The story of the Sharps four-barrel pistol begins, officially,on December 18, 1849. On that date, the United States Patent Officeissued patent number 6960 for a revolver to Christian Sharps, thenresiding in Washington, D.C. This "revolver" was, actually, not arevolver at all, but a pepperbox in which the barrels didn'trevolve! It was fired by a striker which did revolve, though, on acenter post to hit, in sequence, the percussion caps which wereplaced on nipples on the ends of the barrels. The side hammerserved both as a cocking lever and as the force behind thestriker. The pistol was not produced on a commercial basis until 1859,after Sharps had become sole owner of the Fairmont Rifle Works inWest Philadelphia. By this time, the metallic cartridge had beenintroduced and Sharps was able to develop his design into apractical repeating pistol. Patent number 22753 was issued toSharps on January 25, 1859, again for a "revolver". The first modelwas .22 caliber. Made with a brass frame, it had a spur or studtrigger, and was a single-action, four-shot repeater. Approximately85,000 of these little pepperboxes were made in the ten yearsbetween 1859 and 1868. In 1862, William Hankins joined the firm and the company became"Sharps & Hankins". With the money brought into the company byHankins, they were able to acquire a new factory. The new factorywas first used for the manufacture of metallic rimfire cartridgesbut was later used to make both rifles and pistols. The Sharps andHankins (third model) pistols differed from the first and secondmodels in many ways. They were larger, .32 caliber, and had ironframes. With only one exception, the Sharps & Hankins pistolshad the barrel release button on the left side of the frame insteadof underneath the frame, as was most common on the earlier pistols.Some are found with the firing mounted in the frame instead of onthe hammer, a few are also found with extractors. When the partnership was dissolved in 1867, production of thismodel was stopped entirely. The fourth, or "birdshead" model wasthe last Sharps pepperbox produced. Production ceased with thedeath of Christian Sharps in 1874.
C Sharps 1859 Pepperbox Serial Number List
Christian Sharps (1811-1874) was the originator of a line ofsturdy, practical, and popular military and sporting rifles andhandguns that were associated with several events that shapedAmerican history in 19th century, including armed conflict inKansas during the 1850s, the Civil War, the era of the Plainsbuffalo hunter, and the rise of modern long-range competitionshooting during the 1870s. Sharps worked at John Hall's Rifle Works in Harpers Ferry,Virginia, where he learned the principles of arms manufacturing.His first breechloading rifle design was patented in 1848, and thetoggle-linking trigger guard and vertically operating sliding wedgebreechblock of later Sharps rifles and carbines date from thatpatent. These features are still with us today, and have seen usein both rifle and artillery breech mechanisms. The springlever-toggle-breech mechanism of the Borchardt-Luger semi-automaticpistol also had its roots in Christian Sharps' lever-linkedbreech. In 1850, Sharps moved to Mill Creek, Pennsylvania, nearPhiladelphia, and contracted with the firm of A. S. Nippes tomanufacture two of his sporting rifle designs, which became knownas the Model 1849 and Model 1850. Faced with difficulty inobtaining financing for further ventures, Sharps left thePhiladelphia area in 1851 and relocated to Hartford, Connecticut,where he formed the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. Lackingproduction facilities, he contracted with the Windsor, Vermont firmof Robbins & Lawrence to manufacture his new breechloader. Thisventure continued until 1855. Among the Sharps-designed firearms manufactured under thisassociation were the Model 1851 "Box Lock" Carbine, which featuredthe Maynard tape primer system, and the Model 1852 and Model 1853"Slanting Breech" Carbines, which were equipped with theSharps-patented pellet primer system as an integral part of itsbreech mechanism. Model 1853 Carbines were nicknamed "Beecher'sBibles," after noted New York clergyman and abolitionist Henry WardBeecher. Approximately 900 of these arms were shipped in heavycrates marked BIBLES for use by anti-slavery "Free Soil" settlerswho were fighting against pro-slavery forces in "Bleeding Kansas"during the 1850s. One of the most famous Free Soilers was JohnBrown, who later used 300 Model 1853 Carbines in his ill-fatedattempt to capture the U.S. Armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia in1859. Christian Sharps served as technical advisor to the Sharps RifleManufacturing Company, receiving royalties on the manufacture oftheir firearms. His relationship with the company was a rocky one,and in 1853, Sharps severed all connections with the firm. There isno evidence that he ever had any further association with thecompany that continued to bear his name. In 1855, the Sharpscompany introduced the Model 1855 Carbine. These arms retained theslanting breech and buttstock patch boxes of earlier models, butfeatured the Maynard tape primer system. Approximately 800 .54caliber carbines were manufactured for the U.S. government, and anadditional 6,000 Model 1855s in .577 caliber were purchased byGreat Britain. While these carbines were in production, both Robbins &Lawrence and Sharps suffered serious financial losses. The lattercorporation went bankrupt, and their operations were taken over bySharps and moved to Hartford. The Sharps New Model 1859, introducedin that year, was available as a carbine, and in round-barrelmilitary rifle or octagonal-barrel sporting rifle versions. Itsstraight-breech design is credited to Richard S. Lawrence, formerlyof Robbins & Lawrence, who had become the superintendent of theSharps Rifle Company. This design, in conjunction with a breechblock-mounted platecapable of slight rearward movement when under pressure, created amoderately effective gas seal. New Model 1859 arms also employed animproved version of the Sharps pellet primer system which allowedthe pellet feed mechanism to be disengaged. Ordinary percussioncaps could then be used, with the supply of pellet primers held inreserve. Like earlier Sharps designs, the Model 1859 fired a glazedlinen combustible .52 caliber cartridge. When closed, thebreechblock sheared off the rear of the cartridge, exposing thepropellant. During the Civil War, the Federal government boughtover 80,000 Sharps carbines and nearly 10,000 SharpsRifles. These arms were highly regarded by the troops who used them.Sharps Carbines found favor with Federal cavalry troopers, and NewModel 1859 Rifles were used with great success by famous infantryunits such as Colonel Hiram Berdan's U.S. Sharp Shooters, perhapsthe first specialty troops in the history of modern warfare, aswell as the 5th New York (Duryea's Zouaves) and the 13thPennsylvania Reserves (Bucktails). Even the Confederate governmentrecognized the superiority of the New Model 1859 Carbine,contracting with the Richmond firm of S.C. Robinson for theproduction of 5,000 copies. The New Model 1859 was followed by theNew Model 1863 and New Model 1865 Carbines and Rifles. These werenearly identical to the New Model 1859, differing primarily inbarrel stampings, the omission of buttstock patchboxes, and in thedesign or absence of bayonet lugs. Many versions of all three armswere later converted for use with .50-70 and .52-70 calibermetallic cartridge ammunition in the years following the Civil War.The New Model 1869 Carbine and Rifle, available in .44-77, .50-70,and .60 calibers, were the first Sharps arms designed for use withmetallic cartridges. In 1874, the firm was reorganized as the Sharps Rifle Co., withoperations remaining in Hartford. In 1876, manufacturing was movedto Bridgeport, Connecticut, where it remained until 1881. Thisperiod saw the manufacture of some of the more notable of Sharpslongarms, beginning with introduction of the Model 1874 Rifle.Nicknamed "Old Reliable," this arm, available in a variety ofcalibers, barrel lengths, sights, and other features, became afavorite with both Plains buffalo hunters and competition shooters.Many Fancy-Grade models featured engraving which ranged from simplescrollwork to elaborate hunting or western scenes on theirsurfaces. The Sharps Model 1877 shared in the popularity of itspredecessor. These deluxe-grade heavy-barreled .45 caliber rifleswere designed specifically for Creedmoor and other long-rangetarget shooters. Only 100 of these were produced, and they are assought-after today by collectors as they were by competitors at thetime of their introduction. The last rifle to be produced by the Sharps Rifle Company was theModel 1878 Sharps-Borchardt Rifle. This arm was developed by HugoBorchardt, who later became famous for his automatic pistoldesigns. These rifles, with their flat-sided frame and hammerlessappearance, differ notably from earlier Sharps designs. Like theModel 1874, the Sharps-Borchardt was available in a variety ofstocks, barrel lengths and weights, sights, calibers, and otherfeatures, including deluxe grade models. These popular rifles wereproduced until 1881, when the Sharps Rifle Company went bankruptand ceased operations. Although his association with the Sharps Rifle ManufacturingCompany ended in 1853, Christian Sharps continued to work as adesigner and manufacturer of firearms. He returned to Philadelphiaand formed C. Sharps & Co., a manufacturer of percussionrevolvers, breechloading single-shot pistols and pistol-rifles, andfour-shot pepperbox pistols. In 1862, Sharps entered into apartnership with William Hankins. Their new company, known asSharps & Hankins, continued to produce pepperbox pistols, aswell as the single-shot .52 caliber Model 1861 Navy Rifle and theModel 1862 Carbine, both of which featured sliding breech actions.The partnership was dissolved in 1866, and Sharps reverted to theC. Sharps & Co. name. This firm ceased operations in 1874 withthe death of Christian Sharps on March 12 of that year. 2ff7e9595c
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