Sharps Model 1874 Conversion .45-110 27 Inch Heavy Octagonal Single Shot Rifle, Antique

Archival record: Specifications and condition reflect the firearm as listed at the time of auction.
Final Auction Price: $3,230.00

This antique Sharps represents a fascinating example of how valuable percussion rifles were adapted for continued use during America’s transition to metallic cartridges. Built around an 1860s Sharps percussion receiver, the rifle was later converted to cartridge operation using a Sharps heavy octagonal barrel and is now configured in the style of the Model 1874. Chambered in the formidable .45-110 Sharps cartridge, it features a 27 inch serial matching barrel, double set triggers, period style sporting sights, and the classic Sharps falling block action.

Identification

MMA#: 260622LM008

Make: Sharps Rifle Co.

Model: Model 1874 Configuration, Converted from Earlier Sharps Percussion Rifle

Serial Number: 48230

Year of Manufacture: 1860s Receiver, Later Cartridge Conversion

Caliber: .45-110 Sharps

Action Type: Lever Actuated Falling Block Single Shot Rifle with Double Set Triggers

Barrel Length: 27 Inch Heavy Octagonal

The Sharps barrel is serial matched to the receiver beneath the forearm.

Sights / Optics

The front sight is a tunnel style sight using a post and ball. The sight is dovetailed to the barrel, with its hood soldered to the base.

The barrel mounted rear sight uses a square notched buckhorn blade when folded down. When raised, it becomes a ladder sight with a sliding V notched blade for elevation adjustment.

Stock Configuration & Condition

The hardwood furniture consists of a straight grip buttstock and short forearm. The buttstock has a straight comb and checkered metal buttplate.

A small area of surface wood is missing from the bottom rear of the forearm. The stocks otherwise exhibit scrapes and several compression marks consistent with age and use.

Length of pull measures approximately 13 1/4 inches from the front trigger and 14 inches from the rear trigger to the back of the buttplate.

The buttplate shows surface erosion and wear.

The stocks have been refinished.

Overall stock condition: Very Good as refinished.

Finish & Overall Condition

Type of Finish: Blue and Case Color

Finish Originality: Original to the Conversion

The receiver has subsequently been treated with cold blue.

Most of the rifle’s metal finish has been lost. Much of the cold blue applied to the receiver has also worn away.

The metal surfaces exhibit scratches, dings, oxidation discoloration, and areas of surface erosion. The screw heads show heavy use. Markings range from well defined to faded.

Overall condition: Good as a refurbished Antique.

Bore & Mechanics

Bore Condition: The bore is semi bright to light gray with deep rifling. Scattered oxidation and light erosion are present throughout. Chatter marks from a barrel reamer are visible near the muzzle. In the original evaluator’s opinion, the bore rates 7 out of 10.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly during mechanical evaluation. The rifle was not test fired. Suitability for firing should not be inferred solely from the mechanical function check, particularly given the rifle’s antique receiver and later cartridge conversion.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories

Included is a letter stating that the rifle was converted from an earlier Sharps percussion rifle to a cartridge firing configuration.

Our Assessment

Christian Sharps was responsible for one of the most important American breechloading rifle designs of the nineteenth century. Beginning around 1850, the Sharps system developed through numerous military and sporting configurations, first using percussion ignition and eventually becoming closely associated with the powerful metallic cartridges of the post Civil War American West.

This rifle is particularly interesting because its history appears to cross both sides of that technological transition.

Its receiver dates to the 1860s and originated as part of an earlier Sharps percussion rifle. At some later point, the rifle was converted to metallic cartridge operation and brought into what is now a Model 1874 style configuration. The accompanying letter also identifies the rifle as a conversion from an earlier percussion Sharps.

Conversions of older Sharps rifles allowed useful and valuable percussion actions to remain relevant after metallic cartridges had fundamentally changed the firearms market. Rather than representing a Model 1874 manufactured from the outset in its present configuration, this rifle should therefore be understood as an earlier Sharps that was subsequently adapted into a cartridge firing sporting rifle.

The barrel is itself noteworthy. It is a genuine Sharps heavy octagonal barrel and is serial matched to the receiver beneath the forearm. Portions of its original Sharps markings remain visible. The receiver likewise retains partial Sharps patent markings, providing additional evidence of the rifle’s earlier origins despite the substantial alterations and refinishing it has received over its long life.

Its current chambering is .45-110 Sharps, one of the large black powder cartridges closely associated with heavy Sharps sporting and long range rifles. The substantial 27 inch octagonal barrel, double set triggers, tunnel front sight, and combination buckhorn and ladder rear sight give the completed rifle the character of a nineteenth century long range sporting arm.

The Model 1874 designation itself is an interesting part of Sharps history. Rifles of the pattern had entered production before 1874, and the designation by which collectors know them today was applied to distinguish the earlier action from later Sharps developments. As a result, the familiar “Model 1874” name does not represent a simple introduction year in the manner modern collectors might expect.

This particular rifle has clearly experienced a long working life. Most of its metal finish is gone, the receiver has been treated with cold blue, the stocks have been refinished, and the metal shows oxidation, surface erosion, scratches, dings, and heavily used screw heads. The bore retains deep rifling but shows scattered oxidation and light erosion and rates 7 out of 10.

Those changes are also part of what makes the rifle historically interesting. It is not presented as an untouched factory original Model 1874. Instead, it is an antique Sharps percussion action that survived long enough to be converted for metallic cartridges, fitted with a serial matching Sharps barrel, refinished, maintained, and continued in use.

For the Sharps collector, that makes serial number 48230 an intriguing artifact of the transition from percussion arms to the large bore metallic cartridge rifles that came to define the Sharps name during the latter nineteenth century.

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