This is our Master Kit. It comes with the knob and block for the caliber, calibers, or specific guns, the marked dippers for them, and one funnel. It also comes with all the things you need to make paper cartridges except for bullets and powder. This includes two packages of Elements rice paper rolling papers, a 5/8" paper circle cutter, a regular size All Purpose glue stick, and a 2oz can of black powder lube.
The lube is enough for approximately 200 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 two packages of paper are enough for about 200 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.
All of our kits are engineered to fill the chamber so that the top of a conical bullet reaches the very top of the chamber when compressed with the loading lever. Small variances in height can be obtained by how much you fill or overfill the dipper.
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 which 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 fantastically. Note that we suggest only real black powder. The substitutes will most likely not ignite reliably.
For lower power target loads, you fill the powder first, for how much you want to use, then top it off with Cream of Wheat to about an 8th of an inch below the rim of the paper.
None of our kits come with gunpowder, bullets, caps, or of course the guns in the pictures. Our measurements are based on our experience, and you use them at your own risk.