This is a very good example of a Sharps Model 1853 military carbine. The Model 1853 series was a continuation of the Model 1852, but with a small spring retaining stud on the right of the receiver to better secure the lever hinge pin. Some 18,000 Model 1853s were made from 1854 to 1859 with serial numbers from about 8,000 to 26,000, and in different configurations including military carbines and rifles, sporting versions of both, along with shotguns, and several variations. Some 10,519 of the production were military style carbines like this one, of which 4,930 were purchased by US Army Ordnance from January 1858 to January 1859. Others, like this one, were purchased by civilians for personal, sporting, or militia use, with a thousand or more ending up in the troubles of “Bleeding Kansas” in the 1850s. This one is serial number 10534, which is fairly early in the production run, which started around July 1854 with a civilian pattern carbine, number 8439. The first military pattern is known to have been sold in November.

The barrel and receiver are smooth metal, with no pitting, and mostly in the bright, with just some gray spots on the barrel. The hammer shows some faded color. The brass buttplate, patchbox and barrel band have a pleasing medium tone. The walnut buttstock and forestock have a good surface with a warm reddish-brown tone. The buttstock has some dark spots, a few scratches on the left and a small dark pressure dent on the belly below the triggerguard tang, and still rates very good, though a small section has been replaced at the toe. This matches very well and might be touched up even better, but we have left it as it came to us. The patchbox operates crisply and the edges of patchbox cut out are good. The sling bar is the correct side-mounted 9-inch bar extending from the frame to the barrel band. The sling ring is in place. The mechanics are good. Both sights are in place, including the correct early production Model 1852 type single leaf rear sight with sliding elevation bar.

All markings are correct. The lockplate is stamped SHARP’S / PATENT / 1852. The top tang of the receiver is marked SHARPS / PATENT / 1848. The serial number on the tang is 10534. All lettering and numbering is clear and distinct. The barrel is correctly marked ahead of the rear sight SHARP’S RIFLE / MANUF’G CO. / HARTFORD, CONN. and is fully legible though a tad rubbed on the top line. As is correct for a carbine not purchased by U.S. Ordnance, there are no inspector marks.

Sharps made several carbines with slant breeches and just two hundred actually made it into the hands of John Brown and his men for the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859, but the “John Brown model” has stuck to the Model 1853 military carbine among collectors and it was, in fact, a respected weapon on both sides in “Bleeding Kansas” of the 1850s. Henry Ward Beecher ended up supplying another nickname: “Beecher’s bibles,” when he was quoted in newspapers as declaring Sharp’s rifles were a “moral agency,” since there was more persuasive moral power in one Sharps, “so far as the slave holders of Kansas were concerned than in a hundred Bibles.” Some estimates place the number of Sharps military carbines entering Kansas as high as 1,200 in the hands of Free State forces, with others coming in with individuals and to arm the other side as well: a Tennessee newspaper noted an 1856 sale of 300 in one lot to “border ruffians” in Missouri.

Sharps rifles and carbines are a collecting field of their own with many models, variations and improvements, and with the Model 1853 supplying more variations than any other Sharps percussion arm according to Marcot, Paxton and Marron. The 1853 military carbine, in particular, is classic arm that combines beauty, ingenious design, and history.  [sr]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS,

CLICK ON ‘CONTACT US’ AT THE TOP OF ANY PAGE ON THE SITE,

THEN ON ‘LAYAWAY POLICY’.

THANK YOU!