Just found this on my annual post-Christmas trawl of the forum.
Yes, the following dropping block/falling block rifles [and carbines] are still made by gunmakers in North America and Italy.
They are -
1. Shiloh Sharps of Montana and Christian Sharp [no connection, same state] - metallic cartridge-firing as well as loose-loading/paper-cartridge versions. Long waiting lists and pretty deep pockets required for either maker.
2. Sturm, Ruger Inc - USA - various Number 1 series rifles and carbines based on the old Farquharson or Ballard falling block action. Good prices and many different grades from workmanlike to sublime.
3. Davide Pedersoli of Italy - MANY versions of the Browning Model of 1878 in sundry calibres, also make many versions of the Sharps rifles and carbines from excellent to museum-ready. Also Aldo Uberti. Pedersoli also makes a neat little 'Baby Sharps' in smaller calibres, including a .22 rimfire - cute but costy. Another Italian maker, whose name [with just three initial letters?] escapes me right now, also makes a loose-loading [paper-cartridge] version of the Sharps, but from the couple that I have seen they are not to be overly recommended .
Hope this helps.
Unless, of course, I've lost something in translation and we are talking about entirely different things........
tac
