By Mike Nesbitt
Contributing Editor
Lyman is offering something really good for black powder cartridge rifle shooting, a very new Sharps Model 1877 rifle and this one is really quite special. In fact, this rifle is more than good enough that it should help introduce some new shooters to blackpowder cartridge shooting. Let’s hope so and it if does, those new shooters will be off to a very good start.
It is a good copy or rendition of the old Sharps Model of 1877. However, Lyman’s origin goes back to 1878 and that is where they (Lyman) found the reason to call this rifle their Model of 1878. Yes, the 1878 Sharps Borchardt is a totally different rifle but right now we’re talking about the Lyman Model of 1878, which is a copy of the 1877 Sharps.
Here’s a general description; it is made by Pedersoli in .45/70 caliber and the barrel has a rate of twist for one turn every 18 inches. That barrel is round and 30 inches long. The rifle comes with a Lyman covered front sight with changeable apertures and a Lyman 2A tang sight on the wrist. It is stocked in very select walnut which is checkered quite nicely and the forearm has a very attractive ebony tip. The receiver and buttplate are finished with a gray color and the receiver is tastefully engraved with Lyman’s name, “Model Of 1878,” and their logo on the buttplate.
Lyman lists the weight of this new rifle at 9 pounds and this particular one was accurately weighed at an even 9½ pounds.
That weight is historically significant because the original Model 1877 Sharps was developed to be lighter than the Model 1874. Rules for rifles used in Creedmoor competition limited the total weight of the rifle at no more than an even 10 pounds. The action on the ’74 was heavy enough that some rather lightweight barrels had to be used in order to stay under the 10 pound limit. So, some of the “extra” metal was removed from the lock plate and other areas of the ’74 action and the Model of 1877 was created. Lyman’s Model of 1878 fits that weight class very well.
Part of the lighter lock for the 1877s was a lighter weight hammer. That lighter hammer is duplicated very well on the Lyman Model of 1878. Shooters will quickly see that the hammer on this new rifle has a rather high half-cock position and that suggests these locks use the same spacing for notches on the tumbler as percussion guns. No problem there as long as the shooter realizes the hammer rests “high” on half-cock.
Another of the rules about rifles used in international competition during the 1870s was that those rifles had to be equipped with just a single, simple trigger. On this note Lyman is not following those old rules. We can quickly forgive them on this one because I’d rather shoot with the double set triggers as Lyman has provided and let me say, they work very well.
Some more comments must be said about the wood on this new Lyman single shot rifle. The stock wood is simply outstanding and it must be praised for both its fit with the metal of the rifle and for its fit to the shoulder of the shooter. It has a length of pull of 14 inches and the fit to the shoulder is so nice that the rifle is a real pleasure to shoot. The pistol grip stock is very comfortable to hold and the forearm must be appropriately complimented too.
While the original 1877 Sharps rifles were made specifically for long range shooting, this new Lyman Model of 1878 differs in two ways. First of all, the Sharps 1877s were chambered for either the .45-2.4” case or the .45-2.6” case, both of which were loaded with 100 grains of powder under their 500 or 550 grain paper patched bullets. Loads like that can be rather “attention getting” to the shoulder in a rifle that weighs less than 10 pounds and for sporting purposes Lyman’s choice of chambering the very popular .45-70 is very welcome. The other difference is found in the sights, particularly the rear sight. The original Sharps Model of 1877 was fitted with long range sights, necessary for 1000 yard shooting, while the new Lyman is equipped with a short range sporting tang sight. These two differences are both very practical changes and they are only being pointed out as a note on the history of the old Sharps 1877.
The shooting with this new rifle was just as good as you might expect and all of the shooting done for this review was while using black powder loadings. There were three loadings used and each of those will be given a good look. In general, this rifle shot very well and its functioning was just perfect, from the rifle’s set triggers to the sporting tang sight.
First to be tried were some “carbine loads” which used 55 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F under a 395 grain bullet, from Lyman’s mould #457124. This load produced an average of 1,245 feet per second out of the Lyman’s 30” barrel. It is interesting to note that the 55 grains of Olde Eynsford gave an extreme spread in velocities of only 13 feet per second over the five shots recorded. Yes, that is a rather small sample but the consistency in velocities is still worthy of being mentioned. These shot very well, particularly at 50 yards.
Next we tried a bullet that was designed for long range silhouette shooting, Lyman’s #457658; a pointed plain base bullet listed as weighing 480 grains. These were loaded over 65 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F and they crossed the chronograph at an average of 1248 feet per second. Again the extreme spread of the velocities was very small, only 11 feet per second over the five shots recorded. More shooting needs to be done to form a better base for real definite conclusions but at this time the heavier pointed bullet looks like it will be the real performer in this rifle, good enough to be a true competitor.
One other load was tried in the new Lyman and this one again is for single shots only. That was a copy of the old Sharps .45/75/400 load using 75 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F under a 400 grain paper patched bullet. This load has “hunting” written all over it and the single load that was chronographed crossed the screens at 1,396 feet per second.
All of the shooting with the new Lyman Model 1878 went very well and, of course, there is still a lot of shooting yet to do. For shooters interested in a Sharps style rifle, this is a very good gun to have. It has a list price of $1,995 and for more information simply contact Lyman Products Corporation, 475 Smith St., Dept. TGM, Middletown, CT 06457; phone: 860-632-2020; online: lymanproducts.com.
