The breechloading New Model 1859 Sharps Rifle proved as one of
the greatest combat rifles of its day in the hands of Union
soldiers and sailors in the Civil War. |M1859 Sharps 3 Band
Rifle||Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Co| |M1859 Sharps Carbine||A
Legend Grows....| |M1863 Sharps Rifle||Berdan's Sharpshooters|
|M1963 Sharps Carbine| THE War Between the States saw a large
variety of small arms in use by Union forces. While not
purchased in large numbers, the New Model 1859 Sharps rifles
would emerge from the war as one of the truly great combat
breech-loading rifles of that era. In the hands of such famed
Northern units as Berdan's Ist and 2nd U.S. Sharpshooters, 42nd
Pennsylvania Bucktails, and sailors at Fort Fisher its place in
history was assured. By 1861, the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Co.
of Hartford, Connecticut, had manufactured Christian Sharps
breechloading design for a decade. The Sharps design works by
lowering the breechblock to allow for inserting a linen
cartridge. The linen cartridge contained a 4