The gun symbol of the Wild West
1874 Sharps rifle with sniper scope
Accurate lightning bolts will fly from the clouds, as if from a tightly drawn bow, to their target.
The Book of Wisdom of Solomon, 5:21
The Book of Wisdom of Solomon, 5:21
stories about weapons. At all times, a weapon that hits its target accurately has been highly valued. And how could it be otherwise, since it wasn't fired for fun (although sometimes it was), but primarily for sustenance—prey from hunting, and, of course, in war. Moreover, some weapons, such as the Nagant, the Mosin rifle, the Browning, and the Mauser, have become truly legendary. And in relation to stories Many in the United States consider the Winchester, with its underbarrel magazine and "Henry clip," to be legendary. They say it's "the gun that conquered the Wild West." But is that really true?
Let's start with the fact that Winchester rifles were never a common weapon simply because of their high cost. A Henry rifle, for example, cost $80 in 1861—more than a cowboy cook earned in a month's work! Winchester carbines weren't used by the army either, and how they came into the hands of the Indians at Little Big Horn remains a mystery to this day.
Sharps rifle 1859
So, a number of historians and experts in the field of firearms hold a different opinion in this case, namely, that the rifle symbol of the Wild West is... the rifle of Christian Sharps (1810-1874)!
Christian Sharps. Born in Washington, New Jersey, in 1810, he married Sarah Elizabeth Chadwick of Lower Merion, Pennsylvania. The couple had two children: daughter Satella and son Leon Stewart. Satella's daughter, also named Satella Waterstone, became a writer and composer. In the 1830s, Sharps worked as a gunsmith's apprentice at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal. There, he encountered the Hall rifle, an early breech-loading system, and worked for its inventor, Captain John H. Hall. There, Sharps also developed an aptitude for constructing guns from completely interchangeable parts and began his design work.
What kind of weapon was this, and where did this opinion come from? Sharps rifles were a series of large-caliber, single-shot, breech-loading rifles with a bolt action operated by a lever under the buttstock. The first Sharps rifle was patented on September 12, 1848, and manufactured by A.S. Nippes in Mill Creek, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1850. Production of his rifles began at that point, and ceased in 1881.
The rifles became renowned for their long-range accuracy. Good word of mouth led to strong demand. By 1874, the rifle was available in various calibers, and it was one of the few designs successfully adapted to metallic cartridges. Sharps rifles became a symbol of the American Wild West and appeared in many Western films and books. Perhaps this is why several gun companies today have begun offering Sharps replicas.
The Hartford Sewing Machine Building, which housed the Sharps Rifle Co.
Interestingly, the very first Sharps rifle (1848) cost $30 in 1860, significantly less than the 15-shot Henry rifle. It weighed 4,3 kg. It was 1200 mm long and had a 760 mm barrel. Initially, it had a .52 caliber. Then in 1867, it was converted to chamber .50-70 cartridges, and starting in 1874, this rifle was produced for .45-70, .45-110, and .45-120 cartridges. The bullet velocity (.52) was 370 m/sec. The effective firing range was 910 m, and the maximum was 2700 m. Despite the fact that the rifle was single-shot, it had a quite decent rate of fire: 8-10 rounds per minute!
Side view of a Model 1859 Sharps carbine with the bolt open.
In 1852, the second model rifle and carbine based on it appeared, featuring a very important improvement. Since it was a percussion cap rifle—meaning it fired paper cartridges whose sharp edges sheared off the rear during loading—a percussion cap had to be inserted into the priming rod before firing, which, of course, slowed the rate of fire. Therefore, the rifle was equipped with a Maynard percussion cap magazine, and all models of this rifle bore the following inscription: "Edward Maynard—Patent Holder 1845."
Incidentally, this second model was presented to Robbins & Lawrence (R&L) in Windsor, Vermont, where it was prepared for mass production. It was there that gunsmith Rollin White devised the knife-edge breechblock and automatic hammer cocking mechanism. Maynard's percussion cap magazine consisted of a receptacle for a thin brass strip with pockets containing the primer. The strip was threaded onto a rod and fed from the magazine to the priming rod by a special lever, simultaneously with the cocking of the hammer and independent of whether this occurred manually or automatically. The "first contract" for the Model 1851 carbines was for 10,000, of which approximately 1650 were manufactured by R&L in Windsor.
Left side view of the Lawrence primer system installed on the Sharps 1859 carbine.
That same year, 1851, a "second contract" for 15,000 rifles was signed, after which the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was reorganized into a $100,000 holding company, with John C. Palmer as president, Christian Sharps as engineer, and Richard S. Lawrence as gunsmith and production manager. Sharps was to be paid a royalty of $1 per rifle, and a factory was built on the R&L property in Hartford, Connecticut.
Christian Sharps left the company in 1853. Later, in 1862, he partnered with William Hankins to form Sharps & Hankins. In 1855, production moved to Hartford and continued there until 1876, when it was moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Lawrence remained the company's chief gunsmith until 1872, developing various Sharps rifle models and making improvements that ultimately made the rifle famous. In 1874, the company was reorganized once again and renamed the Sharps Rifle Company. Sharps eventually left the company that bore his name, but by this time it had produced over 100,000 rifles bearing his name, though it was forced out of business in 1881 due to the widespread adoption of repeating rifles.
The Sharps-Borchardt rifle, model 1878, was distinguished by its hammerless design.
It should be noted that the Sharps rifle played a crucial role in the confrontation between abolitionists and slaveholders in Kansas in the 1850s, which became known as "Bleeding Kansas." Sharps rifles supplied to anti-slavery activists were nicknamed "Beecher Bibles" in honor of the famous abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher.
The Model 1874 (produced since 1871) enjoyed particular popularity, prompting the rapid development of several modifications. It was chambered for a wide range of cartridges, ranging from .40 to .50 caliber, with varying loads and case lengths. Interestingly, the last rifle produced by the Sharps Rifle Co. before its closure in 1881 was designed by none other than Hugo Borchardt, the future creator of the famous pistol. The rifle was designated the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 and was accepted into production.
Sharps-Borchardt rifle, model 1878, equipped with a sniper scope
Today, replicas of the 1863 Sharps paper cartridge, the 1874 Sharps metal cartridge, and the 1878 Sharps-Borchardt are produced for hunting and target shooting. Several companies, including the Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company and C. Sharps Arms Co. of Big Timber, Montana, and the Italian arms manufacturer Davide Pedersoli & Co. of Brescia, offer a full line of Sharps rifle replicas.
One of the modern replicas of the Sharps rifle
Firing this rifle couldn't be simpler. First, the lever under the fore-end is lowered to open the chamber and partially eject the spent case. Holding the next cartridge to be loaded between your thumb and index finger and the nail of your middle finger, the spent case is extracted from the chamber, after which a new cartridge is inserted. Press down on the extractor (and, consequently, the extractor) until the base of the case is flush with the breech. Then, lift the lever to close the bolt and cock the hammer. Now you're ready to aim and fire!
One of the modern replicas of the Sharps carbine
Bolt handle and bolt
Receiver
And this is how this rifle is reloaded...
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