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joelpend
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Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
May 2nd, 2026 at 8:09pm
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I have read that a Gunsmith from yesteryear modified Sharps actions so the breech block could fully seat the round so you could engrave the bullet. I really mis this feature when loading for and shooting my Sharps rifles compared to the CPA and Stevens 44 1/2 Rifles. I would appreciate any information if it is out there or if someone has pictures of such. I have tried Google every which way and have not retrieved any useful information.
  
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kootne
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #1 - May 2nd, 2026 at 8:12pm
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Frank and George Freund
  

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GT
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #2 - May 3rd, 2026 at 1:28am
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I've studied the pictures of what the Freund Bros. did, made a few of my own.  It's considerable work, requires a new breech block and to copy what Frank did, a wedge needs to be made and inserted to give the block it's camming motion.  Then the firing pin/transfer bar design needs to be changed, and the hammer works best with a large nose welded on it.   
Here's pics of a few mods I did, one's for a copy of the transitional '74 project, one's for a '77 that's in the works, and another is for a Little Sharps I work on in my spare time. 
GT
  

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LRF
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #3 - May 3rd, 2026 at 7:26am
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I also built one some number of years ago in the late 1980's. I started with a Pete Allen cast receiver and made all the mods as GT has described. Mine was in 45-70 and worked very well. It would pick up and seat a case sticking out more then a 1/4" and seat it nicely. That was when I was into our local long range buffalo gong shoots. The then owner of a local cast bullet manufacturer had to have it so sadly I sold it to him. He died shortly there after and I have never seen it since. (White Horse Bullets if anyone remembers)
They are a lot of work to build as I am sure GT will a test to but are neat. The camming plate is held in place at the top on either side by a screw but as I remember how to hold in the bottom had me stumped for a bit. GT, how did you solve this issue? I finally found the original solution in an old pic that gave me the clue. Or maybe you didn't have an issue. 
  
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #4 - May 3rd, 2026 at 7:35am
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GT, On your pic showing the basic fully assembled action what is the lock plate made of? It looks to be Damascus.
  
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John Rigby
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #5 - May 3rd, 2026 at 8:35am
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Shon Eychaner makes the Freund actions and are faithful copies.  If you are going to Greeley come by our exhibit table "Tools Of The Buffalo Hunters" and we will have 4 or 5 on display.  I think it is table 31 and 32.
  

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GT
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #6 - May 3rd, 2026 at 10:31am
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LRF,
The wedge plate is fit into the action so it's a snug fit making full contact to the back side and corners.  It gets spotted in with soot, the two screws, one on either side simply hold it in place.  I made one wedge that didn't fit nearly as nice and I had a little movement, it was scrapped.   
That lock plate is damascus, the bottom tangs on all three of these is made from damascus also just for a twist.  The finished action is still waiting wood, mostly inlet now but I've had other things going on. 
The transitional '74 is a ways from a completed action but the barrel is mated and a piece of wood is started.   
Of all of these, the Little Sharps sees a little time now and then.  The original intentions with it was a 22rf, but now it's something in a 28 caliber, probably the G&H Short in a Schuetzen configuration.  I attached a pic of the two hammers, one is the original the Little Sharps comes with, the one beside it is a copy of what the Freund Bros. used and then a nose was welded on it.  I have a nose made for it but I don't believe I have it done yet.   It has a lower tang from Damascus, double sets, a test block as I made the triggers is seen next to the new tang.  I believe I have the triggers in and working.  A piece of wood is well underway for this project.  For the way it will be fired - breech seated- the camming breech block will serve no purpose except novelty... but then that's why I do this.

GT 
 
To the OP, I apologize for the thread drift.  If one looks, I have a few posts out there a few years ago about these builds but I'm not interested in chasing them.
  

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marlinguy
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #7 - May 3rd, 2026 at 11:20am
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Here's a side view of my original Freund Bros. Sharps conversion. You can see how long the nose is on the hammer vs. a standard Sharps. My block also had the rounded top, but a concave top edge towards the chamber. Freund also used a two piece firing pin system, and a very lightweight transfer bar as compared to one piece '74 Sharps used.
The Freund Sharps breech blocks are way much different in almost every way. The dual extractors are also used on Freund Sharps rifles.
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LRF
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #8 - May 3rd, 2026 at 3:08pm
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GT the Damascus is definitely a nice touch. Always wanted to build an action receiver using it but just never got around to it. Oh well.
I attached a sketch for what's it worth, it is how I a fixed and held the bottom of the cam plate in the receiver. As I said it wasn't my idea and I got it from an old picture of an original so the brothers thought of it at least first. The wedge fits into a mortise in the back of the receiver and when the trigger plate is inserted it wedges the plate back into the receiver. I thought it was a good solution. Anyway just sharing ideas.
  
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joelpend
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #9 - May 3rd, 2026 at 11:22pm
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GT, you are an amazing craftsman and artist. I do not have the patience to create the things you do even if I had the knowledge and ability. This is way more complicated than I am capable of. I think I will mill the top of the breechface on a 25 deg angle, just the width of the case head + .050" and ending the angled cut where the top edge of the case head sits when the action is closed. This will give me about .080" the head theoretically could protrude and the action could close with soft bullets to engrave the rifling.
  
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #10 - May 4th, 2026 at 9:36am
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JP,
That'll work. I did that to a couple of Sharps I built, it will assist in camming in a tiny bit.  For a big 50 I built, I had to build a manual camming tool that gets used occasionally if and when I shoot BP and only use a blow tube.  It's easy to understand why the Freunds modifications were desirable back in the day.  Both the camming and the dual extractors.

LRF, thanks for sharing the sketch, that would make the fit on the cam plate not quite so critical.
Greg
  

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"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right" M.T.
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marlinguy
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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #11 - May 4th, 2026 at 10:39am
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GT wrote on May 4th, 2026 at 9:36am:
JP,
That'll work. I did that to a couple of Sharps I built, it will assist in camming in a tiny bit.  For a big 50 I built, I had to build a manual camming tool that gets used occasionally if and when I shoot BP and only use a blow tube.  It's easy to understand why the Freunds modifications were desirable back in the day.  Both the camming and the dual extractors.


Greg


I think that's also why the Sharps Rifle Co. never incorporated the Freund improvements, even after a couple years and a lot of letters sent to Sharps by Freund to try to get them to buy his design. The cost would have made an already expensive rifle even more expensive.
  

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Re: Modify Sharps to Fully Seat Round on Close
Reply #12 - May 4th, 2026 at 4:14pm
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You would be as well served to get one of the cam tools sold for just this issue.
  
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