Hello fellow Sharpshooters!
Co. D out here in Washington State has seen a great amount of growth and have new members looking for a Sharps of their own. Is anyone selling or does anyone know of someone selling a Sharps? Ideally if we could get three rifles into the hands of our ranks we are at a good start.

Please let me know, by email
ethanbugs17@gmail.com

Ethan Whitehall

Greetings from the Old Northwest, Ethan.

I appreciate your dilemma-it is vexous to have three motivated (and I presume, uniformed and accoutrement-ed) recruits with no arms. But at least when you form the boys up they can legitimately protest: 'Where's the Sharps??!!" like the original Sharpshooters did.

This is a peculiar time in the hobby. Many of us who were active during the peak of the USSS reenacting (for me it was 1994-2005) have gradually lessened our participation in the hobby or have outright retired. I still attend 1-2 Michigan reenactments as a sharpshooter or USSS. From what I've learned from other members of our Michigan company and others to the east, they are at the same level of involvement. I believe this reflects the 'shrinkage' of the CW reenacting hobby as a whole.

So where are all the Sharps? Perhaps not to surprising, those of us who reenact USSS love our Sharps and to part with one is like parting with an old friend. My 'marriage' to my Shiloh is going on 25 years--and I don't see 'forsaking it' anytime so long as I am above ground. Granted, I wanted a Berdan Sharps since I first laid eyes on the Woodbridge illustration on the plaque at the top of Little Round Top featuring the USSS in action (8 years old); so I probably represent a very small minority of 'Sharps-nuts' out there. Our Orderly Sgt. retired from the hobby last year and sold all of his gear, including his Shiloh Sharps in about a week.

I recommend your guys check (weekly to daily) the NSSA website under their firearms for sale; GunBroker, GunsAmerica and websites like this one to see when a Sharps comes up for sale. In Co. B. we 'accepted' guys who owned a Hawken or similar 'personal hunting-target rifle' with them into the ranks. For those we found that were particularly motivated and promising, we'd assign them a spare Sharps rifle for a weekend event. Not to surprising, that one event was all it took for them to start saving up for their own Sharps rifle.

Good luck,

Bill Skillman
Bugler
Co. B 2nd USSS