Sharps value, what to look for?

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I am being offered a Sharps rifle, think it's a carbine. What should I be looking for and what's the high/low on original specimens? The seller didn't know the caliber, should it say on the barel? Any range of serial numbers more collectable?

Thanks
 
High/low? That covers a huge range. Basket case heavily rusted, missing parts, a couple of hundred? I had a look at an old family percussion carbine, Civil War issue, nice shape, I'd take it out and shoot it without hesitation, probably at least US$2500.
Your are going to have to get waaaaaay more information.
 
It sounds like you have a lot more homework to do.
Is it a rifle or a carbine ?

Percussion or conversion to center fire.

You are going into this situation blind.

Buying it and then finding out what you have bought is not the best idea.

This is a New Model 1863 Sharps carbine ---converted to center fire post Civil War.





 
I definitely recommend a huge does of Caveat Emptor. Some time ago I bought an original 1863 Sharps Carbine. It was not in the best of shape and what I thought was a .50-70 centre fire turned out to have had the chamber reamed out to .577 express but the bore was still a 50 cal. I eventually took off the original barrel which I still have and replaced it with a Snider barrel that my gunsmith fitted with a collar to be able to thread on to Sharps threads. Now I shoot something like a .58 Musket round out of it, still a lot of fun but it was a bit of an expensive lesson.
 
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The is the above mentioned carbine.
 
Thanks for the pics.

It's defenatly a center fire, not a perdition. It's suposed to be in working condition,I'll try to see it tomorrow.

I wasn't on the market for one, someone ofered te sell me one and I won't buy unless it's a fantastic deal... Not looking to rip the guy off either.
 
I think you would be wise to ask if he has any idea of how much he wants or hopes to get for it. Might save you making an embarasingly low offer or alternately offering far more than the seller wants and which is excessively high for the condition of the gun. Relative to wanting a high price; at a gun show locally last fall, there was an original rifle that was not too bad on the outside (basic brown coating of rust but no deep pitting that I remember) but the barrel was absolute toast. I suggest to the seller that I thought it was worth $700 - $1000 tops as an action (he had no price at that time) Later that morning he had it priced at $2500 which is around the top of the range that I would think a similar gun with a good bore would go for.

I have two original Sharps rifles (sort of). The first I bought at auction for roughly $700 about 7 or 8 years ago. More or less I was buying the action and the outside of the barrel. I probably could have bought it for $250 to $300 except that I was bidding against an american absentee bidder. I had to restock the gun, mill about .007" off the outside of the barrel while leaving the Old Reliable logo on, sleeve the bore and make or repair some of the internal parts. The second one I paid $400 for, also as an action, and while the bore looked shootable, so far I have not found something that it likes and will almost certainly save the old barrel and rebarrel the action to 40-70 bottle neck.

Rifles that I have seen recently (not many) in average condition and with shootable bores start in the $2500 - $3000 range and go rapidly up from there. I would expect a carbine to go for somewhat less

cheers mooncoon
 
I saw an original Sharps sporting rifle at a local auction last year in unshootable condition. Barrel badly pitted, lots of little dings on the top of the breech block from someone hammering the action open. I would have paid $500 tops. Sold for $1100.
 
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