Fellow Sharpshooters,
I discovered an excellent article entitled "
Collecting the Old Reliable Sharps Rifle" written by Toby Bridges and published in the online version of Gun Digest magazine (see link below). What I found particularly interesting is on pages 4-5 he describes the efforts by men like Len Mule' and Wolfgang Droege (Shiloh), Davide Pederosoli/IAB firearms and others to bring Sharps firearms 'back to life' through reproductions. The original Sharps Rifle Mfg. Co. produced over 100K carbines and rifles from 1859-1881; Bridges etimates that the production of modern repops is closing in on that number. This is a bit hard for me to accept. How many events do you attend where there are 1000+ U.S. Sharpshooters and cavalry firing away with their Sharps breechloaders--- a bit of an overgeneralization, but you get my point.
Here is the link to Mr. Bridgs article, enjoy the read:
http://www.gundigest.com/gun-collecting ... ps-rifle/5Bill Skillman
Hudson Squad Mess-USSS