Gun

TesT

The EMF Hartford Model 1874

SHARPS
EMF Hartford Sharps is exact replica of original Model 1874, right down to blued barrel, color case hardened receiver and optional double set triggers.

The Gun That Shaped Americas DESTINY

RIFLE
Charlie Cutshaw Photos by Doug riCharDson
1873 and Remington Rolling Blocks, but the vast majority of frontiersmen who chose a large caliber rifle opted for the Sharps. There were a number of reasons for this, not the least of which the rifles accuracy. Readers may be familiar with Matthew Quigleys seemingly astonishing longdistance shot early in Quigley Down Under, but shots such as this were fairly routine for buffalo hunters of the American West. Probably the most famous use of a Sharps was by Billy Dixon when approximately 100 Cheyenne and Comanche Indians attacked a buffalo hunters camp at Adobe Wells in the Texas Panhandle. Dixon, using a borrowed .50-90 Sharps, brought down an Indian at the incredible range of 1,538 yards. In addition to accuracy, most of its competitors were not nearly as aesthetically pleasing as the Sharps. Even today, the rifles proportions and lines are appealing to anyone who appreciates firearms. Aesthetics and accuracy aside, what set the Sharps apart from most others was the ammunition for which it was chambered. The Sharps action is inherently strong and can stand the pressures that would cause the ruination of other rifles like the Trapdoor Springfield. Indeed, the hot

The Sharps M1874 Rifle

has been known by many names. Buffalo hunters called it poison slinger. Historians called it The gun that shaped American destiny. The company itself called the rifle Old Reliable. Whatever one chose to call it, the M1874 Sharps played a significant role in American history and the opening of the American West. In the wake of the popular film Quigley Down Under there has been a resurgence of interest regarding Sharps rifles in general and the M1874 in particular. Several manufacturers now produce Sharps replicas, most of them custom built rifles that entail not only a waiting period but also significant expense.

nter lo Hu on a Buf f y Dix ll Bi

History
The original Sharps 1874 was actually introduced in 1871, but the model number changed when new owners purchased the company in 1874. Presumably this was intended to show prospective purchasers of Sharps rifles that the company had something new to offer. Whatever the reason, the Sharps dominated the single-shot rifle market in the latter part of the 19th Century. There were other rifles such as the Ballard, the Springfield

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eMF MoDel 1874 sharPs riFle

PMC ammunition, one were a $4 option, while SpEciFicationS of the rounds tested globe and peep sights added $5 to the rifles herein, specifically cauprice. A telescopic sight tions against its use in would cost the Sharps Trapdoor Springfields. buyer $40 more than Probably the most poputhe cost of the rifle in lar caliber for the buffalo many cases. Sharps also hide hunters was the .50Caliber: .45-70 Operation: Manual, falling block 90, basically a lengthmade and sold a full line Barrel length: 28 inches Overall length: 44.5 inches Weight: 10.5 pounds ened .50-70. Another of rifle cases with leather Stock: Walnut Operation: Manual, falling block cases ranging from $2 to extremely popular chamFinish: Blue Capacity: Single shot Price: $1300 $5 and wood from $7 to bering was the .44-90, in $40, depending on type of essence a necked down wood and interior trim. .50-90 firing a 520 grain bullet. Because most plains hunters reloaded This was about average for the rifle in its early A canvas case was available for only $2.50. their ammunition with varying amounts of days, although 16-pound models were noted Oddly, a sheepskin case cost 50 cents less. black powder to save money, cartridges like from time to time. Later models increased in the .50-90 were not always referred to as average weight to some 14 pounds, although Decline and Renaissance such. The .50-90 was also called the .50-100 Sharps would build a rifle to whatever speciDespite the popularity of Sharps rifles, fications the purchaser desired. (Our test rifle the company collapsed in 1881. By this time, was a relative lightweight, tipping the scales at repeating rifles were being manufactured in a mere 9.5 pounds.) All the purchaser had to calibers that approached the power of those do was lay down his money. Some high end for which the Sharps was chambered and this Creedmoor Model Sharps retailed at $125, no doubt was at least partially responsible an incredible expense in the 1870s. Sharps for a decline in the demand for single shot Hunting Models were significantly less, rifles in major calibers. Over the years since with the least expensive selling for $30, still a the demise of the Sharps Rifle Company fairly expensive rifle for the time. This model attempts were made to resurrect the 1874 had a 26-inch, round barrel. The Sharps and the later hammerless 1878 model. The Sporting Rifle with full octagon barrel latter Sharps had a sophisticated striker firbegan at $35, while the half octagon-barreled ing mechanism designed by Hugo Borchardt, Receiver showing .45-70 cartridge ready model listed for $33. Double set triggers who later designed the pioneering semiautoto be loaded. Loading involves placing hammer on half cock, dropping the block matic pistol that bore his name using trigger guard/lever. If a spent cartridge and led to development of the is in the chamber, it will be extracted. famous Luger pistol. There are a number of reasons for the current popularand .50-110. For this reason, the standard ity of the Sharps and a few cartridges were referred to by caliber and other single shot rifles whose case length with most Sharps rifles marked heyday was over 130 years ago. as such. The .50-90, for example, was desOne is cowboy action shootignated .50-2 . Most cartridges for Sharps ing, a sport that has driven a rifles were bottlenecked; the only ones which newfound interest in firearms were not were the .45-70, .50-70 of the American Frontier that and .50-90. In calibers that includapproaches mania in many ed .40, .44, .45 and .50, Sharps rifles enthusiasts. Of course the popwere used to virtually exterminate ularity of the movie Quigley the American Bison between 1870 Hartford Sharps Down Under, which has a remarkable cult and 1900. Railroad guards, scouts receiver area. Author following, has had something to do with the and law enforcement agencies, added tang adjustpopularity of Sharps rifles in general. A spinmost notably the Texas Rangers, able rear sight and off of cowboy action shooting is matches also used Sharps rifles. globe front with devoted solely to Sharps rifles and other Sharps 1874s ranged from 10 replaceable inserts. single shot rifles of the late 19th Century. to 16 pounds and were referred to 19th Century buffalo Regardless, there is just something about by their weight. Writing in 1874 at hunters equipped the Sharps that captures the imagination. Fort Worth, Texas, Frank Collinson their rifles with Whether it is nostalgia over the cowboy alluded to the 12 pound Sharps sights such as these movies of ones youth, a fascination with rifle he had recently purchased. for long range work.

EMF Hartford Sharps

American history and the guns that played an essential role in opening the West, long range shooting in general, or simply an appreciation of quality and manufacturing processes that have long since ceased to be a part of firearms manufacture, there appears to be a small but steady demand for Sharps rifles. To meet this demand, a number of custom makers ply their trade here in the United States. Most cannot build their Sharps replicas in sufficient numbers to meet demand and these rifles, characterized by Wells and Shiloh Sharps, represent the high end of Sharps riflesessentially those that would have cost $125 in 1875. These rifles are made with tender loving care by craftsmen who use the finest wood and steel to craft rifles on a par with the best to be found anywhere. For the individual who does not wish to spend
Closeup of M1874 muzzle. Note deep crown and globe front sight with insert.

4/C AD

nearly $2,000 for a single shot rifle, there are alternatives. One of these is the line of Sharps replicas offered by EMF. EMF Sharps replicas are made in Italy by Pedretti and they do not take a back seat to anyone in overall care in manufacture, if the example we purchased is any indication. The fit of wood and metal is about as good as it gets in a production firearm, with a near perfect match between all metal and wood interfaces. The bluing is deep and even while the receivers color case hardening is extremely well done. The walnut is straight, dense grain and the checkering even and sharp. The care that went into the manufacture of this rifle is obvious. Screw heads are aligned on the receiver tang, buttplate and forearm. The muzzle is deeply crowned. All in all, it is a beautiful rifle. The EMF Hartford Model Sharps rifles are available in four versions, all of which
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eMF MoDel 1874 sharPs riFle

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essentially replicate the original 1874 Sporting Model with 28-inch full octagon barrel and double set triggers. The rifles are offered with one of three finishes blue barrel, brown barrel or unfinished in the white. A 22-inch round barreled military carbine and 28-inch Business Rifle are also offered. Calibers include .45-70 and .45-120. At the high end, EMF offers three variants the Quigley (that replicates the movie rifle), the Deluxe Premier (with select walnut, fancy color case hardening and German silver forend cap) and the Deluxe Engraved Premier (which adds the finest walnut, hand engraving and gold inlay to the Premier rifle). These rifles are claimed by EMF to be the equal of any high-quality Sharps replica rifle at a far lower price. All EMF Sharps rifles except the military carbine have double set triggers. The standard trigger on our test rifle was quite heavy at about 12 pounds, but broke cleanly, while the set trigger breaks at only a pound or slightly less. We averaged 1.1 pounds set trigger pull. This is so light that all one has to do is think about squeezing the trigger before the bullet heads down-

range. Sights are almost identical to those of the original 1874 rifles, with a leaf rear and blade front inletted into a dovetail in the barrel. We added a tang peep rear sight and globe front to more closely replicate an original buffalo hunters rifle.

Range time
Our particular EMF came with the 28-inch octagon barrel weighing in at 10 pounds, 5 ouncesactually on the light side for a Sharps. The barrel was 7/8 inch in diameter and measured 3/8 inch across the flats. The muzzle was nicely crowned with the bore slightly recessed for protection. As a neophyte to shooting a rifle such as this, we originally obtained some Cowboy .45-70, from both Black Hills and PMC, but found this to be somewhat wimpy. Our friend

Jeff Hoffman at Black Hills who told us that cowboy ammo is intended only for cowboy competition and as such isnt loaded to very high pressure. In fact, the factory velocity of Black Hills cowboy .45-70 is loaded to deliver only 1250 feet per second (fps) muzzle velocity, as is PMCs cowboy load. These are lower velocity than the original factory loads, which were about 1440 fps. So we set out to find some stouter loads for our Sharps. One load came from PMC, which recently introduced a high-pressure .45-70 strictly for modern rifles. This cartridge launches a 350-grain flat nose soft point bullet at a whopping 2,025 feet per second. The genesis of this round is worth telling it seems that PMCs CEO is enamored of fishing trips to Alaska and on a trip a few years ago was chased from his favorite spot by a rather large grizzly bear who resented the intrusion of paltry humans onto his turf. PMCs CEO returned and charged his engineers with developing a .45-70 load that would stop a grizzly bear and the result is PMCs new round that carries the catalog number 45-70HAwe presume the letters indicate hauls a--. Lest the reader think us to be more air-headed than we really are, although we knew the EMF rifle to be made of modern high quality steel and the Sharps action is inherently strong, we called EMF prior to using the hot PMC ammo in our rifle to confirm that it would be safe. EMF confirmed that the rifle would handle the stress with no problem and so we breathed somewhat easier. Winchester manufactures a load that is almost as potent, so we obtained some of that as well. Winchesters SPG4570 launches a 300-grain Partition Gold bullet at 1880 fps, good enough for just about anything on four legs that roams the backwoods of North America. Our range testing extended to only 100 yards, although cowboy shooting is conduct-

and Winchester. The bottom line is that the EMF 1874 Sharps replica was a high quality faithful reproduction of a classic American rifle that was an integral part of the 19th Century westward expansion.

CONTACT:
EMF Company

INFORMATION
(800) 430-1310

FOR MORE j

emf-company.com

Black Hills Ammunition

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(605) 348-5150
black-hills.com

ed at distances from 50 to 500 yards, depending on the match. We should note that the EMF Sharps version evaluated herein is no longer offered by the company, although four traditional Sharps rifles are still in production The Business Rifle, Billy Dixon

Rifle, EMF Silhouette Rifle and Quigley Sporting Rifle. Sharps rifles have always had a reputation for reliability and accuracy and our test rifle didnt disappoint. The rifle was a solid minute of angle at 100 yards with all ammo tested Black Hills, PMC

(281) 703-8146
pmcammo.com

PMC

4/C AD

Dixon, using a borrowed .50-90 Sharps, brought down an INDIAN at the incredible range of 1,538 YARDS.

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