[Ideal Tool]

Hello, Jimmin Texas. As far as accuracy goes, the Ballard and Stevens 44 1/2, probably have the edge because of their camming action, which can seat a ctg. case positively every time. For this reason, these actions were very popular...especially the Ballard for match rifles, especially .22 R.F. by makers such as Pope, Zischang, and Schoyen. However, there was an article in the Single Shot News, about an accuracy test between a Remington rolling block, and a Stevens 44 1/2. These were chambered in .25-20 S.S. I think. The Remington did a little better..but not by much. You can seat your bullet out a bit so the closing motion of the block,,be it either a roller, or Sharps seats it into the lands. I do this as it improves accuracy. While the trapdoor isn't thought of as a match gun now days, some mighty fine shooting was done by the military marksmen firing long range at Creedmoor. And speaking of Creedmoor matches, the split was nearly even..sometimes even favoring the long range creedmoor Remington rolling blocks, and later the Remington Hepburns, as opposed to the sidehammer 74' Sharps. And remember, these guys sought the latest state-of the-art rifles for this very serious international competition. When the Sharps Mod. 78', or Borchardt came out with it's hammerless action, there was quite a folllowing on both sides of the ocean, but it never really caught on with the hunters out west.