Sharps New Model 1859 VGC converted to metallic cartridge 52-79 VGC

Description

Sharps new model 1859 conversion to metallic cartridge 52-79 LAWRENCE PATENT APRIL 12, 1859, VGC Civil War

Sharps (U.S.) Model 1859 Lever-Action Falling-Block Percussion Rifle (single-shot/ breech-loading/ black powder/ cartridge ammunition converted to metallic cartridge)

One of the most famous of Civil War sharpshooting arms, the
.52 caliber Sharps Model 1859 is a breechloading falling-block rifle that used paper cartridge ammunition and either fulminate of mercury wafers or percussion caps as an ignition source. In the North, several regiments were provided with this arm by citizens who paid to equip and train them. Colonel Hiram Berdan, for example, raised two regiments of troops and equipped them with Sharps rifles. These regiments repeatedly were able to successfully engage four times their number of their enemy because of the rapid fire capability and great accuracy of their Sharps rifles. The South respected carbine versions of the Sharps and made copies of them for use by Confederate troops

Stock 275 – Serial 70470