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The Sharps percussion carbine and rifle - ammunition ahead of its time

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Someone asked in a for-sale thread for a Sharps percussion rifle how they were loaded. I did not want to pollute their for-sale thread, so I figured I'd make a post.

While there were other cartridge-based firearms contemporary to the Sharps, they all utilized some kind of cartridge that had to be extracted from the breech after firing. For example, the Smith carbine utilized cartridges initially made of India Rubber. The Maynard utilized a brass cartridge. All of these cartridges had a hole in their bottom to allow the flash from the traditional musket percussion cap to pass through and ignite the gunpowder. But, after firing, the shooter had to break open the action and remove the spent cartridge.

Not with the Sharps! The Sharps was revolutionary in that it used a combustible cartridge. Initially, the cartridge was made of paper, and was long enough that when inserted fully into the chamber, the "tail" of the cartridge was stick out. When the falling breech block was raised back up into the firing position, it sliced off the tail of the cartridge like a guillotine. This exposed the gunpowder in the rest of the cartridge still in the chamber to the fire channel for the external percussion cap. When fired, all the paper went out the bore with the bullet, and the shooter simply opened up the breech, inserted another cartridge, and was ready to cap and fire! Nothing to waste time extracting or getting stuck in the chamber.

Here is a picture of the "shearing" type of Sharps cartridge:
1661331322221.png


There were a couple of problems with this design. Sometimes when the breech block was closed, rather than cleanly shearing off the tail of the cartridge it would "fold" the paper up, thus blocking the gunpowder from the fire channel, causing a misfire. Another problem is that when the tail was sheared off, some powder was in that tail and would end up on top of the breech block. This could add quite a "poof" in your face on firing if you did not remember to dump or blow it off before firing. Still another problem is that if paper folded over on shearing, it would get pinched between the face of the breech block and the chamber. This made a gap between the breech and the chamber, and sometimes powder will spill down and collect under the foregrip. If this powder accumulated and detonated, it could blow the forestock off the gun!

Later designs of the cartridge were shortened so that they exactly fit in the chamber. The tail-end of the cartridge was made with a very lightweight tissue-like paper that the cap blast would burn through. This cartridge fit entirely into the chamber on loading, and so eliminated all of the problems of the shearing-tail cartridge.

Paper was found to be less than ideal for the Sharps Cartridge, as it was prone to tearing where it was tied/joined to the bullet, resulting in the powder dumping everywhere and rending the cartridge ruined. The US arsenals switched to very fine linen, which was found to be much more durable.

Unfortunately such fine linen is not manufactured anymore today. It faded away in the 1940s where it was in use as drafting paper. You can still find new old stock rolls of it from time to time. Of course you can still use paper which is also period-appropriate, especially for those made by the Confederacy. Eras Gone Bullet Molds makes an excellent copy of the Richmond Laboratories Sharps bullet.

Here you can see one I made compared to photographs of historical ones:

IMG_5746.JPG



Another revolutionary aspect of the Sharps is that it had the capability to use a pellet-style primer. The gun had a built-in pellet primer feeding system that would launch the primer out to the nipple on firing, whereupon the hammer would catch it and smash it on the percussion cone, causing it to fire. In the event that these special primers were not available, traditional musket percussion caps could be used.

In this picture, you can see a sleeve of the disk primers along with an original linen cartridge.

linen_cartridge3.jpg


In an emergency, one could load the Sharps like a muzzle loader, pouring powder down the barrel. But you would need an undersized bullet or a patched round ball as you could not force the correct Sharps bullet in from the muzzle. However, you could drop a Sharps bullet into the chamber with the breech open, and then pour in powder to fill the chamber, and close the breech block and fire it that way, also.

The Sharps was one of the few breechloading carbines that made the transition from percussion to self-contained metallic cartridges. It's falling block breech design and beefy receiver provided enough room for extraction mechanisms and strength for heftier cartridges.
 
Thanks for the history lesson. I was just gifted one of these sharps in a replica. It is .54 cal. and my buddy said he just put in the bullet and dumped in powder. I wondered about all the issues that you mentioned in your posting.

Do you currently shoot one of these rifles, and if so, what method do you use?

Thanks

Fleener
 
Thanks for the history lesson. I was just gifted one of these sharps in a replica. It is .54 cal. and my buddy said he just put in the bullet and dumped in powder. I wondered about all the issues that you mentioned in your posting.

Do you currently shoot one of these rifles, and if so, what method do you use?

Thanks

Fleener

I currently shoot a Pedersoli 1859 Sharps Carbine in N-SSA competition. Have one this weekend, in fact.

I use combustible cartridges. I have "rolled my own", but I am currently using a bullet designed by Mr. Larry Flees that is a variation of the historical "Christmas Tree" bullet. It has a "ring tail" that is .5" in diameter so as to accept the cardboard tubes sold by Charlie Hahn. These tubes shatter on firing and are blasted out the muzzle behind the bullet. Being commercially available in large numbers saves time in making cartridges. You still have to glue a tissue end cap to the end of the tube.

I believe, having now handled historical Christmas Tree bullets, and discussion with folks like Mr. Michael Murray, that the front driving band on the C.T. bullet was designed and intended to fit into the bore. This helps ensure that the bullet when chambered is coaxial with the bore. None of the modern Christmas Tree bullet molds I have tried do this in my Pedersoli Sharps with a .520" bore. Not the Pedersoli mold, not the Rapine copy.

Larry Flees' new mold is designed so that the front band bore-rides in a .52" bore. I have found it to be very accurate and it is my current competition bullet, used in conjunction with Charlie Hahn tubes.

But I also very much like the Eras Gone Richmond Laboratories Sharps bullet when making hand-rolled cartridge tubes. The Richmond Bullet has a very long heel which gives a lot of surface area to glue the tube to the bullet, so they are not prone to pulling out of the cartridge tube.

I found some new old stock linen drafting paper and it makes fantastic linen cartridges. Burns more completely than anything else I tried. Sadly, it is very hard to find today and there is no linen made today that is anything like the fine linen used for drafting linen.
 
I, too, want to thank you for taking the time to educate us about this rifle/load combination. I used to see these for sale years ago in certain catalogues, but my interest didn't go any further since where I hunt the projectile and powder must be loaded from the muzzle in Muzzleloading season. Does look like a well thought out firearm. Hope you place high for this weekend's competition.
 
If you are thinking that you need one, I might make you a good deal on one.

Fleener
 
Thanks for the history lesson. I was just gifted one of these sharps in a replica. It is .54 cal. and my buddy said he just put in the bullet and dumped in powder. I wondered about all the issues that you mentioned in your posting.

Do you currently shoot one of these rifles, and if so, what method do you use?

Thanks

Fleener
I shoot one in N-SSA competition as does my dad and I keep both in ammunition. I'm pretty sure Mailemaker and I use the same type of rolled paper cartridge glued to the bullet base. I have the Larry Flees mod as well.

Just as with other repops, you have to know your bore size before getting a mold. Even modern Sharps can vary widely
 
Thanks for the history lesson. I was just gifted one of these sharps in a replica. It is .54 cal. and my buddy said he just put in the bullet and dumped in powder. I wondered about all the issues that you mentioned in your posting.

Do you currently shoot one of these rifles, and if so, what method do you use?

Thanks

Fleener
I have an1863 carbine in 50 cal and an 1863 3 band rifle in 45 cal. Drop the block put in the bullet, pour in some corn meal as a filler and add the powder. Raise the block and add the musket cap and good to go. Just make sure you add bore butter between the gas plate and the block.
 
I have a Sile imported 52cal carbine .I got it way back in the mid 70s. I have only used the TC Maxi ball. Loaded them lubed totally in a paper tube with powder and both ends tied off. I used mostly newspaper and usually nitrided so it would burn more completly. I had it all figured out so the tail end would shear off when loaded. If lubed with shorting or other lube that worked accuracy was good 3"-4" at 100 yards. I could shoot a long time and the barrel would stay clean. Them Maxi's hold a impressive amount of lube. MV was right at 1000 fps . Still have it too. It came with a black chrome plated breech block and chrome bore.
 
I’ve posted this before but maybe it adds to this thread. Shiloh Sharps 1863 infantry rifle with .535” ball at 50 yards. Loaded loose 2fg powder after lightly breech seating the ball and CCI musket caps. After more then a dozen shots I adjusted the sight for the last two in the bullseye.
383D6502-C1B1-43A3-8F7B-FFEC3DAC92E5 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
 
Thanks for the history lesson. I was just gifted one of these sharps in a replica. It is .54 cal. and my buddy said he just put in the bullet and dumped in powder. I wondered about all the issues that you mentioned in your posting.

Do you currently shoot one of these rifles, and if so, what method do you use?

Thanks

Fleener
forget making the fiddly paper tubes. Find the proper length of Charlie's tubes for your gun, Check Mike Beliveau he has a video on how to measure length,
. Easy to load and very authentic looking flat base cartridge with a ring tail bullet.
here is the paper tube source link
https://jaymescompany.com/hahns-sharps-paper-cartridge/Bunk
 
forget making the fiddly paper tubes. Find the proper length of Charlie's tubes for your gun, Check Mike Beliveau he has a video on how to measure length,
. Easy to load and very authentic looking flat base cartridge with a ring tail bullet.
here is the paper tube source link
https://jaymescompany.com/hahns-sharps-paper-cartridge/Bunk

Or better yet- go straight to Charlie-

http://hahnmachineworks.com/index.html
As for Mike Beliveau, yeah he has a video. Does he shoot a Sharps in competition? No. Does he have extensive experience shooting a paper cartridge Sharps? Doubt it. Your best source for accurate information on getting a paper cartridge Sharps to shoot is either Charlie Hahn or Larry Flees.


IAB 1863 Sharps carbine. Larry Flees breech mod. Sharps Xtree ringtail, rolled paper tubes, 46g 3f Old E, beeswax/lard lube, RWS caps. 1 called flyer, 4th shot.
sharpsgroup1.jpg
 
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