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KWK
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1877 Sharps receivers
Jan 28th, 2009 at 10:54pm
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While I find the 1874 Sharps to be one of the uglier single shots, I do find the 1877 Sharps to be rather graceful. I just received a copy of Frank Sellers' book on Sharps rifles, and it sounds as if both receivers were made from the same basic forging. Was this the case? Did Sharps turn the ugly duckling into a swan?
  

Karl
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Old-Win
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Re: 1877 Sharps receivers
Reply #1 - Jan 29th, 2009 at 10:35am
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KW,  The reason that Sharps "retooled" the 1874 action was so they could put more weight in the barrel and still keep it under 10 lbs. and meet the rules of LR target shooting during that time. If you look carefully at the pictures on pp 248 and 249 in Sellers book, you can see the subtle changes.  Notice the top picture on p 248 shows an original 74' action and lockplate cut down to reduce weight. The lower one shows a change in the action shape and the use of an English back action lock to reduce more weight and lock time.  If you look at p 249, you can see changes to the action.  Why the change to a more vertical look to the lines of the action in the bottom picture is a mystery but it must have something to do with the geometry of the back action lock they used.  Those LR 77's on page 251, are the most graceful LR rifle ever built.  At least to my eyes anyway.  Smiley Bob
« Last Edit: Jan 29th, 2009 at 3:44pm by Old-Win »  
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KWK
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Re: 1877 Sharps receivers
Reply #2 - Jan 29th, 2009 at 6:14pm
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It was after studying those pictures that I chose to ask what Sharps had done. In the pictures, it appears the bulge in the receiver side (around the breech block) extends a bit further aft at its bottom in the 77 vs. the 74. However, the raw forging (if a forging was what they started with) may have had enough metal there that simply wasn't removed in cutting the 77. The factory letter of 6/16/1880 quoted on p.250 suggests the 77 receivers are simply a different cut on the 74 receiver.

It's curious that in the 74, the bulge in the receiver is vertical on the left side and slanted on the right, giving the action a bizarre appearance. This is seen on p.233 and other pages. I hadn't noticed that when handling the 74's at gunshows. Perhaps it's just that the 74 is such a big, ungainly, and ugly action that I couldn't bear to look at the thing for long. Wink

The 77s shown in the pictures are graceful indeed, but even more graceful -- to my eye -- are the Mortimer & Kirkwood side hammers shown in one of de Hass's later books.

Finally, why I asked the question: I wondered if one could fashion a Little 77 Sharps from one of those spiffy Little 74 Sharps. The lockwork would be a problem, of course, but perhaps the receiver would be trouble as well.
  

Karl
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