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Winning Bid US $1875 First bid $1500 Quantity 1 # of bids 5 Time left Auction has ended   Started 2025-07-28 00:00:00 Ended 2025-11-21 22:35:25

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company, M1859/69 SRC Cartridge converted, Cal: .50-70, MFG: 1859-63, S/N: 59637 (only on barrel under forearm), Single shot Breech loading rifle, converted capping breech loader, 22'' barrel.

HISTORY: The first of the sharps rifle to use the Straight-Breech that was designed by Richard S. Lawrence. He was Formerly part of Robbins & Lawrence which produced the sharps rifles alongside the Sharps Rifle MFG Co., but now superintendent of the Sharps Rifle Company. The Robbins & Lawrence company went bankrupt & was taken over by Sharps during production of the previous rifle the 1855. With the slanting breech block & other action changes, the 1859 sealed gas far better than the older models, increasing accuracy & making the rifle more pleasurable to shoot with less leaking hot gas hitting the shooter. The 1859 also implemented a improved version of the pellet primer that allowed use of normal percussion caps. During the civil war, The Federal government bought over 80,000 Sharps carbines & 10,000 Sharps rifles, the most common being the model 1859, with updated models of 1863 & 65 being made. The most notable changes are barrel stampings, the removal of the patch box in the stock, & removal of Bayonet lugs. After the Civil War the Government wanted to modernize the army with Metallic cartridge breech loader after using them during the civil war 30,000 Carbines & 1,000 rifles would be converted to the 50-70 government cartridge. These were done between Feb. 1868 & Oct. 1869. Worn out/out of spec barrels were relined with three-groove rifling & the good barrels were left intact with their six-groove rifling, replacement stock all had no patch boxes so converted 1859 carbines can have a replaced stock without its usual patch box. Springfield relined the barrels if they needed it & the cartridge conversion was done by Sharps. These converted Sharps would be used by Cavalry & western frontier units until replaced by 1873 Trapdoor Springfields. These would be bought by Civilians when they were surplus & were loved by western frontier explorers & settlers.

CONDIDTION: The straight wrist Black Walnut stock is excellent with a few minor scuffs & dings from use/age. Metal to wood fitment is solid. Steel patch box in the right cheek of the stock. The left flat of the stock, under the saddle ring, is the inspectors initials ''EF'' in a box. The barrel has been re-blued & rates 95% with light thinning & a light speckling of patina, some spots of roughness/cleaned pitting under the finish. The receiver has be re-finish with faded/buffed markings. The receiver's case hardened finish rates 65% with worn away finish in common wear spots around the wrist, receiver also has speckled brown patina, concentrated on the left side. Case hardened finish remains on the patch box, buttplate, lever & lower tang, they also have some brown patina. The re-finish appears old & is possible a Arsenal refinish when it was cartridge converted. Left side of the receiver is marked ''C'', & ''SHARPS PAT'', ''SEPT 12TH 1848'', patent stamping is half faded, while the ''C'' stamp is crisp (likely applied after re-finish). The right side of the receiver is marked ''S'', ''C.SHARPS' PAT'' ''OCT 5th 1852.'', & ''R.S.LAWRENCE PAT'' ''APRIL 12TH 1859''. The S/N on the upper wrist tang has mostly worn away with faint remains of the outline visible. The ''NEW MODEL 1859'' stamp on the top of the barre, behind the rear sight is not visible, buffed away from re-blue. The left side of the chamber is marked ''C'' & another faded stamping. The bottom of the barrel, under the forearm is marked with faded ''X'' & S/N marl, also a crisp ''16'' stamp (likely applied after re-finish). The breech block & firing pin block are marked ''C''. The bore is excellent. Bright & shiny with no visible roughness & little to no visible wear. Re-lined bore with three groove rifling. The barrel holds a barleycorn front sight with a flip up V-notch ladder rear sight marked 3 to 8. The buttstock carries a steel buttplate that's worn to a mix of case hardened finish, gun metal gray & brown patina, with some light roughness/dings. Rifle has a left side receiver mounted sling ring & bar. Mechanical function appears solid, actions opens freely & smoothly, hammer has solid audible clicks into half/full cock, & the trigger drops hammer smoothly. A Beautiful example of a Sharp Civil War carbine that was later metallic cartridge converted. Antique, No FFL Req - Value: 3000 to 6000

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Price

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company, M1859/69 SRC Cartridge conve... Item # 4438 This auction is over. No new bids can be placed. Price: US $1875

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