Need help

[Skyhawk72k]

Hi, I have a Sharps Carbine conversion to .50-70, whose history I'm trying to learn... For a carbine with a rather low serial number of 38851, it is in excellent shooting condition. It has the three groove lined barrel done at the Springfield Armory between 1868 and 1869, that is in mint condition with no rust or pitting... Given that serial number, I think it is a New Model 1859 rather than the later 1863 or 1865 model... Can anyone help?

Thank you.

 

[Seduzal]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy. If you could some more photos of the Sharps Carbine we can get a better description of it. Paging @ucvrelics @Package4

 

[UCVRelics]

Nice. Actually with the stright breech and the serial# it falls in the range of the 1855 New Model carbine. Could you post a photo of the other side and the makers marks.

 

[captaindrew]

Nice piece!

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Nice. Actually with the stright breech and the serial# it falls in the range of the 1855 New Model carbine. Could you post a photo of the other side and the makers marks on the top

Here it is...

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy. If you could some more photos of the Sharps Carbine we can get a better description of it. Paging @ucvrelics @Package4

Here are some photos

 

[UCVRelics]

Very Nice. It falls in a transition period. Could you post the markings. ie: under the site behind the site and on the right side?

 

[Skyhawk72k]

They are barely visible but follow can be read as:

TS Lawrence Pat
April 12th 1859

C Sharps' Pat
Oct 5th 1852

TS Lawrence' Pat
April 12th 1859

C Sharps' Pat
Oct 5th 1852

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Very Nice. It falls in a transition period. Could you post the markings. ie: under the site behind the site and on the right side?

Marking ineligible under the latter sight...

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Marking ineligible under the latter sight... Markings on the right side of receiver are somewhat legible but not on left side...

 

[UCVRelics]

According to the Sharps website it falls in the serial# of an 1855 New Model range. It is not listed in the SRS. Very Nice Sharps.

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

You have a Model 1859 Sharps. When made, there would have been a marking of NEW MODEL 1859 on top of the barrel, between the rear sight and the breech - that's why the various questioners asked you to look for a marking behind the rear sight.
The fact that you don't see this marking and you don't see the marking in front of the rear sight that included the words SHARPS RIFLE, suggests that both barrel markings were likely polished off when the gun was refinished when converted to cartridge.

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Thank you! I sort of came to the same logical conclusion...

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

According to the Sharps website it falls in the serial# of an 1855 New Model range. It is not listed in the SRS. Very Nice Sharps.

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company

That Sharps Model Reference page you linked to has a serious error on it. The entry that states it is for the "1855 New Model Carbine" and shows this was produced from 1858 until 1863, serial range from 30,000 to 80,000, should be labelled as "1859 New Model Carbine." It is just a typographical error in this chart, which looks in general to be a pretty thorough chart and a helpful reference.

Jeff in Ohio

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Thank you.

 

[mofederal]

Hello and welcome to the CivilWarTalk from Southeast Missouri.

 

[Skyhawk72k]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy. If you could some more photos of the Sharps Carbine we can get a better description of it. Paging @ucvrelics @Package4

 

[JOHN42768]

Nice Sharp's Carbine