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Tom A Hawk

Tom A Hawk

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On the way home from DC yesterday we stopped for few hours to visit Gettysburg. The Visitor Center has a very nice assortment of pepperboxes, muskets and other percussion firearms on display. One in particular caught my eye. In reviewing the pictures just now it appears that I somehow failed to snap a photo of it. However, it appeared to be a muzzle loading Sharps, outfitted with a 2.5" bull octagon barrel, false muzzle and barrel length optical sight. Just the thing for sniping at the Yankees on Little Round top, from the cover of Devils Den.

1654474833069.jpeg


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1654475068671.jpeg
 
My Sharps are a 1863 infantry rifle and two Bridgeport 74 with one Hartford. Three are Shilohs and the Hartford I built. I’ve been lucky to shoot some originals to include a 1852. A couple of others I had, had to be sold in the dark days and another was stolen before I got smart enough to buy a safe.
 
Incredible history found at Gettysburg. You happened upon some yourself. Definitely a recommended destination for history buffs and those needing to understand what our country has lived through.
 
Did Sharps even make any muzzleloaders? I know there was a heavy barreled scoped target rifle displayed in the Visitor's center that was picked up in Devil's Den after the battle, but it wasn't a Sharps. It was made in New England if I remember correctly.
 
Trot said:
Did Sharps even make any muzzleloaders? I know there was a heavy barreled scoped target rifle displayed in the Visitor's center that was picked up in Devil's Den after the battle, but it wasn't a Sharps. It was made in New England if I remember correctly.
Click to expand...
Good point and I've been researching this since returning home. I find no references to a Sharps muzzle Loading rifle. The general configuration of this rifle was a bit reminiscent of a Sharps but it is very possible the card in the display case was incorrect or I misread.
 
The top rifle in the rack is a slant breech Sharps that has been rebarreled and restocked. With out my book I would guess it’s a 1852 that uses a paper cartridge like the bottom one that’s a 1859 or 1863 infantry rifle.
 
Trot said:
Here is the one I was thinking of, it is actually in a case with a Sharps rifle. View attachment 143367
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification! Showing my own ignorance, I had actually wondered out loud on this forum not long ago whether a percussion Sharps could be potentially loaded from the muzzle, but I was advised that it would not work very well due to the way the chamber was made for the Sharps bullet. Th first post in this thread mentioned a false muzzle, and I was puzzled. However, the answer is in the photo above... It appears we are talking about the George Leonard rifle. That beast must weigh close to fifty pounds.

The Sharps at the top of the display in the first post in this thread is pretty impressive, too.

Thanks for the cool pictures!

Notchy Bob
 

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