1859 sharps carbine

The Navy models did have the sling ring on the buttstock. Yours has this. The Navy carbines did NOT have a hole in the side of the receiver to take the usual side-mounted carbine sling bar. Yours does not. It is in the right range for a naval contract carbine.
I think it is a Naval Carbine.
 
Thank you Jeff for your opinion. You definitely sound more knowledge than me and I hope you are right.
 
I once owned one of these in this same serial range with no sling base in the wood of the butt - but it has been converted to cartridge, and so had a replaced buttstock as part of that conversion. It did not have the hole in receiver for sling bar. At that time, I had found some reference to naval carbines being converted sort of by accident, but then rejected for the post-war cavalry, because they DID NOT HAVE THE SLING BAR needed for cavalry use and it could not be added because the naval carbine receiver was never drilled for installation of such a sling bar. There was some sort of report I found that naval carbines (used on the Mississippi by the "brown water navy") and cavalry carbines (used by cavalry troopers on land along the Mississippi) were turned in at end of war for storage, and when the armory was asked to supply carbines for conversion, they sent some naval model ones along, and no one noticed until some were converted to .50-70 cartridge.
 
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Thanks Jeff for all the info. Your experience and knowledge is appreciated. I really think it's an actual navy carbine.
 
First if you want to see if the barrel matches the receiver just take off the forend. One screw, but be careful as the band may be rusted to the barrel so go gently. Barrel will be marked on bottom. Only early had the brass patch box. Some 1859's did not have a patch box and some 1863's did have them. Receiver shows no hole so it will be a hard call.
 
I havent removed the forend because I think it is stuck pretty good to the barrel. Also, I understand if the serial doesn't match it is probably a swapped rifle barrel. If the numbers do match it still could be a cut down rifle. The reasons I haven't taken the forend off are, #1 the pitting and patina on barrel and receiver match perfectly, and #2 the front site appears to be original indicating at least to me it has always been a carbine. Is there any way to tell for sure like the serial number. I dont mind paying for the serial lookup if it could be positively identified as a carbine or rifle by that number. Thanks for your help!
 
I doubt this is a cut down rifle. Even if you pried off the barrel band and removed the fore stock to check the serial on bottom of barrel, that would not tell you if this had been made as a rifle or a carbine.
This is within the serial range of the carbines made for the Navy.
 
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I am a new member and this is my first post. There seems to be a wealth of knowledge in this group. I have an 1859 sharps carbine. It is Straight breech with patchbox. It is pretty rough but I can read the serial number. It is 44407. The weird thing is it has no saddle ring and never had one. It also is still percussion and was never converted to metallic cartridge. Is it possible it was part of the navy contract for carbines in 1861? Was there a navy contract for carbines not part of the rifle contract? Were there 1859 civilian carbines that possibly had no saddle ring? How rare is the carbine if it never had the saddle ring? Thanks for information!
Welcome 🙏
 
I doubt this is a cut down rifle. Even if you pried off the barrel band and removed the fore stock to check the serial on bottom of barrel, that would not tell you if this had been made as a rifle or a carbine.
This is within the serial range of the carbines made for the Navy.
Jeff, thank you! I think its a navy because the barrel is not cut down in my opinion and the receiver definitely never had a saddle ring. From what I've read the serial # is in range of a navy also. Do you have any idea if there were around 300 navy carbines made how many of those were left percussion and unconverted as mine is? I could only find 1 navy carbine on the internet that was sold and it was converted.
 
I was under the impression that only the first 1859s had the brass furniture. The later ones like mine were iron or steel. Mine doesn't have any wear from being carried on a horse. Mine never had a saddle ring. I am hoping it's a navy model but don't know how to prove it. Thanks for the info!
My Flayderman's Guide states "New model 1859 carbine, early type. All brass furniture with brass patch box. Approximate quantity made 3,000."
Then following "New model 1859 carbine; iron furniture with patch box. Approximate quantity manufactured 30,000. Early 1861 the Navy purchased small lot ( quantity and source unknown) not fitted with saddle ring and ring bar; serials in 40,000 to 44,000 range. Worth premium if authentic."
I own several Sharps of CW vintage. Yours looks right to me as one of the naval purchase.
 
Thank you for the info. I want to get Flaydermans book. Your knowledge and expertise is appreciated. Am I correct in assuming that if it not a cut down rifle(which I don't believe it is) then in this configuration it has to be a navy carbine?
 
Thank you for the info. I want to get Flaydermans book. Your knowledge and expertise is appreciated. Am I correct in assuming that if it not a cut down rifle(which I don't believe it is) then in this configuration it has to be a navy carbine?
This is one of those situations where we all want it to be a Navy, but without Provence of some official record listing the serial number as being assigned somewhere, we can never be certain. I would highly doubt trying to get an accurate muzzle measurement is possible due to the rust/age to try and determine if it might be a cut down rifle barrel.
 
This is one of those situations where we all want it to be a Navy, but without Provence of some official record listing the serial number as being assigned somewhere, we can never be certain. I would highly doubt trying to get an accurate muzzle measurement is possible due to the rust/age to try and determine if it might be a cut down rifle barrel.
My question about it is if the barrel is not cut down(I don't believe it is because the front sight is in place and hasn't been moved) and it has never had a saddle ring, is there any other possibility besides a navy? In other words were there any other 1859 sharps carbines made without a saddle ring? Possibly a civilian carbine or something? Bear in mind, it is in the navy carbine serial range.
 
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