Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company
TypePrivate
IndustryFirearms
FoundedOctober 9, 1851 (1851-10-09) in Hartford, Connecticut, United States
FounderSamuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence
Defunct1881 (1881)
FateDissolved
Headquarters
Bridgeport, Connecticut
,
United States
Area served
United States
Key people
John C. Palmer, Christian Sharps, Richard S. Lawrence
ProductsSingle-shot rifles
Early tape priming system developed by Richard Lawrence integrated on a Sharp's model 1859 Carbine.
Side view of a Sharps model 1859 carbine with the action open.

Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was the manufacturer of the Sharps Rifle. The company was organized by Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence as a holding company in Hartford, Connecticut, on October 9, 1851 with $100,000 in capital. Despite Sharps departing from the company bearing his name, Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced over 100,000 rifles, but it dissolved in 1881 with the widespread use of repeating rifles.[1]

History

Hartford sewing machine company building that housed Sharps Rifle Co.

Christian Sharps (1810–1874), patented his rifle in 1848. The first contract for 5,000 rifles was in 1850 and manufacturing started in 1851. The Model 1851 "box-lock" was developed by Christian Sharps, Rollin White, and Richard Lawrence at Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. The second contract for 15,000 rifles was so large that no suitable land was available in Windsor, Vermont. The holding company advanced Robbins & Lawrence $40,000 to purchase 25 acres (100,000 m2) of land in Hartford, Connecticut, and to erect a brick factory building.[1]

Christian Sharps left the Company in 1853. He later formed a partnership with William Hankins in 1862, known as Sharps & Hankins. In 1855, manufacturing was moved to Hartford and continued until 1876. Operations were then moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut.[2]

In 1872, Sharps introduced the .50-90 Sharps hunting cartridge.[3] Hugo Borchardt designed the last rifle made by the company, the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878, but the company went bankrupt and was defunct three years later in 1881.[2]

The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced over 100,000 firearms during the US Civil War for the Union Army, but the company was plagued by lawsuits and eventually succumbed to a shifting marketplace as repeating rifles became more popular with shooters.[1]

ProductionSharps ModelTypeCaliber
1849 to 1850Model 1849Rifle0.44
1850 to 1850Model 1850Rifle0.44
1852 to 1855Model 1851Carbine.36, .44, .52
1853 to 1855Model 1852Rifle0.52
1853 to 1855Model 1852Carbine0.52
1853 to 1855Model 1852ShotgunVarious
1854 to 1857Model 1853CarbineVarious
1856 to 1857Model 18550.52
1856 to 1857Model 1855U.S. Navy Rifle0.52
1855 to 1857Model 1855British Carbine0.52
1859 to 1866Model 1859Carbine0.52
1859 to 1866Model 1863Carbine0.52
1859 to 1866Model 1865Carbine0.52
1859 to 1866Model 1859Rifle0.52
1869 to 1871Model 1869Carbine0.52
1869 to 1871Model 1869Military Rifle0.50-70
1869 to 1871Model 1869Sporting Rifle.44-77, .50-70
1871 to 1880Model 1874Various
1877 to 1878Model 18770.45
1878 to 1881Model 1878Various
Left side view of Lawrence priming system integrated on a Sharps Model 1859 carbine.

Legacy

Reproductions of the paper cartridge Sharps 1863 Rifle, the metallic cartridge 1874 Sharps Rifle,[4] and Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 are manufactured today for use in hunting and target shooting. A number of companies, among them Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company and C. Sharps Arms Co. Inc., both of Big Timber, Montana, and the Italian gunmaker Davide Pedersoli & Co. of Brescia, offer a line of Sharps reproductions.[5][6]

The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company had manufactured bicycles under contract for Weed Sewing Machine Company in Hartford. When Sharps relocated to Bridgeport, the Weed Sewing Machine Company bought the old Hartford plant to manufacture bicycles themselves.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Foster-Harris, William (2007). The Look of the Old West: A Fully Illustrated Guide. Skyhorse Publishing Inc. pp. 67–69. ISBN 978-1-60239-024-9.
  2. 1 2 Flayderman, Norm (December 17, 2007). Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms and Their Values. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media, Inc. p. 194. ISBN 978-0-89689-455-6.
  3. ↑ Accurate Smokeless Powders Loading Guide Number Two (Revised), Book by Accurate Arms Co, Wolfe Publishing, 2000 p.368
  4. ↑ Venturino, M. “Duke.” (2020, November 24). Me & sharps rifles. GUNS Magazine. https://gunsmagazine.com/our-experts/me-sharps-rifles/
  5. ↑ Ramage, Ken (August 5, 2008). Gun Digest 2009: The World's Greatest Gun Book. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media, Inc. pp. 88–89. ISBN 978-0-89689-647-5.
  6. ↑ Taffin, John (1995). "The Sharps 1874". Guns Magazine. Harris. 41 (5): 60–63.
  7. ↑ Hounshell, David (September 1, 1985). From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932: The Development of Manufacturing Technology in the United States. JHU Press. pp. 193–194. ISBN 978-0-8018-3158-4.

7.Marcot, Roy - Marron, Edward - Paxton, Ron. "Sharps Firearms: The Percussion Era 1848 - 1865"

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