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Sharps Old Reliable

hummer126
I've got a .40 cal. Sharps Old Reliable, Pat. Oct. 5, 1852. Does ammo exist for this gun? How can I find out how old it is and what it might be worth?
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  • Hawk Carse
    You could post pictures and serial number here and get some idea.
    There is knowhow about original Sharps rifles on the Shiloh board, too. Age, breechloading Sharps rifles were made from about 1873 until the company failed in 1882. Not a long life for such a well known gun.

    As to ammunition, Buffalo Arms sells empty brass for six different .40 caliber Sharps cartridges. There were .40-50, .40-70, and .40-90 Sharps, each in straight and bottleneck shape. You would have to be sure to get the right rim for your original, the reproductions are slightly different.
    They sell loaded ammunition in some but not all of those six versions.

    I don't often recommend it, but this rifle should be inspected by a knowledgeable single shot gunsmith, not the Major Chain Sporting Goods repair guy. He would do a chamber cast to see just which round it was made for and check out things like the dogleg Sharps firing pin. You have a potentially valuable piece there.

    The C prefix represents 100,000; so your rifle would be No 102912 in straight number sequence. Johnny pinned down the age. Sharps built a LOT of rifles and carbines for the Union Army and there was a pretty good business converting them to cartridge after the War, either for military or sporting use. A friend has a plain .50-70 carbine conversion and it is a fine little gun. About Minute of Commanche accurate, they used the percussion barrel as long as it was not larger than .5225" which is not great for a .515" bullet.
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  • hummer126
    The serial number is C, 2912
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  • JohnnyBGood
    quote:Originally posted by hummer126
    The serial number is C, 2912


    With that serial number it places it in the New Model 1863 range and was originally percussion. As a percussion arm it was made about 1864, or maybe early 1865. The sporting conversion was done circa 1870's/1880's. Value depends upon condition, completeness, etc.

    Johnny
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  • cbyerly
    It's probably either a 40-70 straight or a 40-70 bottle neck. Either way a 45-70 case can be used to make it.
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  • MP
    If you choose to load for the Sharps one of the most important things to know is the type of bullet you will need. Your rifle was made to shoot a paper-patched bullet of BORE diameter. A proper bullet should slide through the barrel with little to no resistance. Many folks over the years have not understood this and a lot of rifles have been modified to accept groove diameter lubricated bullets. I also recommend a bullet on the harder side, say 20-1 lead-tin.
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  • gesshots
    Original ammo was paper patched, so check bore diameter if wish to avoid this step. Several .40 calibre diameter bullets are available to make this easier.
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  • Hawk Carse
    quote:It's probably either a 40-70 straight or a 40-70 bottle neck. Either way a 45-70 case can be used to make it.

    I don't think so.
    The .40-70 Sharps Straight has a substantially smaller head and rim diameter than .45-70. The "early modern" source of brass was .30-40 Krag blown out straight and redrawn to the right length. A lot of folks now are touching up newly available Hornady .405 WCF brass to fit.

    You can neck .45-90 down to .40-70 SBN but .45-70 will come out short. There are a couple of modern variants called .40-70 2.1" and .40-70 Government with the dimensions modified to allow use of .45-70 brass. Most of us just shoot .40-65, though.
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  • TRAP55
    quote:Originally posted by JohnnyBGood
    quote:Originally posted by hummer126
    The serial number is C, 2912


    With that serial number it places it in the New Model 1863 range and was originally percussion. As a percussion arm it was made about 1864, or maybe early 1865. The sporting conversion was done circa 1870's/1880's. Value depends upon condition, completeness, etc.

    Johnny

    And it wasn't just Sharps doing the conversions. Pics of your rifle are a must. So is a chamber cast and a bore slug. Bore diameters were all over the place. Sharps barrels in .45 cal alone, ranged from .451 to .458 .
    There may still be a factory record available for your rifle, this man is currently in possession of the records, and if there's one for your rifle, the fee for it will offset the added value of having it.
    Sharps- Richard Labowski, Phone (215) 748 1376
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  • hummer126
    Thanks all for the info. Now, stupid question time: how do I post pics?
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  • gesshots
    Modern source of brass is the 45 basic / 3.25" - available from Bertram or Norma.
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