Fellow Sharpshooters
I apologize for the 'data dump' of new material on the website, but after 3 years of research, my computer was becoming constipated.
On April 12, 1859, Richard S. Lawrence of the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company was issued patent No. 23,590 for the final evolution of the Sharps percussion firearms that he had been developing since 1851. The Patent provides a detailed technical description/illustration of what would become the New Model 1859-1863 series of Sharps firearms, that would be used with deadly effect by the United States Sharp Shooters 3 years later.
Here is the link:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2390A/en?oq=US+patent+23590Bill Skillman