Sharps "Old Reliable" .40 Caliber

[IronMonster]

The 441 came from information in a auction listing, however I see elsware that it is military rifles, nothing to do with the civilian 1874

 

[IronMonster]

I have two other old rifles that belonged to my great grandfather that I am giving to my boys now (age 19 and 22) and they will each get a Sharps when I pass. I hope they mean enough to them to keep passing them on.

 

[Sstrand]

Iron
Do you REALLY think that by the time you die you will be able to pass on firearms of ANY KIND to your heirs???

Sheldon

 

[IronMonster]

I actually plan on having a family firearms trust so they technically have "ownership" long before I am gone. So yes, one way or another they will get them

 

[Spitpatch]

I would strongly recommend you invest in a copy of Frank Sellers' volume, titled Sharps Firearms. You will find a wealth of knowledge in the book, and since you will be fortunate enough to own two, you will enjoy being able to converse about them with some measure of authority.

A true Business rifle will be so marked: "BUSINESS 40" (or 45). As noted in posts above, variations on the Business rifle were quite rare. Especially 30" octagon barrels (though they did exist, and so did schnabel forearms, and so did 50 caliber).

The factory moved to Bridgeport, CT in 1876, and this is a Bridgeport made gun, and (lacking the "BUSINESS 40" stamp), a Sporting Rifle.

You have a very fine rifle. One that will increase in value exponentially over the years to come. Should the fact that it belonged to your Grandfather mean more to you than any money in the world, your deep personal enjoyment of it will repeatedly prove your sentimental estimate of its value (priceless) soundly correct.

I would certainly not term this gun to be in "poor" condition, and the worst sacrilege would be to attempt to "spruce it up" by polishing off the rust and such. A light coat of oil with a soft rag will preserve the visible history on this gun in a righteous and respectful fashion. The honest wear it shows is a significant part of its character and value.

 

[IronMonster]

Agreed, I ran several oil soaked patches down the bore (which seems quite good considering) and rubbed everything with oil. I figured that was the extent of what I was capable of without doing harm to the patina. Thanks for the heads up on the book, I'll order a copy today

 

[OFADAN]

30" is a "typical" length if there is such a thing. Serial numbers were written with a "C" prefix until about C, 54,800. So if the serial number is 48310 it should have a C prefix. Serial numbers appear in full on the receiver, barrel, stock and forearm and the last four digits on the extractor, lockplate, trigger plate and buttplate. Look closely with a magnification glass as rust could be filing in the voids/marks.

Your rifle is a Bridgeport gun. So it should say "OLD RELIABLE" which it does and that means it was manufactured at least after April 1876.

The case length and/or powder charge appears on the side of the barrel. If on the right side it is upside down to facilitate reading when the rifle is held normally.

Keep looking...good light and a good mag glass!

I'm glad Spitpatch weighted in...he is a pro on this stuff. Yes Sellers book is a gem!

 

[IronMonster]

Well I can't find a case size but I can kind of measure the chamber. It's roughly 2-1/2" to where the end of the chamber is. The rim of the case is .625 and the diameter of the case is about 1/2"

The numbers on the forearm I see and they match.

 

[IronMonster]

I would strongly recommend you invest in a copy of Frank Sellers' volume, titled Sharps Firearms. You will find a wealth of knowledge in the book, and since you will be fortunate enough to own two, you will enjoy being able to converse about them with some measure of authority.

A true Business rifle will be so marked: "BUSINESS 40" (or 45). As noted in posts above, variations on the Business rifle were quite rare. Especially 30" octagon barrels (though they did exist, and so did schnabel forearms, and so did 50 caliber).

The factory moved to Bridgeport, CT in 1876, and this is a Bridgeport made gun, and (lacking the "BUSINESS 40" stamp), a Sporting Rifle.

You have a very fine rifle. One that will increase in value exponentially over the years to come. Should the fact that it belonged to your Grandfather mean more to you than any money in the world, your deep personal enjoyment of it will repeatedly prove your sentimental estimate of its value (priceless) soundly correct.

I would certainly not term this gun to be in "poor" condition, and the worst sacrilege would be to attempt to "spruce it up" by polishing off the rust and such. A light coat of oil with a soft rag will preserve the visible history on this gun in a righteous and respectful fashion. The honest wear it shows is a significant part of its character and value.

It actually belonged to my great grandfather, I have a number of rifles that belonged to my grandfather as well. He actually owned a sharps as well but my father had no interst in such things and sold it. The reason why I have any of his guns is simply because they did not have any monetary value.

I am suppose to get the other sharps rifle picked up in the morning. I'll post pictures if I do.

 

[IronMonster]

Looks like I found a used copy of Franks book for $80, I see new price range from $125-$280

Looking forward to checking it out Thanks for the heads up.

 

[IronMonster]

Well, The other "sharps" is not a sharps. So the back story is these guns where passed from my great grandfather to my grandfathers brother and then to his oldest son. He is not really interested in them and neither are his kids so he is selling off the collection. So I have been buying a few to keep them in the family. When I bought the sharps he said "there is another one, just like that only nicer" so I told him I wanted it too. He wanted $1500 which seemed reasonable if it was what it was. Well its a beautiful old rifle, And I was committed to giving him the $1500 bucks even though I doubt its really worth anything like that. Not sure what it is or where the "wild bill" story came from. He claimed the brass inlay had some relevance to Bill Hickock which seems doubtful considering the Initials are RVG

I'll get over the $1500, It belonged to my great grandfather and I saved it for future generations. Thats worth a lot more than $1500 to me even if the gun is worthless.

At any rate anyone know anything about this old muzzle loader
that is defiantly not a sharps

I am going to start another thread with it as well

 

[OFADAN]

You might want to give Joe a call at the the Gun Works in Springfield Oregon. This shop is the largest muzzleloader shop west of the Mississippi. Joe and Suzi have been running it forever it seems. He is extremely knowledgeable and well connected in the muzzleloader community including building them commercially. Send him these pics and I bet he can tell you the origin of this rifle. Let us know what you find out.

If I was a betting man I'd say it is a target rifle from the buttstock and taper at the muzzle for what appears to be made for a false muzzle.

 

[IronMonster]

I just shot Joe off an email. Thanks for the recommendation

 

[OFADAN]

I just shot Joe off an email. Thanks for the recommendation

Let us know what he says.

 

[IronMonster]

He said other than it looks European there wasn't much he could tell me. He told me how to pull the barrel and look for a proof mark.

He also told me about a guy named Ron Heilman who could build a replacement rear sight for it who is not far from me.

He also said if you ever decide to sell it call me. So at least I know it has some collectors appeal.