![]() The Sharps dropping-block action lent itself well to making the transition from percussion ignition to handling the newly developed cartridges that evolved quickly following the end of the war. ![]() While the latter went on to be produced in far greater numbers, the true rolling block action was not perfected until about 1866. No other official military arm of the Civil War went on to remain as popular with civilian shooters and hunters, not even the Remington rolling block rifles. The 115,000 rifles and carbines produced from 1859 to 1866 represented approximately 65 percent of the total number of Sharps breechloaders ever manufactured. Basically, these Sharps guns were all the same design, based on the New Model 1859. The rifles and carbines built on through the Civil War with New Model 1863 and New Model 1865 markings generally reflect improvements to further reduce the escape of gases from a burning powder charge. The “straight breech” block design that first appeared on the New Model 1859 did help alleviate some of the gas leakage. The rifle at far left is a Pedersoli “John Bodine” Remington rolling block rifle. Dixie Gun Work’s line-up of Model 1874 Sharps rifles, by Pedersoli, include (from right) an engraved Silhouette Rifle, a standard version of that rifle, and the Lightweight Target-Hunter rifle. ![]() Christian Sharps’ original design was a definite improvement over other early breech-loading single-shot rifle designs, but did experience considerable gas leakage between the rear of the barrel and face of the breechblock. Shooters of the time who had the opportunity to use the Sharps breechloaders acknowledged that they were the best firearms available. Sharps died Maat age 64.Īll of the Sharps rifles produced up through the Model 1855 were of the original “slant breech” design. Other than a small-bore 31- and 38-caliber percussion drop-block rifle built in the late 1850s, the only other “long guns” actually produced by Christian Sharps were the Sharps & Hankins 52 rimfire single-shot carbines and rifles produced from 1861 to 1867. Sharps & Company, specializing in small pocket pistols and derringers. In 1853, Sharps left the company that bore his name, moved to Philadelphia, and opened a new arms-making firm known as C. And Christian Sharps’ role in the operation had been relegated to “Technical Advisor.” His only real tie to the company was that the rifles were being produced under his patents, and Sharps received a $1 royalty for every rifle built. The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company had been established in 1851 by a group of investors. The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company then moved all manufacturing to Hartford. During the production of the Model 1853 and Model 1855 rifles, both the Robbins & Lawrence and Sharps firms suffered significant losses. The rifles were built for the newly formed Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company, headquartered in Hartford, Conn. Production of the 52-caliber Model 1851 and Model 1852 rifles was moved to the Robbins & Lawrence plant in Windsor, Vt. And it was the outstanding reliability of Sharps-built rifles or carbines during this period that earned them their well-deserved “Old Reliable” reputation. On the other hand, the rugged construction and longer-range accuracy of the Sharps made it revered among foot soldiers. Mounted cavalry troops tended to prefer the 7-shot repeating Spencer lever-action carbines and easier loading self-contained cartridges over the slower loading single-shot percussion breech-loaded Sharps with combustible paper or linen cartridges. During that same period, Spencer produced a total of 94,196 carbines and 12,471 rifles for the war. Official records of ordnance purchased by the United States government from Januto Jshow that a total of 80,512 carbines and 9,141 rifles of Sharps manufacture were delivered. The only other breech-loaded firearms to see greater use were produced by the Spencer Repeating Rifle Company, of Boston, Mass. Ordnance Board during the Civil War, nearly 20 percent were produced by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company, of Hartford, Conn. Of the half-million or so “breech-loading” rifles and carbines purchased from twenty different arms makers by the U.S. Original shown here with a new-made Leatherwood Hi-Lux Optics “Wm. Many Sharps collectors believe that the tooling for the Model 1875 was modified for the later production of the hammerless Model 1878 Sharps Borchardt rifle.
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