Sharps New Model 1859

About the Sharps New Model 1859

The Sharps New Model 1859 is a single-shot, breech-loading falling-block rifle designed by Christian Sharps and produced by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company of Hartford, Connecticut. The breechblock is dropped by the trigger-guard operating lever to expose the chamber, where it fired a .52-caliber paper or linen combustible cartridge ignited by a Maynard tape primer or percussion cap; on closing, the breechblock sheared the rear of the cartridge to expose the powder. A trained soldier could fire 8 to 10 aimed shots per minute and reload from a prone position, far surpassing contemporary muzzle-loaders. Most famously issued to Berdan's Sharpshooters during the American Civil War, many were converted after the war to fire .52-70 rimfire and .50-70 centerfire metallic cartridges.

Colonel Hiram Berdan's elite U.S. Sharpshooters carried the New Model 1859, picking off Confederate officers and artillerymen from over 500 yards and reloading while prone behind cover. The Sharps name later became a byword for long-range accuracy through the .50-caliber buffalo rifles of the 1870s.

Sharps New Model 1859 specifications

Originally a percussion paper/linen cartridge breechloader; from 1867 over 30,000 carbines and around 1,000 rifles were converted under government contract to fire .52-70 rimfire or .50-70 Government centerfire metallic cartridges by sleeving the chamber, replacing the breechblock and adding a firing pin and extractor.