Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was the manufacturer of the
Sharps Rifle
Sharps rifles are a series of large-bore, single-shot, falling-block, breech-loading rifles, beginning with a design by Christian Sharps in 1848 and ceasing production in 1881. They were renowned for long-range accuracy. By 1874 the rifle wa ...
. The company was organized by Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence as a holding company in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...
, on October 9, 1851 with $100,000 in capital. Despite Sharps departing from the company bearing his name, Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced over 100,000 rifles, but it dissolved in 1881 with the widespread use of repeating rifles.
History
Christian Sharps
Christian Sharps (January 2, 1810 – March 12, 1874) was the inventor of the Sharps rifle, the first commercially successful breech-loading rifle and the Sharps Four Barrel Pistol, and ‘’’Sharps Breech-Loading Pistol’’’.
Life, death ...
(1810–1874), patented his rifle in 1848. The first contract for 5,000 rifles was in 1850 and manufacturing started in 1851. The Model 1851 "box-lock" was developed by Christian Sharps,
Rollin White
Rollin White (June 6, 1817 – March 22, 1892) was an American gunsmith who invented a single shot bored-through revolver cylinder that allowed paper cartridges to be loaded from the rear of a revolver's cylinder. Because the open breeches were ...
, and Richard Lawrence at Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont. The second contract for 15,000 rifles was so large that no suitable land was available in Windsor, Vermont. The holding company advanced Robbins & Lawrence $40,000 to purchase of land in Hartford, Connecticut, and to erect a brick factory building.
Christian Sharps
Christian Sharps (January 2, 1810 – March 12, 1874) was the inventor of the Sharps rifle, the first commercially successful breech-loading rifle and the Sharps Four Barrel Pistol, and ‘’’Sharps Breech-Loading Pistol’’’.
Life, death ...
left the Company in 1853. He later formed a partnership with
William Hankins in 1862, known as
Sharps & Hankins. In 1855, manufacturing was moved to Hartford and continued until 1876. Operations were then moved to
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the List of cities by population in New England, fifth-most populous ...
.
In 1872, Sharps introduced the
.50-90 Sharps
The .50-90 Sharps rifle
A rifle is a long-barreled firearm
A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions).
Th ...
hunting cartridge.
[''Accurate Smokeless Powders Loading Guide Number Two (Revised)'', Book by Accurate Arms Co, Wolfe Publishing, 2000 p.368] Hugo Borchardt
Hugo Borchardt (June 6, 1844 – May 8, 1924) was a firearms inventor and engineer, born in Magdeburg, Germany. He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle.
In 1860 he emigrated to the Unit ...
designed the last rifle made by the company, the
Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878
The Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 is a single-shot hammerless falling-block action rifle designed by Hugo Borchardt and made by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company. It closely resembles older Sharps Rifles but has a firing mechanism that uses a ...
, but the company went bankrupt and was defunct three years later in 1881.
The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company produced over 100,000 firearms during the US Civil War for the Union Army, but the company was plagued by lawsuits and eventually succumbed to a shifting marketplace as repeating rifles became more popular with shooters.
Legacy
Reproductions of the
paper cartridge
A paper cartridge is one of various types of small arms ammunition used before the advent of the metallic cartridge. These cartridges consisted of a paper cylinder or cone containing the bullet, gunpowder, and in some cases, a primer or a lub ...
Sharps 1863 Rifle, the metallic cartridge 1874 Sharps Rifle, and Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 are manufactured today for use in hunting and target shooting. A number of companies, among them
Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company
Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company is a firearms manufacturer located in Big Timber, Montana, United States.
The company produces a line of reproductions of various historical black-powder rifles, including the legendary 1874 Sharps Rifle, featu ...
and C. Sharps Arms Co. Inc., both of
Big Timber, Montana
Big Timber is a city in, and the county seat of Sweet Grass County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2020 census.
Big Timber takes its name from Big Timber Creek, which was named by William Clark because of the large cot ...
, and the Italian gunmaker
Davide Pedersoli & Co. of Brescia, offer a line of Sharps reproductions.
The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company had manufactured bicycles under contract for
Weed Sewing Machine Company
A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, "a plant in the wrong place", or a plant growing where it is not wanted.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. ...
in Hartford. When Sharps relocated to Bridgeport, Weed bought the old Hartford plant to manufacture bicycles themselves.
References
7.Marcot, Roy - Marron, Edward - Paxton, Ron. "Sharps Firearms: The Percussion Era 1848 - 1865"
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Defunct firearms manufacturers
Firearm manufacturers of the United States
History of Connecticut
Companies based in Bridgeport, Connecticut
Defunct manufacturing companies based in Connecticut
Manufacturing companies based in Hartford, Connecticut
Privately held companies based in Connecticut
1851 establishments in Connecticut