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Kalo Osis
Clan Ice Hellions
Star Colonel
Joined: 07-Jul-2005 00:00
Posts: 446
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 Posted: 21-Sep-2005 20:26 Post subject: The Sharps Rifle |
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Lets talk Civil War. One of the most widely used weapon by both sides was the breechloading lever action Sharps Carbine. After the war ended in 1865, it was also used a buffalo hunting gun becuase its .52 black powder paper cartridge packed a whallop.
It was later converted to a metal cartridge gun and further used up until about 1895. Here is a poll about ehich variant you would think would be most effective.
For those of you who have seen the Tom Selleck movie Quigley Down Under, here is the model for you. Firing a high power .45 caliber round with a charge of a 120 grains of powder, this version is very powerfull. It also used self contained modern metallic cartridges. It is fitted with double triggers. The long 34" barrel provides extreme range, but all this comes at a cost. It is almost six feet long and weighs close to twelve pounds.
The more common linen cartridage version, the 1863 Cavalry model uses a linen cartridge with a .54 caliber musket ball with a charge of 540 grains of powder, giving it a huge punch.. It weighed the least of all the models, around nine pounds, and was easy to use and reliable. It had a 22" barrel and maxes out three feet three inches. The faults are that it used a linen cartridge that had to be ignited with a percussion cap. It also had a much shorter range due to the short barrel.
What are your thoughts?
(And why does a single barrel weapon have two triggers?)
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SaberDance
Federated Suns
Colonel
Joined: 07-May-2004 00:00
Posts: 837
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| Posted: 22-Sep-2005 00:41 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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The carbine is the more useful weapon. As Quigley demonstrates several times, the rifle is best for long shots, but he only ever tries a short shot once in the entire movie (other than with the pistols). Since most shots, even in the west, are at less than 500 yards, the long rifle is just too much weapon.
It has double triggers to make it more accurate. (How, you ask?)
Older guns required a lot of force to knock the ratchet out of the way and let the hammer fall. Not a lot-lot, maybe 10 pounds of pressure on the trigger (for comparison purposes, a modern handgun requires about 4 pounds of pressure).
The first trigger requires 9.5 pounds of pressure, leaving the second trigger on a hair setting. You take your last breath, let it out, and then gently squeeze, and there's no jerk do to pulling the trigger.
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StarRaven
Federated Suns
Leftenant General
Joined: 01-Jun-2004 00:00
Posts: 1138
Location: United States
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| Posted: 22-Sep-2005 00:46 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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Quote:
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On 2005-09-21 20:26, Kalo Osis wrote:
(And why does a single barrel weapon have two triggers?)
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As I recall, it's to make for a shorter trigger pull. You pull the first trigger to get started, and the second to actually fire. The shorter the trigger pull, the more accurate.
The longer the trigger pull, the lower your accuracy, because the weapon has more time to move between the decision to fire and the act of firing. Which is precisely why I went through 500 rounds of .22 ammo over the last two weeks, and am starting my second box of 500 tomorrow. Need practice shooting double-action.
As for the Sharps. I'll go with the Quigley version, because it's cool!
Edit:
Ah. SaberDance beat me to it, and with more specifics too. Oh well.
[ This Message was edited by: StarRaven on 2005-09-22 00:48 ]
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Rarich
Federated Suns
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Joined: 05-Feb-2002 00:00
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Location: United States
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| Posted: 22-Sep-2005 14:28 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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The long barrel weapon would be good for taking down big things before they can get you, and the metallic cartridge was probably easier to make, and find, the reason the big gun stayed around for longer.
The shorter weapon would be a good daily gun with range, but hampered by the cap-and-cartridge paradigm. (little big horn taught the army a quiet lesson in firepower tho' wincester vs. sharps= sharps losses). The shorter barrel would be more efficient for cavalry, which were the main type of troops issued the weapon, right?
The difference in priorities between an m1 garand and m14. The m1 garand is a great daily weapon, but the m14 gives long range punch that kept it around for the snipers for long time.
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WhizzbangThePowerSquig
Royal Black Watch Regiment
Master Sergeant
Joined: 21-Mar-2005 00:00
Posts: 345
Location: Canada
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| Posted: 22-Sep-2005 20:36 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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I prefer the so-called "repeater" carbines some of the better equipped cavalry units had. The once with a lever action, and either a second barrel to hold the shots (Army of Darkness style) or the ones that were basicly large revolvers.
My favorite handgun of the war was the LeMat revolver, which had 9 .44 shots revolving around a second barrel that held a single 12-guage. Very angry gun 
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Kalo Osis
Clan Ice Hellions
Star Colonel
Joined: 07-Jul-2005 00:00
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| Posted: 23-Sep-2005 06:02 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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Rarich, the 7th Cavalry under Custer used the Springfield Carbine, not the Shaprs. And Whizz, the lemat used nine .41 caliber rounds. It was still a mean weapon though with that shotgun barrel. the kick must have been massive.
[ This Message was edited by: Kalo Osis on 2005-09-24 19:18 ]
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WhizzbangThePowerSquig
Royal Black Watch Regiment
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Joined: 21-Mar-2005 00:00
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Location: Canada
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| Posted: 24-Sep-2005 19:31 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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Hehe, oops. I forgot the actual caliber. My book says .40, and an 18 guage shell. My bad.
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Kalo Osis
Clan Ice Hellions
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Joined: 07-Jul-2005 00:00
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| Posted: 24-Sep-2005 21:36 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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Well, they varied in caliber from .30 to .40 and .41. The shotgun barrel could be a 16, 18, or 20 gauge barrel. Later when it was converted to a cartridge firearm, it used .41 Rimfire cartridges and a 12 gauge shotgun shell.
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-Kalo on the Solaris 7 Battlemech Arenas
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SaberDance
Federated Suns
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| Posted: 26-Sep-2005 01:10 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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As cool as it looks, the revolver-repeaters were universally loathed.
The larger cartridges had a bad habbit of triggering their neighbors with, shall we say, adverse effects on the down-range hand.
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Kalo Osis
Clan Ice Hellions
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| Posted: 27-Sep-2005 06:04 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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I personally believe that statement to be very wrong. I have fired many cartridge and black powder revolvers, and have never had a problem with them. The biggest problem I ever had was the percussion cap failing to ignite.
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"I prefer to fight for a meaningful purpose, rather than to provide a spectacle for the ignorant masses."
-Kalo on the Solaris 7 Battlemech Arenas
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SaberDance
Federated Suns
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| Posted: 27-Sep-2005 12:52 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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The pistols were never a problem, and my understanding is that it didn't happen often, but it happened often enough that at least one Civil War regiment bought new weapons when they were issued the Colt revolving-cylinder rifle and the War Department canceled their contract with Colt.
Other ones might have been better, but there's a reason the lever-action was the standard until 1898.
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-Groucho Marx
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Gunslinger Patch
Royal Black Watch Regiment
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Joined: 04-Mar-2002 00:00
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| Posted: 13-Oct-2005 00:04 Post subject: RE: The Sharps Rifle |
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It was the black powder, with a cylinder weapon there is a chance of the other cylinders igniting. You could prevent this with wads or back then men would stick a dab of grease at the end of the cylinder, to keep the powder dry too.
But I bet in the midst of battle, men often didn't take such precautions while reloading and that's when it would have happened to them.
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