Description
Instructions
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.
This is our Basic Kit, meaning that you will have to get your own 1/2" or 5/8" circle cutter online, as well as All Purpose glue sticks (not school glue), rolling papers, and lube. We strongly suggest the rice paper rolling papers offered in our kits. Lube can be made easily with 50/50 beeswax and beef tallow, which are on eBay.
The kit comes with the two piece knob and block for this specific caliber, calibers, or in some cases a specific gun. It also includes the powder dipper or dippers for the correct height of powder, and one funnel, regardless of how many sets you are purchasing.
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.
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.
