Greetings,

Newperson here. Need a book and or info that will show me a proper procedure to restock a Sharps action. This rifle, barreled and chambered for .219 Zipper Imp. was given to me by a gunsmith who is unfortunately deceased. I also have a Marlin Ballard action that needs a stock.

I live in the San Francisco Bay area would like to meet or correspond with other falling block enthusiasts.  I am a mostly retired toolmaker, have a complete shop in my home.

I hope this posting succeeds my previous effort has apparently vanished into another dimension.

Thank you,  Oscar

Welcome crypto;
                        You have foundthe place to correspond with falling- block enthusiast. The Sharps and Marlin Ballard are two of the harder buttstocks to make, the Sharps because of the side-plate and the Ballard because of the thru-bolt. I strongly suggest you get in touch with Gearge Peterson at (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) and get a couple of his pre-inletted stocks.
            If you decide to start with a blank I might suggest that you drill the thru-bolt hole for the Ballard as a first step. because the hole will probably not come out where it was intended. After you've done a couple pre-inleted stocks then on your third falling-block [and no one is happy with just two] you can start on that nice big fancy peice of wood with a hatchet.   leadball

Hi Oscar, & welcome,
From the fact that your rifle is chambered for the 219 Improved, I suspect that your Sharps may be the hammerless 1878 Borchardt model with a drawbolt instead of a big hammer on the sideplate & tang screws. If this is the case then your task will be a lot easier, George at Treebone can still supply a semi-inlet or you can easily do the job yourself.

I possess most of the gunsmithing books published in this country but am not aware of any good instructions for stocking a Sharps. If your rifle is the sidehammer model then you'd be WELL advised IMO to either leave the job to a knowledgeable person or else buy a Treebone semi-inlet & get a knowledgeable person to advise you, up close & personal, while you fit it.

If you have the hammerless model then things are much much easier, especially for a man with a lathe. My procedure is to make a full-size paper drawing of the barreled action with the bore line extended to the rear. I usually lay out the bore line first, then line up the barreled action on the paper and trace around it while it's lined up with the bore line. Then it's just a matter of finding a rifle or shotgun that fits you, and laying it over the tracing until the bore lines & trigger locations coincide. You then trace around the stock & pistol-grip outline onto your paper. It's A Good Idea to try this with several other rifle stocks & compare the tracings 'cause using only one example/effort might lead to an error. Play with these pencil tracing buttstock outlines and decide upon a final shape, then mark it permanently.

After you're happy with the fullsize outline of the proposed new stock shape & have marked it unmistakeably, cut it out with scissors & use it for a pattern. Lay it on the side of the blank, mark it & cut the outline with a bandsaw, leaving about 1/8" extra all the way around. Then drill the throughbolt hole on the lathe, on the centerlines of course. It's important to maintain your centerlines throughout the entire process, BTW. The centerline of the drawbolt hole can easily be determined by extending the line of the drawbolt itself when screwed into the rear of the action. After the drawbolt hole is drilled, then it's just a matter of following the instructions in the book.

Two books that will aid you greatly are Al Linden's 'Stockmaking' and David Wesbrook's 'Professional 'Stockmaking'. Both deal with bolt-action rifles but the basic principles are the same for all stocks as far as the actual wood removal & finishing is concerned. These books will help greatly even if you use a semi-inlet instead of a blank.

If you choose to do the work yourself, you WILL have questions. Please don't hesitate to contact me via e-mail & I'll do whatever I can to help.
Good luck, Joe

The gunsmith, would he be George Fumer, of 52nd st, oakland, CA? I last saw him about fifteen years ago and he was at least 70 years then. He did some work on my dad's Sharps-Borcharch rifle after it broke both cocking plates(at the same time) also he bushed the firing pin-my dad said it was fine George said this gun's going to around a lot longer than you-save it for the next generation.

Oscar,
Was your friend Harrison, J.E. Harrison, formerly of Mission Street, San Francisco, and was he a nut on fancy penmanship?

Bill (zach)