The Sharps was the most common and best known breechloading gun during the Civil War. Approximately 100,000 carbines and 15,000 rifles were made and issued during the War by the Union. By comparison, the Union made approximately 1,500,000 of the standard infantry 58 Rifle Musket.
The Richmond factories of the Confederacy made about 5,000 Sharps duplicate carbines from a total arms production of about 15,000.
The invention by Christian Sharps was of a vertical sliding block at the rear end of the barrel. The sliding breechblock allowed the Sharps to be loaded from the back end instead of from the muzzle before the invention of metallic cartridges. The Sharps could be loaded with either a loose bullet and blackpowder, or with paper cartridges. The photo of [making paper cartridges] uses a typical Sharps 52 caliber hollow base bullet.
Nearly all of the pre-War Sharps were made with the breechblock at a slightly angle then perpendicular to the barrel. These are known as "slant breech." All of the Civil War production had the breechblock perpendicular to the barrel and are known as "straight breech."
This slant breech carbine is one of the about 19,000 Sharps rifles and carbines had been made during the ten years before the Civil War.
The straight breech Sharps could be converted to shoot metallic cartridges. About 30,000 of the Civil War production were converted to use metallic cartridges within the several years after the War. The Sharps and the Remington Rolling Block rifles were extensively used to hunt buffalo. Anyone could get into the buffalo hide business with a low cost war surplus Sharps and upgrade his equipment after the first hunt.
Sharps rifles and carbines are available in several brand names as modern made replicas. Newly made guns may be purchased by legal buyers from Dixie Gun Works. Those Sharps replicas made like the Civil War production may be ordered by mail. Cartridge models are also available, but must be purchased through a dealer in your state with a Federal Firearms License (FFL).
For more information, consult "Flayderman's Guide To Antique American Firearms" by Norm Flayderman, "Carbines of the U.S. Cavalry" by John D. McAulay, and "Sharps Firearms" by Frank Sellers.
| Length | 39 ½ inches |
| Weight | 8 pounds |
| Caliber | 52 (.535") |
| Bullet Weight | 410 grains |
| Power Charge | 60 grains |
| Muzzle Velocity | 1100 feet per seconds |
| Muzzle Energy | 1100 foot pounds |
James V. Acker, Pres.