i was reading on another site (forgive me, all the starving pygmys, i have strayed) that the chas daly little sharps is supposed to come about in the summer and for a pricetag of about 850-900. Gotta see this happen, cause if'n it does mama's not gonna get new shoes this year

I hope that price is even close to good! When those guys in MT were building them they thought they were worth nearly four-thousand dollars!!!
At $800 I could find room for one in 30-30 or 32-40 at the house here.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

I have never seen one, does anyone have pictures? Ron

One on Gunbroker:
Little Sharps

Bruce

Nice!! Here's some more info..

http://www.littlesharps.com/pages/menu.html

Some of our wholesalers are showing them in stock. Cheers, Luke

Forget that last post! I just rechecked, and the ones that were listed are gome now. Sorry, Luke

The low cost Little Sharps is made in Italy. The original company gets a royalty on each one sold. The original models--with all the custom options--will remain in production in the US, at the previous prices. The original company will be selling both the domestic and the Italian versions.

What's the attraction to a miniturized Sharps? That's one I can't understand, but to each his own.

Brent

The selection of compact framed side hammers is rather limited. I like smaller rifles, probably because I have no need for cartridges beyond the .30-30 class. True, the '74 Sharps doesn't do much for me. A scaled down Mortimer & Kirkwood (shown in one of de Hass's books) would be my preference, or an original design. A mini '75 Sharps, could be tempting, and I know you like those.

A mini '75 Sharps ...now you're talking asdf

quote:

Originally posted by Low Wall:
A mini '75 Sharps ...now you're talking asdf

Yeah, talking trash!!!

A low wall, small frame martini and miscellaneous other rifles would be more attractive to me - but not much so. Mini rifles just seem to be a waste of good wood and steel.

Brent

quote:

Mini rifles just seem to be a waste of good wood and steel.

I'm curious, by "mini rifle" do you mean scaled down replicas, or do you mean all rifles smaller than a Ballard?

quote:

Originally posted by asdf:

quote:

Mini rifles just seem to be a waste of good wood and steel.

I'm curious, by "mini rifle" do you mean scaled down replicas, or do you mean all rifles smaller than a Ballard?

I mean rifles that are scaled down. For example, at the Guild show that was at the Minneapolis Art Museum a few years ago, there was a 14 caliber model 70 that might have weight 2.5 lobs and was probably - oh, 20" long or something like that. It was an exersize in minimization. More like a feat of "can you do it?" Not, is it reasonable? Is there such a thing as "stunt" gun building?

The miniSharps does not fall to that level, but it is following that line in my opinion.

A Sharps in .30-30 seems bizarre. Why would one want a Sharps if not for the historical sigificance of it? I love Sharps and have three ('74, '77 and '78). But what's historically interesting about a 1920s lamborgini motor under a 2008 labourgini hood? or vise versa?

It's all what one likes and no reason to all be the same, but the mini Sharps just looks like a solution to a problem that does not exist.

Ballards are nice too, I have a couple of them including the quite small #3 gallery rifle. Nice squirrel gun.

Brent

I understand.

As I said, I like small rifles in general, and I also think side hammers are a Good Idea, but the 74 Sharps was not the final word in side hammer design. I also see that if the company had chosen to make a small framed side hammer to a new design, I might well have been their only customer. They're selling plenty of the mini-Sharps, but I can't quite convince myself it's something I want, even at the lower price of these new Italian jobs.

What is your favorite side hammer?

Mine might be the 77 Sharps. Hard to not love in my opinion, but it does not have the history of the 74 of course.


The Wesson side hammer is being made again in impressive quality by Steve Earl. So, another beautiful rifle action it available there. Not a lot of other side hammers currently being made in cartridge rifles however.

Brent

The 77 Sharps is more graceful looking than the 74, but it still has the lock work inlet into the stock, as in a muzzle loader. I like the way the 75 Sharps tucks the lock work inside the receiver. That U shaped firing pin has to go. I like the Mortimer & Kirkwood shown in de Haas's More Single Shot... book. It has a straight, gas-sealing firing pin design. I haven't seen drawings for either the Wesson or the Alex Henry, but I understand the Wesson is a copy of the Henry, and I'd be surprised if the M&K isn't also a copy. I really don't like the clunky looking lever latch used on the Wesson. The M&K is the best looking of the three. So, a 75 with the M&K firing pin would be nice, and cut down the left wall as well, like Ruger does with the right wall on their No.1. Scale it to the .30-30 and send me a sample for testing.

The Wesson is a lock in wood rifle too. and that is what makes them beautiful. Think of the lock in wood vs. the 75 as an english side lock double vs. a beater box lock. That's how I see 'em anyway.

No problem with the firing pins though they do give some folks heart burn. Not me.

Here is a link to the modern made Wesson http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.assra...z%3D1I7DMUS%26sa%3DN

Can't find a photo of the M&K. I don't know that rifle at all.

Brent

I hope the heirs of Frank de Haas will forgive me, but here is a photo of an image of the M&K action as shown on p.16 of de Haas's More Single Shot Rifles and Actions:



To my eye, the rifle made with it is far more graceful looking than the Wesson/Henry and Sharps rifles.

De Haas's books can be purchased at any of the major suppliers of shooting books (eg. Ray Riling's or Mike Stegen) or it can be purchased from the de Haas family directly, which is where I got my copy.

Had Earle chosen to make these instead of the Wesson, there'd be one in my gun cabinet already.

p.s.: Those wishing to compare photos of the Wesson (see the link posted by Brent) to that of the Henry can find photos of the military version of the Henry here.

Need a Lil Sharps Borchardt!

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by bcp:
Need a Lil Sharps Borchardt!

Bruce

With a magic trigger

I wrote to them a few years back suggesting that. They still offer only the 74's.

Hello from Colorado: We have had one of these in 38/55. They will sell for $1020.00 in our store. They come with a factory installed tang sight, and are very nice rifles. Malcome style scopes are going to be available for these rifles as well. Cheers, Luke

bigluke:

About 2 weeks ago, I offered a guy on Gunbroker $1019 for one in .38-55, which was the price the .45 Colt versions were selling for and which he had one listed for, but he said he couldn't get one in .38-55.

Subsequent to that I just bought a C. Sharps 75 in .38-55 which hasnt' arrived yet. If you can send me a pic of yours and I will probably buy it.

I like .38-55s and I like smaller rifles and whether someone else likes them or not doesn't make a damn to me.