Sharps Model 1874 Rifle
TITLE: Sharps Model 1874 Rifle
MAKER: Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Co.
MADE IN: Bridgeport, CT
CALIBER: .44-.90 Bottleneck Cartridge
DATE: ca 1874
DIMENSIONS: Barrel: 32” Length: 49 ¼” Height: 6 ½”
INSCRIPTION:Serial Number 58642C / Barrel: CALIBRE 44 / SHARP’S RIFLE MANUFG CO. HARTFORD CONN. Action Area (left side): C SHARP’S PAT / SEPT 12TH 184(?).
CREDIT LINE: Guns from the Browning-Cowan Family
OBJECT ID: 986-12-039
The Model 1874 was the preferred gun for hide hunters in the west and was enthusiastically adopted by many big-game sportsmen. As Boone and Crockett member William Pickett wrote to the company in 1877,
“I have just returned from a trip to Montana….I have traveled over 2,200 miles with the [Sharps Rifle, .44 caliber] slung to the horn of my saddle, discharged it over 2,500 times, was exposed to numerous snow and rain storms, was ‘bucked off’ several times by a ‘cayuse’ horse, yet is was never once out of order, nor did it ever fail to do its duty when held right.”