I was asked recently "what I thought of a Sharps Carbine as a Saddle Gun?"
The Sharps Rifle and Carbine are great rifles with a lot of history particularly in the Old West, replacing muzzle loaders and providing a greatly extended range for hunting which made the Sharps Rifle a favorite of Buffalo hunters. The picture at left is the excellent Uberti reproduction of a Sharps carbine, priced at $1,739.
The Sharps is a single shot rifle, using a lever much like a lever action Winchester, to drop a locking block and exposing the chamber to load a cartridge. The most common chambering or cartridge for the Sharps is in .45-70 also called .45 Government.
In 1874, after 700 Comanche warriors attacked approximately 30 buffalo hunters in the Texas panhandle, at a place called Adobe Wells, the buffalo hunters situated here held off the Comanches for 4 days until re-enforcements arrived. This is the famous fight where Billy Dixon made a reported 1,000 yard+ shot on a Comanche Warrior using his Sharps, believed to be in .50-110. The Comanches warriors were killed at ranges they thought they were safe at.
The Sharps rifles are commonly in 32 to 34 inch barrels, although I have one in a 29 inch barrel length. The Sharps carbine has a 22 inch barrel. Weighing in at around 10.5 lbs, and being a single shot rifle, the Sharps carbine may not be the best saddle gun depending on your need to carry a rifle. Even the U.S. Cavalry carrying a similar type carbine, the single shot Trapdoor Springfield, would primarily use their six shot revolvers or sabres before using the carbine on horseback.
More sources for the Sharps rifle/carbine:
C. Sharps Arms Inc.
Shiloh Sharps Rifles
Cimarron Firearms Company
I have never carried my Sharps rifle on horseback. I prefer a lever action, repeating rifle such as the Winchester Model 94 in .30-30 or a Marlin Model 1895 in .45-70. However, many did carry the Sharps or Springfields while in the saddle, sometimes using the saddle ring to secure the gun with saddle strings, which I'm sure gave way to carrying the rifle horizontally between the rider and the swell of the saddle.
Hi, as a living historian, I just wonted to toss out there for who ever asked you the question, that there are a lot of places that make period carbine boots, sockets, and other things that can be hooked to your saddle to carry a heavy carbine in. Just check with the Civil War sutlers on line. However I will add, and many will agree, a horse is one of the the best ways to pack a buffalo rifle around, unless your used to packing an 18-30 lbs of gun all the time. Nice video.
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