General Hints

LOADING AND SHOOTING INSTRUCTIONS

FOR 1859 & 1863 SHARPS RIFLES

WARNING: BEFORE PROCEEDING ALWAYS MAKE SURE THE FIREARM IS UNLOADED AND POINTED IN A

SAFE DIRECTION.

See exploded view at

page 17a, 18a of this booklet.

The exploded view drawing shows the S

HARPS SPORTING model, but the suggestions apply for all

1859 & 1863 Sharps rifles.

FIELD STRIPPING

1) With the action (part. # 37)

OPEN, place the hammer (part. # 4) in the half-cock position. You

will notice a tiny plunger pin (part. # 49) located on the right side of the frame.

2) The lever hinge pin (part. # 48) is located on the lower front of the frame on the right-hand side

of the rifle. While pushing in on the tiny plunger pin, rotate the arm of the lever hinge pin

forward past the plunger pin, approximately 180 degrees from its original position. Turn the rifle

upside down. While rotating forward and backward a few degrees, and pulling outward,

remove the lever hinge pin. After the lever hinge pin has been removed, slide the lever and the

breech block up and out of the rifle. To avoid that the hinge pin bumps against the forend (part.

# 31), we suggest you disassemble the wood, loosening the screw (part. # 62) or remove the

barrel’s bands.

3) You have now field stripped the rifle.

4) Reverse the above procedure for reassembly.

Further disassemby should be attempted only by a competent gunsmith

CLEANING

1) Remove block (part. # 37), see “F

IELD STRIPPING”.

2) After the day’s shooting, the sleeve (part. # 18) will need to be mooved slightly into the

chamber by using an appropriate tool (item USA 500). This is very important. If the sleeve is

not cleaned and greased on a regular basis, due to carbon residues it will become fouled,

stick, and no longer set back against the breech face and seal the breech to stop the gas from

leaking.

Gas leaking around the gas check can do two things:

• it can possibly injure the shooter;

• it will gas cut the breech face and compound the problem.

3) Periodically we suggest to remove the gas seal plate (part. # 38) to clean it properly from the

powder residue. To remove it, use one simple screw driver working on the side of it. Clean it

with a good solvent (item USA 487) and put it back in place, pushing it with a certain pressure.

4) Use a good bore solvent to clean the bore and breech (item USA 487).

5) Oil the bore and breech with a good grade of oil (item USA 489).

6) Put a thin coat of grease on the gas check and make it rotate and slide it back into the breech.

7) Replace the block.

The seal plate has been covered with a particular product, which helps to resist the high

temperature produced by the black powder combustion inside the chamber and thus reducing the

“ring” appearance on the plate. The use of a loaded brass case will also reduce such high

temperature developed in the area.

Attention: the gas check cannot be removed completly.