Sharps Butt Plate Question

[Dude]

I've got a 63 Sharps sporter that came as a kit minus stocks. The original owner cut a piece of flat steel and screwed it to the butt. It's been that way for thirty or forty years as far as I can tell. Time to make it right! So...

What sort of butt plate would be proper for this old girl? I'm thinking a checkered shotgun style would be best. What do you think?

I had considered a crescent, but it seems most guys find them uncomfortable. They sure do look cool, thought.

And finally, where would you suggest looking? I've seen a lot of shops listed in the past and I should have written then down - recorded them somewhere - but didn't and now regret it. I know there's a place (in the midwest?) that's made molds from originals for all sorts of rifle parts, but I can't seem to locate it.

 

[Antelope Pete]

The most common butt plate for that era and configuration would be the military butt plate. The checkered shotgun would have been on some target rifles and sporters from the Bridgeport era of the 1874 model.

 

[2 shots]

dixie gun works has originals very cheap. p/n is SH0311 $20.00 they also have original screws $7.50 each.

 

[Dude]

I did find the one at Dixie, but unfortunately, it's for the carbine, or that style - the butt plate is much shorter and narrower than the sporting rifle.

I also realized that with the highly figured curly black walnut, I hate to cover up any of that beautiful wood. So no patchbox. It's going to have to be the military style (if it's made in the larger size) or a shotgun style - probably with checkering.

 

[hawkenhunter50]

Might try checking with this outfit. They have a lot of original and repro parts.

https://www.ssfirearms.com/default.asp

 

[Phil Coffins]

Shiloh Sharps has both the flat plastic and the steel shotgun plate that are proper. I built a number of sporting 1863 Sharps during my time making custom order rifles for them. These are correct.

 

[Dude]

How many coffins could Phil fill if Phil filled coffins?

I've been in touch with Shiloh, but have had difficulty getting data from Lucinda. Guess I need to persist.

 

[deerstalkert]

can you give dimensions of your needed plate, taken from the stock?
i have a drawer of "stuff" that may fit your need. some are battle field found.

 

[Dude]

DeerStalkerT - The length of pull currently is 15, but I'll shorten it an inch. Still, it doesn't look like the butt plate will be much smaller than now - 5.25"x1.63".

That would be great if you've got something. I think Track has one for $20, but it's the smaller version for the carbine, plus it's notched for a patch box, which I'd considered, but decided I don't want to hide any of the beautiful curly walnut stock. Besides, it doesn't look like the larger butt plates were made to be used with patchboxes. I think my two choices are a checkered shotgun, or the military style if they were made that large.

I haven't presented any photos till now, but this seems like a good time to start. Perhaps I'll take a few photos of the old girl tomorrow and figure out how to post them. The wood is actually pretty amazing. The fitting wasn't very well done so I'm doing what I can to clean it up - probably will do some bedding to fill in gaps. Plus there are some other things I'd like to get your input on - like how to hide a bit of missing wood next to an escutcheon. Anyway, the gun is looking much better since removing the verathane along with the dark stain, and polishing the metal with fine steel wool. Properly doming the screws (even with off center slots) and bluing made a huge difference.

 

[deerstalkert]

will brave the arctic air in the shop tomorrow. temps right now outside are -14. 20 degrees warmer in the shop. i hate these cold spells.

 

[Phil Coffins]

The flat hard rubber checkered butt plate is the easiest to fit up but Sharps used several types. Here are a few, the right and center are original with the Shiloh on the left.
IMG_0522 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[deerstalkert]

my plate is pretty rough. if you can use it i will send it. just for shipping. found it on an old home sight of the local Sheriff from 1920's. he was noted to be a sharps man but not sure this is a sharps plate.
Phil Coffins can tell.
length picture is off . clumsy shivering and taking pics with my phone at -14 degrees!

 

[Phil Coffins]

That could clean up to a decent butt plate. I would think it’s from a shotgun due to its length. The Sharps were about 5 inches rather than six and had checkering.
Its warmed up to -10 here!

 

[Dude]

Yeah, looks that way to me too - it should clean up with a bit of filing and sanding. It looks like the butt plate on the 74 Pedersoli, which is also about the same size, though not as wide. Too bad the post office isn't delivering it today - I could be cleaning it up while house-bound.

I guess this is the banana belt compared to you guys - it's 16 right now, and snowing. Where's that global warming when you need it???

Beautiful rifles, Phil! Those crescent plates sure look cool - but is it practical? It only works off-hand. Correct? How do you like shooting it? When I first was trying to decide which butt plate to use, I read up on them. Seems 2/3 of the guys say forget about the crescent and go with the shotgun, the rest say there's nothing wrong with the crescent.

Of course there wasn't any plastic in the later 1800s - so what did they use? Still, even if something plastic-like is correct, I'd still want metal. I didn't know Shiloh offered a plastic butt plate.

 

[Dude]

I see what you mean, Phil - at a 15" LOP, this butt looks really big and it's still 1/2" shorter than Mr T's. Hard to imagine a Sharps with such a big butt! Must have come from a shotgun. But it does look like it would be right after a little grinding. I'll send you a PM T.

 

[Phil Coffins]

This crescent butt is a mid range butt and yes it is best used offhand. The steel or hard rubber plate is more versatile. Gutta Percha was the material used where we now use plastic. The checkered steel plate has a bit of curve and very nice.

 

[Dude]

Even with the crescent, it can still be used off the bench with a pad. At what point is a crescent a poor idea? Did they go out of favor with the harder kick of smokeless?

Here's a photo of the gun - if I can manage the upload.

 

[Phil Coffins]

I’ve shot the military and crescent butt from the bench, if you go prone you‘ll want the shotgun butt.