Working the Sharps Model 1874 Rifle

The name Christian Sharps ranks among the most famous names of all firearms inventors. History regards the rifles he designed as some of the best, most reliable firearms ever made. Since the 1850s, when Christian Sharps designed his falling-block, breech-loading singleshot rifle, Sharp’s rifles have played apart in the history of America and Built in Italy by Pedersoli and supplied courtesy of Cimarron Firearms, this Sharps Model 1874 replica is a faithful copy of the original. much of the rest of the world.

The Sharps’ action was first designed as a breech-loading percussion rifle. This system was drastically improved by the genius of Richard Lawrence of the Robbins & Lawrence Armory in Vermont during the mid- 1850s. Sharps rifles went on to play an important role in the American Civil War, serving both sides equally as well, and in the process gaining a reputation for strength and absolute dependability.

The well-known Sharps nickname, "Old Reliable" which later appeared on the Model 1874s barrel, is said to have come from satisfied Civil War troopers. It’s

impossible to estimate how many Sharps rifles have been manufactured and how many exist today, but more than 100,000 Sharps rifles and carbines were purchased by the Union during the Civil War. Because its action was a breechloader to begin with, the Sharps rifle made the transition into the new metallic cartridges in the 1870s with very little alteration required. These breech-loaders quickly became popular with hunters and long-range shooters.

One glaring advantage of the Sharps action was its great strength and the ability to handle virtually any metallic cartridge known in the days before the turn of the 19th century. During the period of westward expansion, the Sharps gained still another reputation across the American plains in the 1870s and 1880s, where the cartridge versions of the famous rifle became popular with buffalo hunters. By the 1870s, the day of the repeating rifle was dawning, and the proverbial handwriting was on the wall.

The popularity of single-shot rifles began to wane. The Sharps company, however, refusing to move into repeaters, instead laid their hopes on a highly advanced new hammerless singleshot action designed by Hugo Borchardt. Despite the novel features of the modern Borchardt design, the Sharps Rifle Company soon followed the path of several others and passed into oblivion in 1881, but not before leaving behind an incredible legacy through their remarkable rifles.

The disassembly procedure that follows here will work well for most of the side-hammer Sharps rifles and

carbines manufactured from 1851 on. This includes the percussion models as well as most of the modern-made Sharps replicas. The Illustration included here is from The Gun Digest Book of Exploded Firearms Drawings, 2nd Edition, edit Murtz (DBI Books Inc., Disassembly Procedure 1. For safety’s sake, before handling any firearm, let’s be sure it is unloaded.

Hold the rifle around the barrel and wooden forearm with your left hand, and keeping your fingers away from the trigger and pointing the muzzle in a safe direction, pull back on the hammer (#24) until you hear one audible click. Next, open the action by pulling the lever (#14) all the way down with your right hand. Look into the rear of the barrel to be certain there is not a cartridge in the chamber. If a cartridge is present, reach down and remove it by pulling the cartridge straight out the rear of the barrel.

If you find any any live ammunition, I suggest you remove it to a separate location well away from your bench. 2. Disassembling the action begins with unscrewing and removing the two lock-plate screws (#46) located on the left side of the receiver (#8). Carefully pull the lock-plate assembly (#26) out from the right side, being careful not to splinter the wood at the edges of the lockplate. Now unscrew and remove the forend screws (#3 and 4), pull down on the forend, and take it off the barrel.

With military models you must depress the band spring(s) and slide the band(s) forward and off the barrel before the forend can be removed. Next, unscrew and remove the lever-spring screw (#6), and then lift off the lever spring (#7). Push in on the leverpin retainer plunger (#10) located on the forward end of the right side of the receiver, and then rotate the lever-pin handle (#9) toward the front until the lever pin becomes unlocked from its mortise in the receiver.

Pull open the lever and remove the lever pin (#9). The lever and the breechblock (#18) can now be pulled down as an assembly and taken out through the bottom of the receiver. On metallic-cartridge models, the extractor (#13) can be lifted out of the receiver bottom. 3. To remove the buttstock, unscrew and remove both the guard-plate stock screw (#38) and the guard-plate receiver screw (#39) from the guard plate. Then, unscrew and remove the front and rear guard-plate screws (#35 and 36) from the top receiver tang.

Carefully pull the buttstock toward the rear until it and the guard plate (#37) come loose and can be removed. The guard plate can now be pulled straight down and out of its inletting in the buttstock. 4. To disassemble the lock plate, begin with the hammer (#24) all the way forward. Using either a mainspring vise, a machinist’s clamp, or a small C-clamp, compress the mainspring

1 Barrel 2 Front Sight 3 Front Forend Screw 4 Rear Forend Screw 5 Barrel Stud 6 Lever Spring Screw 7 Lever Spring 8 Receiver 9 Lever Pin 10 Lever Pin Retainer Plunger 11 Lever Pin Retainer Plunger Spring 12 Lever Pin Retainer Plunger Spring Screw 13 Extractor 14 Lever 15 Lever Toggle Link Screw 16 Lever Toggle Link 17 Upper Toggle Link Screw 18 Breechblock 19 Firing Pin Plate 20 Firing Pin Plate Screw 21 Firing Pin 22 Firing Pin Screw 23 Rear Sight Detent 24 Hammer 25 Tumbler Screw (#34) enough so that the stirrup (#31) can be rotated out of the mainspring ears.

Then unscrew and remove the mainspring screw (#33). The mainspring is now free and can be lifted up and off the lock plate. Unscrew and remove the tumbler screw (#25) from the center of the Sharps Model 1874 Single-Shot Rifle 26 Lock Plate 27 Tumbler 28 Bridle 29 Bridle Screw 30 Stirrup Screw 31 Stirrup 32 Sear 33 Mainspring Screw 34 Mainspring 35 Front Guard Plate Screw 36 Rear Guard Plate Screw hammer (#24) and pull off the hammer (see note below). Next, remove the three bridle screws (#29) and the bridle (#28).

The tumbler (#27) and the sear (#32) can now be lifted off the rear face of the lock plate. Make note of their positions for reassembly.

Note: If the hammer will not come 37 Guard Plate 38 Guard Plate Stock Screw 39 Guard Plate Receiver Screw 40 Trigger Spring 41 Trigger Spring Screw 42 Trigger 43 Trigger Screw 44 Rear Sight Assembly 45 Rear Sight Mounting Screws 46 Lock Plate Screws 47 Rear Sight Detent Spring off the tumbler after you have removed the three bridle screws, reinsert the tumbler screw into the center of the hammer, leaving it about one full turn from bottomed out.

Holding the lock plate in your hand, strike the tumbler screw a few blows with a plastic mallet to break the hammer

loose from the tumbler. Once it’s loose, follow the instructions above. 5. Disassemble the breech bolt by first removing the lever (#14) by unscrewing the lever-toggle link screw (#15) and then pulling the lever down away from the breechblock (#18). The lever-toggle link (#16) is removed by removing the upper toggle-link screw (#17). On metallic-cartridge models, the firing-pin screw (#22) and the firing-pin plate screw (#20) can now be removed.

The firing-pin plate (#19) will slide off the breechblock and the firing pin (#21) can now be lifted out from the rear. On the Pedersoli-made Sharps rifle, the firing pin disassembly is different from that of American-made rifles. The Pedersoli doesn’t use a firing-pin plate screw, and the firing pin is a two-piece unit.

By holding forward on the firing pin and then sliding the firing-pin stop plate to the left, the firing pin, firing-pin nose, and the firingpin spring can be withdrawn out toward the rear of the breechblock. 6. The disassembly of the remaining parts is as follows: The guard plate is removed by unscrewing and removing the trigger-spring screw (#41) and the trigger spring (#40). The trigger (#42) can be removed by unscrewing and removing the trigger screw (#43). The trigger is now free to drop out I from the bottom.

The buttplate can be removed by simply unscrewing the two buttplate screws and lifting the buttplate off the stock. Reassembly of the rifle, as you might suspect, is simply a matter of reversing the order of the steps above.