Civil war sharps carbine w/pictures

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Let me say that I don't really know anything about these.

Came across this Civil War Sharps carbine. It's owned by an older fellow in my community and he's looking to move it along....I'm kinda interested in it but have no idea of the value and what would be a fair offer. I was told it's a Arkansas regiment marked rifle...hence the A K S. It's by no means a perfect example but it's all there and period correct as far as I've been told.
I tried to take a decent picture of the bore but was not really successful, it's actually in really, really nice shape, I was amazed, I expected it to be like a sewer pipe but pleasantly shocked.

I'm looking at some input and a value so I can make an offer.

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That carbine is not a Sharps but rather a Starr. They were like the Sharps a percussion breech loader. At the end of the Civil War a new cartridge model came out that was chambered for the Spencer rimfire round. The Canadian government did buy some of the rimfire version carbines during the Fenian Raid era.
 
No worries, the two are similar. Yours has certainly been well used but it looks to be in pretty good shape considering it made it through a war that took place more than a century ago.

As to value, I really am not sure for the Canadian market. You could start with a look at the latest Flaydermans Guide to Antique American Firearms, but this is only a very rough guide and for the American market which is not the same as here.
 
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If memory serves me correct the breech seal on the Starr was actually better than the Sharps but the Starr came out after the Sharps and didn t have as big of a following
 
I think you are looking at around $1000 or a bit more. I think that I paid about $1400 for mine. They are chambered for the 56-56 Spencer shell if my memory is correct (haven't shot mine in a while). What is really good about them is that when you open the action, the extractor brings the shell back then snaps forward so that there is no risk of having a shell stuck ahead of the extractor when loading. Also check the stock for a stamp of WD and a broad arrow. Some appear to have been sold to the British army, presumably for the Fenian raids

cheers mooncoon
 
chasseur said:
If memory serves me correct the breech seal on the Starr was actually better than the Sharps but the Starr came out after the Sharps and didn t have as big of a following
Click to expand...

I have not fired a percussion Sharps, so I cannot comment on the effectiveness of the breech seal.
I have fired my Starr. It is somewhat battered externally. When I got it I was concerned about how cruddy the bore and action were. The crud turned out to be old dried grease. The bore is sharp and the action crisp. First time I fired it, I dropped in a round ball anointed with a generous amount of Crisco, and filled the balance of the chamber with powder. When I closed the breech, I noted that there was a goodly amount of Crisco on the breech blocks. After firing, I noted that the grease was still there - no gas leakage had occurred. The breech of the barrel has a male cone. The matching face of the front breech block is machined to match. The rear breech block cams the front block up against the barrel. It is an effective seal. I have since obtained a mould for a grease grooved conical bullet. It shoots rather high with the original sights. I plan on making a front sight on a band to get the group on point of aim at a reasonable distance.
Among the users of the Starr carbine was the Michigan cavalry.
 
The original percussion sharps and the Pedersoli made percussion sharps (not the shiloh versions) have a sliding gas seal which after use can seize in the chamber if not properly maintained.If this happens then the breech can leak gases upon firing
 
mooncoon said:
I think you are looking at around $1000 or a bit more. I think that I paid about $1400 for mine. They are chambered for the 56-56 Spencer shell if my memory is correct (haven't shot mine in a while). What is really good about them is that when you open the action, the extractor brings the shell back then snaps forward so that there is no risk of having a shell stuck ahead of the extractor when loading. Also check the stock for a stamp of WD and a broad arrow. Some appear to have been sold to the British army, presumably for the Fenian raids

cheers mooncoon
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help fellows.....I'm probably going to back off on this one....found out seller is asking $1500...I could probably knock that down by a couple of points but like I said these are out of my realm of collecting.
Nevertheless interesting rifle....if only it could it could talk....
 
I finally got around to checking my gun; as in Tiriaq's posting, it is a .52 caliber rimfire and you can see some of the home made shells in one of my photos (I prime them with 27 cal Hilti shells). When I bought the gun, the stock was broken completely through the wrist area in a long diagonal. I epoxied it back together but a small portion of the brake, I could not disguise. What was good was that because I had to refinish the butt stock, when I started to sand a gob of dried paint off on the right hand side, a WD broad arrow stamp showed up. I would never have found that otherwise. Mechanically the gun is in excellent condition and still has the original colour case hardening on the face of the breach block

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The Cdn Starr carbines were part of a lot of 1000 purchased by the British RN for use in Canada 1866-7. About 250 of these ended up in the possession of the CDN Militia. Althogh these arms and Spencers were on issue to the RN no collector publication in the UK ever mentions them as being service arms of HM govt.
 
In Peter Schiffer's book "Civil War Carbines - Myth vs reality", he tests 12 CW carbines with ammo as close as possible to the original. He shot them at 55m-110m-220m.

He ranked the Starr at 12th overall, just above the Gallagher.
 
The Fall 2019 and the Spring 2020 issues of BPCN (Black Powder Cartridge News) have articles on shooting original Slant Breech Sharps carbines.

Everything they discuss applies to current '63 models as well.

Something to enjoy while self-isolating.
 
Get an appraisal if you can trace Civil War provenance the collector market in the USA may raise the value somewhat.
 
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