54 Percussion Sharps Paper Cartridge Former Deluxe Kit

The original Sharps percussion rifle was designed in 1848 by Christian Sharps and went through several iterations until it was replaced by famous "Quigley Down Under" cartridge guns in the 1870s.

The percussion version was used extensively in the Civil War by both sides, and the Confederacy made their own bullet for the gun in their Richmond lab. This kit was designed for the Eras Gone bullet mold that is a replica of that bullet, and uses a hybrid material system. 

The barrel of the cartridge is made from "end wraps," which are paper rectangles used by hair salons for certain procedures. They can be found on Amazon, Ebay and many other online retailers. We are using the 2 1/2" by 4" size. 

The end of the cartridge uses our standard cigarette rolling papers, and the former works the same way. But you do have to glue the edge of the end wraps, because they don't have glue on them already. 

We include a 1" circle cutter in our Master and Deluxe kits, but if you plan to buy your own, you probably can get away with as small as 3/4" if that's all you can find. The rolling papers tend to bind the larger cutters, so try to do at least 10 layers at a time. You can do this by layering 5, then folding them together. If the cutter binds just tear the circles free and pop the cutter back open. They are plenty large enough to lose a small edge

Please see our video on how to make and shoot these convenient and easy cartridges with your Sharps rifle. They work fantastic. Note that we suggest only real black powder. The substitutes will most likely not ignite reliably. 

The lube is enough for approximately 400 paper cartridges, if the lube is kept hot throughout.  If you heat the lube, take it off the heat, and dip until you can no longer dip, it will not last anywhere near as long.  The five packages of papers are enough for about 500 rounds of the .36 and .44, if you cut two strips for the body and use the end for two circles (see instructions page). For the larger cartridges, the number is about a half to two thirds, depending on well you combine your cuts. 

Included in this kit is also our loading block for the caliber or calibers. It makes it so you can make 20 papers and fill the powder at the same time. This is particularly valuable if you are loading roundballs, because with those, the glue will get on your fingers and make subsequent papers and powder significantly more difficult. It makes things go quick for conicals as well, and is a very useful addition to your paper cartridge arsenal. 

We also include a Berry's 20 cal ammo can as a project box. They are Made in the USA by Americans.