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Everybody knows that Winchester is the gun that won the West, but Sharps rifles fought all through the Civil War and then became the buffalo guns of the 1870s. I've got a Sharps Model 1859 Saddle Ring Carbine made in Hartford Connecticut. Look at the size of the hammer and how beautifully contoured it is.
It has a two-notch tumbler. The first notch is safety and load.
The second notch is fully cocked.
Notice that the trigger is smooth, and it has a straight grip all the way back to the metal butt plate.
It has a twenty-two-inch round barrel, and the rear sight is graduated at 700 yards.
This ring of steel is why we call it a saddle ring carbine:
Now, a trooper would wear a harness with a hook that could be clipped to the ring, but cowboys probably ran a piece of leather through the ring and looped it over the saddle horn. The Sharps Model 1859 was the last of the percussion guns. This particular gun was produced during the early years of the American Civil War. It was converted by Sharps from 52 caliber percussion to 50-70 centerfire in the late 1860s. The action is a lever-operated falling-block design.
A locking mechanism keeps the lever closed but unlocks easily to operate the rifle. So there you have it: the Sharps Model 1859 Saddle Ring Carbine--considered by many to be some of the most elegant rifles used during the years following the Civil War.
--Larry Potterfield
