SCARCE IDENTIFIED SHARPS MODEL 1874 DELUXE SPORTING RIFLE.

SCARCE IDENTIFIED SHARPS MODEL 1874 DELUXE SPORTING RIFLE. SN C53654. Cal. 40-50 Sharps Bottleneck. Fine early sporting rifle with 28″ medium weight oct bbl, unusual folding front sight that appears to be half of a combination front sight but is without the standing blade and has not been modified. It has Lawrence Patent ladder rear sight and is mounted with a Sharps sporting tang sight with sliding windage bar. Top flat of bbl is marked in two lines “SHARPS RIFLE MANUFG. CO. / HARTFORD CONN” and has the caliber marking over chamber area. Just below the caliber marking is stamped “S20”. Receiver has usual Sharps patent markings on left side. Mounted with highly figured, uncheckered American walnut with pewter tipped rnd Sharps forearm and straight stock with nickel plated brass crescent buttplate with 3rd screw in the toe through a toeplate with long pointed finial. SN was observed on top tang, bottom of bbl under the forearm, inside bbl channel of forearm and on lockplate. The trigger plate, buttstock & buttplate are unnumbered. Left side of buttstock is inletted with a 2-3/8″ x 1″ oval German silver plaque engraved “F.A. PRATT / HARTFORD / CONNECTICUTT” (sic). Accompanied by a Sharps Rifle Co. records letter which identifies this rifle as having been invoiced to F.A. Pratt on Sept. 19, 1872 as a Model 1874 Sporting Rifle, a retroactive designation. It was not entered into the ledger & journal volumes until Oct. 25, 1872 which indicates that it may have been a special order which required additional time to execute. A notation in the ledger states “rifle butt”. The letter also states that this rifle was “evidently bought by F.A. Pratt for his personal use”. The letter continues that it was discovered in the attic of the Pratt home in Hartford in 2002 then it found its way to a Griffin & Howe store and consignor was able to purchase it in 2005. Also accompanying is a copy of a picture of Francis A. Pratt. Francis A. Pratt was the founder and co-owner of the Pratt & Whitney Company of Hartford who manufactured machinery for machinists, gun makers and sewing machine makers. Sharps purchased some of their manufacturing machinery from Pratt & Whitney. When the Sharps Rifle Co. went bankrupt in 1880 Pratt & Whitney repurchased some of the machinery. Pratt & Whitney is still in business and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of jet engines. PROVENANCE: Francis A. Pratt; Dr. Richard J. Labowskie. CONDITION: Good to very good, all matching except trigger plate & stock as noted; bbl retains about 70% strong orig blue with spots of heavy pitting, primarily around the forearm area and on both sides of receiver, top of breech block & lever; it is apparent from the patterns in this rust that this rifle was stored in some sort of cloth or canvas for a very long period of time with periodic dampness; receiver, lockplate & hammer retain case colors in sheltered areas with the balance turned silver; trigger plate also retains dark case colors with some light pitting; hammer & lockplate have a few scattered spots of pitting; stock has a hairline back of lockplate, on each side near the heel of the buttplate and in the toe; toe of the buttstock has an old repair; overall the wood retains about all of a professionally restored finish. Mechanics are fine, very bright shiny bore. 4-44921 JR326 (12,000-18,000)

Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012

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
	2303	$0.00	SCARCE IDENTIFIED SHARPS MODEL 1874 DELUXE SPORTING RIFLE. SN C53654. Cal. 40-50 Sharps Bottleneck. Fine early sporting rifle with 28″ medium weight oct bbl, unusual folding front sight that appears to be half of a combination front sight but is without the standing blade and has not been modified. It has Lawrence Patent ladder rear sight and is mounted with a Sharps sporting tang sight with sliding windage bar. Top flat of bbl is marked in two lines “SHARPS RIFLE MANUFG. CO. / HARTFORD CONN” and has the caliber marking over chamber area. Just below the caliber marking is stamped “S20”. Receiver has usual Sharps patent markings on left side. Mounted with highly figured, uncheckered American walnut with pewter tipped rnd Sharps forearm and straight stock with nickel plated brass crescent buttplate with 3rd screw in the toe through a toeplate with long pointed finial. SN was observed on top tang, bottom of bbl under the forearm, inside bbl channel of forearm and on lockplate. The trigger plate, buttstock & buttplate are unnumbered. Left side of buttstock is inletted with a 2-3/8″ x 1″ oval German silver plaque engraved “F.A. PRATT / HARTFORD / CONNECTICUTT” (sic). Accompanied by a Sharps Rifle Co. records letter which identifies this rifle as having been invoiced to F.A. Pratt on Sept. 19, 1872 as a Model 1874 Sporting Rifle, a retroactive designation. It was not entered into the ledger & journal volumes until Oct. 25, 1872 which indicates that it may have been a special order which required additional time to execute. A notation in the ledger states “rifle butt”. The letter also states that this rifle was “evidently bought by F.A. Pratt for his personal use”. The letter continues that it was discovered in the attic of the Pratt home in Hartford in 2002 then it found its way to a Griffin & Howe store and consignor was able to purchase it in 2005. Also accompanying is a copy of a picture of Francis A. Pratt. Francis A. Pratt was the founder and co-owner of the Pratt & Whitney Company of Hartford who manufactured machinery for machinists, gun makers and sewing machine makers. Sharps purchased some of their manufacturing machinery from Pratt & Whitney. When the Sharps Rifle Co. went bankrupt in 1880 Pratt & Whitney repurchased some of the machinery. Pratt & Whitney is still in business and is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of jet engines. PROVENANCE: Francis A. Pratt; Dr. Richard J. Labowskie. CONDITION: Good to very good, all matching except trigger plate & stock as noted; bbl retains about 70% strong orig blue with spots of heavy pitting, primarily around the forearm area and on both sides of receiver, top of breech block & lever; it is apparent from the patterns in this rust that this rifle was stored in some sort of cloth or canvas for a very long period of time with periodic dampness; receiver, lockplate & hammer retain case colors in sheltered areas with the balance turned silver; trigger plate also retains dark case colors with some light pitting; hammer & lockplate have a few scattered spots of pitting; stock has a hairline back of lockplate, on each side near the heel of the buttplate and in the toe; toe of the buttstock has an old repair; overall the wood retains about all of a professionally restored finish. Mechanics are fine, very bright shiny bore. 4-44921 JR326 (12,000-18,000) Auction: Firearms - Spring 2012 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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