What rifle does Tom Selleck use in "Quigkey Down Under"? Also what caliber is it in? I just got the movie on DVD and I like seeing that rifle in action. Real nice and pretty. It looks like a .45/70 Government on steriods. I have no clue what it is. It's just one nice looking rifle.

I believe it was an 1874 Sharps replica. I'm not sure about the chambering but, IIRC, was a 45-110.

I don't know the exact model Sharps rifle it is but the calibre is .45-110-the Sharps came in quite a few big calibres. I believe he said in the movie that it was a 540gr bullet(paper-patched of course) ;)

.45-110 **** that's huge!!!!!! .45/70 is about as big of a cartridge that I can shoot. Other than 12ga slug. Man, and I though my Marlin 1895 kicked. i've heard that some companies make that rifle for sale, do they make it in .45/70 or in .45-110? Because I don't even know where I can get .45-110.

You can get one just like Quigley's from the outfit that made his. Enable Flash for this site.
http://www.shilohrifle.com/

Bye
Jack

If you remember, he mentions that it "carried a bit more", and the ranch owner said "I like that, an experimental cartridge for an experimental rifle", or words to that effect...

Didn't Quigley's Sharps win "Best Supporting Rifle" at the Academy Awards that year?

.45-110 **** that's huge!!!!!! .45/70 is about as big of a cartridge that I can shoot. Other than 12ga slug. Man, and I though my Marlin 1895 kicked. i've heard that some companies make that rifle for sale, do they make it in .45/70 or in .45-110? Because I don't even know where I can get .45-110.

The .45-110 is meant to use black powder, so a .45-70 loaded heavy with smokeless will recoil harder than the .45-110. If you are firing both with black, the 45-110 will easily out perform the other. All the old cartridges can be loaded for, even if obsolete-believe me....

The .45-110 is meant to use black powder, so a .45-70 loaded heavy with smokeless will recoil harder than the .45-110. If you are firing both with black, the 45-110 will easily out perform the other. All the old cartridges can be loaded for, even if obsolete-believe me....

Shilo Sharps is in Big Timber, Mt. They are litterally a block away from C. Sharps a rival. Shilo built the Quigley for the movie and hangs in their show room. If you are interested in purchasing a Shilo the waiting list can be quite long.

At one point is was up to 4 years. When the economy was tanking, I was lucky and actually purchased a Hartford style Sharps off the rack. (Feb 2004) In the 7 years I've visited them I've never seen one on the rack. They had 13 in Feb. I've heard rumor that since the economy is improving, the waiting list is now about a year.

If you contact them, they can tell you for sure. I highly recommend them and the C. Sharps too. Pedersoli used to be a cheaper alternative but since the Euro/dollar exchange has been increasing, Pedersoli rifles are getting as expensive as the Shilo. Therefore, I'd get the Shilo.

They told me the best rifle to start out with is the 45/70 with a 30" barrel. I followed their recomendation and agree. I shoot smokeless powder in it. It makes one ragged hole at 100 yards. If you'd like to use smokeless powder instead of black powder, there is a smokeless that give the black powder ballistics. Its Accurate 5744. It just makes clean up a little easier.

Shilo recommeded the 30" barrel because the longer barrels were prone to excessive fouling the last couple of inches where the 30" barrel did not. :cool:

All good info guys, keep it comming. Wasn't that a great movie. Its in my top 20 thats for sure.

All good info guys, keep it comming. Wasn't that a great movie. Its in my top 20 thats for sure.


It was. Tom Selleck from what I gather is a fan of Old West authenticity. I've noticed anything he does in westerns are very close to the facts of the time. Being a NRA member sure makes him a plus.

I believe that movie had done so much for the Black Powder cartrige rifle industry based on all the want to be Quigley rifles now offered.

The folks at Shilo tell me he has ordered several guns from them for the various movies he has been in.

The rifle used in the movie QUIGLEY DOWN UNDER is a custom Hartford-style rifle made by Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing in Big Timber, MT. Actually, there were three identical-looking rifles used in making the movie. One was the stunt or prop gun, one was for close-ups and the other was a reserve. I believe Tom Selleck has one in his collection, one went back to Shiloh and is on display there, and the stunt or prop gun is in the studio armory. All were chambered for the .45-2 7/8" S.S.(Sharps' Straight) or what today we call the .45-110-550 Sharps'. All of them had that awful military-type buttstock of the Hartford-style guns instead of the shotgun buttstock of the Bridgeport-style guns and would be truly a pain to fire more than a couple of times with full-power, blackpowder loads. :eek:

The original Sharps' factory made very few, if any, Caliber .45 guns at the Hartford facility and most, if not all of those would have been .45-2 1/10" S.S.(.45-70). Hartford guns are normally found in Calibers .40 Bottlenecked, .44 Bottlenecked or .50 S.S. The longer Caliber .45 cartridges(2 4/10", 2 6/10" and 2 7/8") were not chambered until after the move to the Bridgeport facility, and most of them would have been Creedmoor-type target rifles at not more than 10# weight, single triggers of not less than 3# pull, round barrels and shotgun-style buttstocks. The Quigley-style rifles are Hartford-type guns chambered for the later Bridgeport-type cartridges. Therefore, to have gotten a gun built like the Quigley guns by the original Sharps' factory of the 19th Century would have required a very expensive special order request!

If anyone is considering ordering a Quigley(Hartford-style) with the military-type buttstock, may I suggest having it chambered in .45-2 1/10" S.S.(.45-70) or, at the most, in .45-2 4/10" S.S.(.45-90). For the .45-2 6/10" S.S.(.45-100) or the .45-2 7/8" S.S.(.45-110) may I suggest the shotgun-style buttstock with wide, checkered, steel buttplate or a good, solid, rubber recoil pad. :) The .45-3 1/8" or .45-3 1/4"(.45-120) was never chambered and/or offered for sale by the original Sharps' factory, so I would not even consider it.

Excellent post, Garth -

Proud of my fellow Mesan!! :D

If I would only have been born rich and not so darn good lookin!!

Any of ya shot a .50 Beowulf ? Im sure ya have, but how does it compare in recoil to a .45-70 ?

I believe the waiting list is 9 months right now. They aren't hiring now though :(