Fellow Sharpshooters,
After a long hiatus, and at the urging of my old comrades in battle, Brian White and Dan Wambaugh; I made the trip south to participate in the Jackson, Michigan event at Ella Sharp Park (formerly held at Jackson's Cascade Park).
As I was inspecting one of Dan and Brian's newest creations (a gorgeous, oatmeal colored, North Carolina frock coat), Brian had pulled his Pederosoli Sharps out to get it ready for the skirmish line. He attempted to draw down the breechblock but it was stuck fast. This was very unusual, at least for a cleaned and unfired Pederosoli. We located some type of lubricant (I think it was sewing machine oil), and dribbled a bead around the circumference of the block. After a few more minutes of sweating and tugging, the block gradually-but stubbornly--yielded enough for Brian to remove it from the chamber.
We discovered that the breechblock rails and gas check shimmered with a substance that looked, and had the consistency of, dried shellac. Brian mentioned that he had used excess Lithium grease (he was experimenting with the NSSA O-ring) to lubricate the rails and face of the gas check the previous month before putting the Sharps aside for the next event. We deduced that the Lithium grease had degraded, leaving the varnish-like residue behind.
Fortunately, we found a chisel, screwdriver and a couple other tools in the workshop to help us pry off the gas check and remove all of the 'varnish' from the block. The next day, at the close of the skirmish at Ella Sharp (the 'battlefield' consisting of a flat, open, mowed, ruby pitch), Brian was pleased to report that he had fired off 20 rounds without a stoppage (Dan had fired 15 of his own style flat base blanks), and he had no trouble drawing down the block at the end of the skirmish.
So, a word to the wise: if you plan to use the O-ring intervention for your Sharps, REMOVE ALL TRACES OF LITHIUM GREASE FROM YOUR SHARP'S RIFLE BLOCK IF YOU WILL BE STORING IT LONGER THAN 24 HOURS.
Hope this helps--
Bill Skillman Bugler Hudson Squad Mess
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