Sharps Collector Association


    The Sharps Collector Association was formed in 1993 to study the firearms of Christian Sharps and the
    Sharps Companies.

  •     Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company
  •     Sharps Rifle Company
  •     C. Sharps & Company
  •     Sharps and Hankins

    The breech-loading rifle, invented by Christian Sharps and patented in 1848, was the first successful falling block
    percussion rifle.  After some changes in 1859 and 1863 it played a very crucial role in the Civil War years of 1861 – 1865.  
    The Sharps Company also produced the Sharps and Hankins cartridge rifle that was adapted by the Navy.  They also
    produced several types of pistols, primarily the four-barrel derringer.

    From 1869 until the factory ceased production in 1881 the Sharps cartridge rifle were the most powerful and accurate
    single shot rifle on the western plains and the eastern target ranges.  The hammer models 1869, 1874, 1877 and the
    hammerless Model 1878 was the most popular guns used in the buffalo hunt and the 1000 yard Creedmoor target
    ranges.  

    With the original Sharps factory letters and extensive correspondence from the dealers a detailed history of this period is
    covered in the Sharps Collector Society report, produced three times a year.
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