Shooting Whitney Phoenix Rifles in .38 Rim Fire & .40-50 Sharps Bottle Neck

Loading and shooting two different single shot rifles from the 1880s

[@usnchief1339]

Wow, you are so blessed to have such a beautiful collection of firearms! Thank you so much for sharing in your adventure. Have a wonderful day!

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello again Sir, I grew up with the old time guns on the farm as a little kid and after 60 plus years of collecting, I ended up with a few. And they were cheap back in the day. Glad you could come along on the outing. Regards....Doc

[@daveclemons1225]

Great video! thank you for sharing. I love shooting these old guns, makes for great memories as well.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello Dave, Yes, the old guns are great fun and tons of history thrown in the bargain! Thanks for watching, and I invite you to view some of my other antique firearms videos. ...........Doc

[@nilo70]

Very nice presentation of the firing process from start to finish . Thanks Doc !

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Thank you Olin ! ............Doc

[@blackpowderfirearmenthusia3194]

Very good video thank you.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Thank you again Sir, I did have great fun shooting these Whitneys.

[@MrFirmbottom]

1000+ FPS is quite lethal for a little black powder .38

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Yes Sir, I would hate to be on the receiving end of one of the old .38s .......Doc

[@dalemoss4684]

Wow the .40-50 packs a wallop for its day

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi Dale, Thanks for commenting. Yes, it's the most fun way to split firewood !................................Doc

[@justhavingfun675]

Great firearm. I shot one when I was a teenager. I think it was in .45-70. But those early rimfires are interesting. It can be a adventure to reload them, but it is worth it.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

A .45-70 would be great in that gun. Where do you get your rim-fire brass ?

[@justhavingfun675]

@@dr.durellshepard398 I used to get it from Dixie GW. But its no longer available. So I am working with Robertson's Cartridge to have some made. I am having some test pieces made right now.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@justhavingfun675 Well, that's why I asked. I also got them from Dixie years ago. Then I worked with Robertson and Tray the CAD guy, and got jerked around for twelve months and never got any thing ! Hope you have better luck.

[@justhavingfun675]

@@dr.durellshepard398 That's not what I wanted to hear. But your are telling me what happened to you. Thanks for the heads up. I do hope I have better luck. I tried to make my own, with 56-50 starline brass. Others make it look so simple. I made four cases with no luck. Just couldn't get the primer in the right spot.

[@justhavingfun675]

What do you do for 56-50 rimfire?

[@saeedmasouleh2863]

I'm in love with this gun but I don't own it It is great and beautiful Thank you for the beautiful video 👏👏👏 If possible, I would like to know which country this weapon is made in? Is it possible to replace the gun barrel and use 12 gauge?????????

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello, and thank you for your comment. This gun was made in USA, in the state of Connecticut, in the town of New Haven. These guns were made about 1880 and at that time the company offered a 12 gauge shotgun.

[@saeedmasouleh2863]

Hello, good day. I am very interested in old weapons. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Now my information is complete. Thank you and good luck always. ❤️👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹

[@earlgrayteabeard8471]

I know this seems weird to ask, but do you think this could be adapted for a magazine? Like a tube magazine or would it be too complicated due to the breech?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello Earl Sir, A magazine would be very impracticable as the only moving part is the block swinging sideways. It would take a radical redesign and the original arm would be unrecognizable. Regards....doc

[@ifitsfreeitsforme1852]

I have one of these in 45-70 ..never tried shooting it..but it's in good condition . Somebody took the time to keep it clean and oiled so the bore is still very nice. One caveat that folks not too familiar with shooting these old guns need to understand ....NEVER EVER shoot copper jacket bullets , as they accelerate wear and tear on the soft iron barrels. Besides that, they will not expand to fill the rifling ; and that is critical for any accuracy, because the rifling tolerances on these usually runs big...for a reason. You can say I'm full of s--t... I don't care. Use cast lead bullets, with or without paper patches and your antique rifle will thank you for it.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi Craig, .45-70 is a desirable chambering . I totally agree with your comment on jacketed bullets. I'm as old school as you can get, Black Powder and soft alloy lead.

[@ifitsfreeitsforme1852]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Yes sir, I experimented with shooting old cartridge guns years ago and the advice then is still valid today : the powder and bullets should be as close to what was intended to be used in them when they were new. Black powder is stinky and dirty , but you will NEVER suffer an over load with it. And soft lead bullets will never wear out the bore.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@ifitsfreeitsforme1852 Amen Brother ! ....Doc

[@Dimwit_the_last_mountainman]

Your video brought back memories! I used to own a beatiful Whitney Phoenix in 45-70. I sold it several years ago, an I don't have a video with it. But I have lots of other videos, shooting antique guns. Search for "Dimwit the last mountainman" and you will find them.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi John, Wouldn't it be strange if I purchased the gun you sold? But, neither of mine are in .45-70, (which would be a great cartridge for a Phoenix).

[@Dimwit_the_last_mountainman]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Yes, the 45-70 is by far the most attractive round for these guns.

[@saeedmasouleh2863]

Hello, congratulations, the video is great😍😍😍😍😍😍👏👏👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹🌹 I want to know which country made this gun??????????

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello, and thank you for your comment. This gun was made in USA, in the state of Connecticut, in the town of New Haven.

[@saeedmasouleh2863]

Hello, good day. I am very interested in old weapons. Thank you for taking the time to answer me. Now my information is complete. Thank you and good luck always. ❤️👏👏👏🌹🌹🌹

[@49walker44]

I've wondered how much power these old arms deliver every time I watch you shot your guns. Seems like I remember reading of a method used during the period using a disc on a swing with some sort of pointer plus calculations that would give you the power transferred to the disc then comparisons could be made as well as a rough idea of how well it would do in the field. Does any of that sound familiar? I'll keep looking. Thanks for your great work.

[@tq7884]

It was called a ballistic pendulum

[@49walker44]

@@tq7884 I knew someone out there was way smarter. How hard to put one of those things together? How does it stack up showing a facsimile of knock down power and calculating it?

[@tq7884]

@@49walker44 I've got a picture of a really simple one in an old schuetzen book. I'll try and find it. Modern ones are way complicated Think a suspended pendulum with a tape measure attached. Firing at the pendulum bob moves it which in turn moves the tape measure giving a relative measure of velocity etc. There are all kinds of calculations you can make once you know the mass of the pendulum and how far it was displaced.

[@49walker44]

@@tq7884 I grew up learning to calculate on a slide ruler and in another life in research I loved hauling out my slide ruler to harass the younger guys. I'd really be interested in whatever you can find. I'd much rather see someone shoot the pendulum instead of cheese or watermelon, teach a little math along the way. Thanks for the quest.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello Capt., Thanks so much for the comments. Sounds like the pointer on a swinging disc should work as a relative indicator. That is what they used over a muzzle to test black powder strength without a projectile. That would be before they had electronics to aid mankind, using high frequency oscillators, counters and antennas. Then magnetic rails and now radar speed grabbers X bullet weight ..............Doc

[@patrickdean9797]

what was the white powder placed over the gunpowder in the 38 rounds

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi Patrick, Cream of wheat, a cheap filler for reduced loads when using black powder...........Doc

[@patrickdean9797]

@@dr.durellshepard398 very interesting i loved cream of wheat when i was a kid. now i find out it is more versatile than i had originally thought thank you for taking the time to answer my question

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@patrickdean9797 I love it also as food, AND I love my guns, so you can imagine how torn I was to load it into a cartridge. I'll bet it's great toasted also, but I'm not going to put my hand over the muzzle to find out. Thanks for watching................Doc