1868 sharps

[jls]

I have a 1868 sharps in 50-70 (3 groove) that belonged to my greatgrandfather. I was wondering if there is a site where I can go to and try and get the history on this old smokepole. getting it lettered was be great. the only history i have is the vague diary my great grandmother kept. thanx!

[Tencubed]

You don't mention if your Sharps is a rifle or carbine or if it's military or civilian in nature.  There are a number of different models that were made dating from before the Civil War to the time yours was produced or perhaps patented.

Quite a few of the 50-70 Sharps that saw duty during the war were originally paper cartridge guns that were converted after the war to metallic cartridge versions.  The falling block was replaced at that time and many had additional stamping added.

If you belong to the NRA a letter to them, with pictures if possible, will get you the best information generally.  Other sources are available in most library systems with a bit of research. 

Took awhile to track down the history of my old Sharps with an oldest patent marking of 1852, it's one of those that was converted, but now I'm able to shoot a bit of history.  It's fun at the range to allow others to fire the old gun and know they have shot a rifle that fought in the Civil War.

If you decide you want to shoot this old rifle be sure to have a gunsmith who is familiar with these arms check it over.  Some of them have hidden damage from folks firing overloads of smokeless powder or damage from improper cleaning when using black powder.

Feel free to PM me if I can be of any help on this.

Mike

[jls]

thanks for the reply Mike! Its a military carbine (sling bar and a faint cartouche) it has the old primer tape feed still intact. Bore looks good but i dont think ill put any rounds through it. When i inherited the sharps the only info i had was that my great grandfather had it with him when he and his wife homesteaded in the texas panhandle in 1881. she kept a diary from time to time and does mention that he might have dumped a comanche during a livestock raid but there is no way to know for sure. I do have some loaded rounds wrapped in an oilcloth that look as old as dirt so they might date back to then also but no way to tell for sure. Anyway Ill try the NRA and see what they find. again, thanx!

[Tencubed]

I've never seen a sharps of that era with a tape primer system.  And for sure never a breach loader if that is what yours is.  You may have a very rare item there.  Only tape prime I have is the Maynard system on a Springfield muzzle stuffer.  IIRC the patent date is 1854 and the old gun is not in shooting condition unfortunately.

Sure would like to hear what you find out about this rifle and maybe see some pictures.  Maybe I'll see it in the "I have this old gun" section of "The Dope Bag".

Mike

[jls]

mike, I`ll try to post some pics for you to  peruse, never tried it before on GBO but the better half will get it sorted out.   

[AtlLaw]

I've never seen a sharps of that era with a tape primer system.  And for sure never a breach loader if that is what yours is.
Mike

Seems to me I've read something fairly recently about just this thing.  The Sharps Cavalry Carbine initially had the primer feed.  Most were converted to self contained cartridges by the military of the time.  (56/56 cartridge?)  The primer feed was left on in this conversion even though it was not needed.  I'll try to find where I saw this but no promises... I'll probably forget when I close this screen!  

[Tencubed]

Thanks, the pics would be great and I'm sure others here would like to see them as well.

I think the first "universal", as in adopted for all of the military, cartridge was the 50-70.  Then came the 45-70, 30-40 (first smokeless round), 30-03, then the venerable 30-06.  Few oddballs like the 6MM Lee Navy and such floated thru but those were the main ones as I recall.  Any real experts on this can fill in if you would.

There was a great article in the American Rifleman maybe a year ago about the Sharps rifles like the one I have.  I think it was about them being issued to the 2nd Penn. Dutch, a sharp shooter outfit that would be held in reserve and moved into hot spots on the line.  Since I pass these magazines along to others I don't have it for reference anymore for more details.

I'd like to see that article on the tape primer feed conversion, the old Sharps rifles with the side hammer came in many variations and it's interesting to see them. 

Mike

[jls]

just came across an article in Rifle sporting firearms journal written up by Mike Venturino  titled "horse cavalry carbines" and lo and behold theres a photo of my sharps! I misnamed the primer feed "tape" its called "pellet primer feed not"tape" I guess it used little tubes of some kind of primer material. anyway, great article on the trapdoor,spencer,percussion sharps and krag. thanx for the continued feedback! john

[AtlLaw]

just came across an article in Rifle sporting firearms journal written up by Mike Venturino  titled "horse cavalry carbines" and lo and behold theres a photo of my sharps!...

That's the article I was talking about.     When I got home last night I dug through my old mags and found it.  Pretty interesting, and since BP Cartridge Rifles are Venturino's "thing" I'm inclined to take his word on the subject, even without cites of authority.     Unlike senile ol' me.  the 56-56 was actually 56-50 and it was the Spencer, not the Sharps.  But I try...    (  )

[Tencubed]

Not familiar with that magazine, could one of you guys give me the full name and the publisher as well as the year and month?  I'll get it at the library, sound like a really good article.

The primer pellet feed makes more sense, never heard of the Maynard patent being used on a Sharps and could find no reference in my limited library.

Mike

[Tencubed]

Bought an old book at a second hand store the other day and lo and behold there is a very short bit on the rifles made by C Sharps.  Apparently Mr Sharps used a rotating pellet feed and also the Maynard Tape priming system.  Both of these were used on very early models but, according to this very limited article, were not used by the military.  Very few of either of these models of rifles were produced.

Sometimes its hard to track this stuff down.

Mike

[jls]

fellas, thanx for your input. Its always appreciated! after 14 days straight in the oil field, I finally got a chance to get out and do a little paper punching. Bought a h+r buffalo classic a while back and tried some Buffalo Bore ammo thatwas gathering dust. WHOeeeee! I think my next purchase will be sims or Pach. recoil pad! Talk about snort and buck! have some of BBs 430 gr. but will wait until some padding is present. Iam still tweaking the Bc. so we will see what its really capable of doing.

[Tencubed]

jls:

Go over to the NEF/HR Talk area.  The Buffalo Classic is one of the regular topics of conversation there.  Lots of good info on loads and how to make it shoot it's best.  Learned a lot about mine and what loads seem to work the best.  And your right, with the heavy loads the BC can back up a bit.  Not quite as bad as my TC short stock with the 16" 45-70 barrel on it however.  That little rascal only weighs four and a half pounds.

Mike