EXTREMELY RARE SHARPS OVERBAUGH GERMAN PATTERN SCHUETZEN SINGLE SHOT TARGET RIFLE.

EXTREMELY RARE SHARPS OVERBAUGH GERMAN PATTERN SCHUETZEN SINGLE SHOT TARGET RIFLE. SN 162211. Cal. 40 1-11/16″ (40-50 Sharps Bottleneck). Extremely rare Overbaugh Sharps, 1 of 69 ever produced under the auspices of Charles E. Overbaugh, a New York City gunsmith and part time Sharps employee who was instrumental in the design and ordering of this model, primarily for the New York Central Schuetzen Corps of New York City. This rifle has 30″ tapered oct bbl, with globe front sight, Lawrence Patent rear sight and sporting tang sight with 4″ mid-range vernier stem. Trigger plate is mounted with Sharps dbl set triggers. It is mounted with nicely figured uncheckered American walnut with standard schnable tip Sharps forearm and pistol grip buttstock with shallow cheekpiece and heavy nickeled brass semi-schuetzen buttplate. Right side of buttstock is inletted with an empty German silver shield shaped initial plate like the one pictured in the referenced publication. Top flat of bbl is marked with the Bridgeport address forward of the rear sight and the caliber marking over the chamber area. Bottom flat of bbl, in addition to the SN, is marked “5” and “7” over “16”. The lever, just below the breech block is drilled & tapped for a large hole which contains a professionally made steel, brass & wood palm rest. Accompanied by a Sharps letter identifying this rifle as being listed in order book #6 as a Model 1874 Schuetzen rifle invoiced at the Bridgeport factory on Feb. 13, 1878 to Charles F. Gennerich, captain of the New York Central Schuetzen Corps, 781 8th Ave., New York City. It is described as being 40 caliber 1-11/16″ with 30″ full oct bbl, dbl set triggers, pistol grip stock with cheek piece & sporting buttplate. It is also listed as having a globe front sight and vernier tang sight on a sporting base and the weight is listed as 9 lbs. 13 oz. and cost $42.00. Out of the total 69 rifles of this type ordered, there were 20 in this shipment. Dr. Labowskie, in his letter, states “. . many shipped with the sporting buttplate were subsequently altered to full Schuetzen-style buttplates.” According to Sharps Firearms, Sellers, there were only 69 of these rifles all produced at Bridgeport in the period July 1877 to Oct. 1878. They were mostly in the same configuration as found here. He states that all but three were purchased by members of the New York Central Schuetzen Corps and that 17 of them were equipped with full Schuetzen buttplates. Only one was made with round bbl. The SN was observed on the top tang perpendicular to the receiver, on bottom of bbl, with the last four digits on trigger plate & lockplate. The tang sight staff is stamped with the last two digits of the SN on the bottom front with no number visible on the tang sight base although the condition of the base matches the staff precisely. Neither were there any numbers visible in the stock or forearm. This is an extremely rare Sharps rifle, the likes of which are rarely ever encountered. CONDITION: Fine. Numbers matching as noted above. Bbl retains an even very dark brown attic patina with an area of pitting about mid-point on right side and scattered spots of pitting elsewhere. Receiver retains traces of silvered case colors being mostly a smooth brown patina. Lockplate & hammer are a mottled dark silver/brown patina with scattered pitting. Trigger plate is also mottled silver/brown patina with scattered very fine pitting. Tang sight is a matching dark brown patina with fine pitting on the base and rear of the staff. Wood is sound with minor handling & use nicks & scratches with a small chip on the schnable tip of the forearm and overall retains most of its orig factory varnish. Mechanics are crisp, bright shiny bore. 4-40130 JR214 (10,500-15,500)

Auction: Firearms - Fall 2010

Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

Image	Lot	Price	Description
	2093	$10,500.00	EXTREMELY RARE SHARPS OVERBAUGH GERMAN PATTERN SCHUETZEN SINGLE SHOT TARGET RIFLE. SN 162211. Cal. 40 1-11/16″ (40-50 Sharps Bottleneck). Extremely rare Overbaugh Sharps, 1 of 69 ever produced under the auspices of Charles E. Overbaugh, a New York City gunsmith and part time Sharps employee who was instrumental in the design and ordering of this model, primarily for the New York Central Schuetzen Corps of New York City. This rifle has 30″ tapered oct bbl, with globe front sight, Lawrence Patent rear sight and sporting tang sight with 4″ mid-range vernier stem. Trigger plate is mounted with Sharps dbl set triggers. It is mounted with nicely figured uncheckered American walnut with standard schnable tip Sharps forearm and pistol grip buttstock with shallow cheekpiece and heavy nickeled brass semi-schuetzen buttplate. Right side of buttstock is inletted with an empty German silver shield shaped initial plate like the one pictured in the referenced publication. Top flat of bbl is marked with the Bridgeport address forward of the rear sight and the caliber marking over the chamber area. Bottom flat of bbl, in addition to the SN, is marked “5” and “7” over “16”. The lever, just below the breech block is drilled & tapped for a large hole which contains a professionally made steel, brass & wood palm rest. Accompanied by a Sharps letter identifying this rifle as being listed in order book #6 as a Model 1874 Schuetzen rifle invoiced at the Bridgeport factory on Feb. 13, 1878 to Charles F. Gennerich, captain of the New York Central Schuetzen Corps, 781 8th Ave., New York City. It is described as being 40 caliber 1-11/16″ with 30″ full oct bbl, dbl set triggers, pistol grip stock with cheek piece & sporting buttplate. It is also listed as having a globe front sight and vernier tang sight on a sporting base and the weight is listed as 9 lbs. 13 oz. and cost $42.00. Out of the total 69 rifles of this type ordered, there were 20 in this shipment. Dr. Labowskie, in his letter, states “. . many shipped with the sporting buttplate were subsequently altered to full Schuetzen-style buttplates.” According to Sharps Firearms, Sellers, there were only 69 of these rifles all produced at Bridgeport in the period July 1877 to Oct. 1878. They were mostly in the same configuration as found here. He states that all but three were purchased by members of the New York Central Schuetzen Corps and that 17 of them were equipped with full Schuetzen buttplates. Only one was made with round bbl. The SN was observed on the top tang perpendicular to the receiver, on bottom of bbl, with the last four digits on trigger plate & lockplate. The tang sight staff is stamped with the last two digits of the SN on the bottom front with no number visible on the tang sight base although the condition of the base matches the staff precisely. Neither were there any numbers visible in the stock or forearm. This is an extremely rare Sharps rifle, the likes of which are rarely ever encountered. CONDITION: Fine. Numbers matching as noted above. Bbl retains an even very dark brown attic patina with an area of pitting about mid-point on right side and scattered spots of pitting elsewhere. Receiver retains traces of silvered case colors being mostly a smooth brown patina. Lockplate & hammer are a mottled dark silver/brown patina with scattered pitting. Trigger plate is also mottled silver/brown patina with scattered very fine pitting. Tang sight is a matching dark brown patina with fine pitting on the base and rear of the staff. Wood is sound with minor handling & use nicks & scratches with a small chip on the schnable tip of the forearm and overall retains most of its orig factory varnish. Mechanics are crisp, bright shiny bore. 4-40130 JR214 (10,500-15,500) Auction: Firearms - Fall 2010 Please Note: All prices include the hammer price plus the buyer’s premium, which is paid by the buyer as part of the purchase price. The prices noted here after the auction are considered unofficial and do not become official until after the 46th day.

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