridges provided by the Sharps Company were acclaimed by all to be the best available. In our last test of linen cartridges in The Black Powder Cartridge News No. 111 (Fall 2020), we didn’t quite have all the right components available, but it was still a groundbreaking first look and we busted several long-standing myths. Now, we have finally found all the right components to definitively answer the question, “How accurate were they really?” We discovered linen equal to what the Sharps Company contractor was using; plus, we used bullets cast from an original Sharps mould dated 1863. In addition, we used the increased powder charge specified by the Ordnance Department in 1864. To top it all off, we used an original 1863 Sharps carbine in order to test the cartridges in the actual gun they were designed for. As we know, the government accuracy tests in the 1860s were very sketchy; hence the need for a more modern examination here. This is, no doubt, as close as anyone has ever come to duplicating the top-quality Sharps linen cartridges of that era. ...Read More >

In 1875, the Sharps Rifle Company set about to redesign its legendary Model 1874 rifle into a more streamlined and efficient firearm. This was mainly due to the desire to offer the shooting public a rifle that was seen as being more competitive with other designs and specifically in the case of long-range competitions and would allow more weight to be put into the barrel without exceeding the 10-pound limit rule required in Creedmoor matches. Charles Overbaugh, gunsmith, head salesman and shooter for the Sharps Rifle Company was the driving force on this endeavor, and after some various alterations and designs, he came up with the “Overbaugh Long Range” rifle. After a time, the new rifle was simply referred to as the “Model 1877” and was definitely a refined Model 1874, having a much lighter frame, a shotgun-style lock and graceful hammer. ...Read More >