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Someone asked in a for-sale thread for a Sharps percussion rifle how they were loaded. I did not want to pollute their for-sale thread, so I figured I'd make a post.
While there were other cartridge-based firearms contemporary to the Sharps, they all utilized some kind of cartridge that had to be extracted from the breech after firing. For example, the Smith carbine utilized cartridges initially made of India Rubber. The Maynard utilized a brass cartridge. All of these cartridges had a hole in their bottom to allow the flash from the traditional musket percussion cap to pass through and ignite the gunpowder. But, after firing, the shooter had to break open the action and remove the spent cartridge.
Not with the Sharps! The Sharps was revolutionary in that it used a combustible cartridge. Initially, the cartridge was made of paper, and was long enough that when inserted fully into the chamber, the "tail" of the cartridge was stick out. When the falling breech block was raised back up into the firing position, it sliced off the tail of the cartridge like a guillotine. This exposed the gunpowder in the rest of the cartridge still in the chamber to the fire channel for the external percussion cap. When fired, all the paper went out the bore with the bullet, and the shooter simply opened up the breech, inserted another cartridge, and was ready to cap and fire! Nothing to waste time extracting or getting stuck in the chamber.
Here is a picture of the "shearing" type of Sharps cartridge:
There were a couple of problems with this design. Sometimes when the breech block was closed, rather than cleanly shearing off the tail of the cartridge it would "fold" the paper up, thus blocking the gunpowder from the fire channel, causing a misfire. Another problem is that when the tail was sheared off, some powder was in that tail and would end up on top of the breech block. This could add quite a "poof" in your face on firing if you did not remember to dump or blow it off before firing. Still another problem is that if paper folded over on shearing, it would get pinched between the face of the breech block and the chamber. This made a gap between the breech and the chamber, and sometimes powder will spill down and collect under the foregrip. If this powder accumulated and detonated, it could blow the forestock off the gun!
Later designs of the cartridge were shortened so that they exactly fit in the chamber. The tail-end of the cartridge was made with a very lightweight tissue-like paper that the cap blast would burn through. This cartridge fit entirely into the chamber on loading, and so eliminated all of the problems of the shearing-tail cartridge.
Paper was found to be less than ideal for the Sharps Cartridge, as it was prone to tearing where it was tied/joined to the bullet, resulting in the powder dumping everywhere and rending the cartridge ruined. The US arsenals switched to very fine linen, which was found to be much more durable.
Unfortunately such fine linen is not manufactured anymore today. It faded away in the 1940s where it was in use as drafting paper. You can still find new old stock rolls of it from time to time. Of course you can still use paper which is also period-appropriate, especially for those made by the Confederacy. Eras Gone Bullet Molds makes an excellent copy of the Richmond Laboratories Sharps bullet.
Here you can see one I made compared to photographs of historical ones:
Another revolutionary aspect of the Sharps is that it had the capability to use a pellet-style primer. The gun had a built-in pellet primer feeding system that would launch the primer out to the nipple on firing, whereupon the hammer would catch it and smash it on the percussion cone, causing it to fire. In the event that these special primers were not available, traditional musket percussion caps could be used.
In this picture, you can see a sleeve of the disk primers along with an original linen cartridge.
In an emergency, one could load the Sharps like a muzzle loader, pouring powder down the barrel. But you would need an undersized bullet or a patched round ball as you could not force the correct Sharps bullet in from the muzzle. However, you could drop a Sharps bullet into the chamber with the breech open, and then pour in powder to fill the chamber, and close the breech block and fire it that way, also.
The Sharps was one of the few breechloading carbines that made the transition from percussion to self-contained metallic cartridges. It's falling block breech design and beefy receiver provided enough room for extraction mechanisms and strength for heftier cartridges.
While there were other cartridge-based firearms contemporary to the Sharps, they all utilized some kind of cartridge that had to be extracted from the breech after firing. For example, the Smith carbine utilized cartridges initially made of India Rubber. The Maynard utilized a brass cartridge. All of these cartridges had a hole in their bottom to allow the flash from the traditional musket percussion cap to pass through and ignite the gunpowder. But, after firing, the shooter had to break open the action and remove the spent cartridge.
Not with the Sharps! The Sharps was revolutionary in that it used a combustible cartridge. Initially, the cartridge was made of paper, and was long enough that when inserted fully into the chamber, the "tail" of the cartridge was stick out. When the falling breech block was raised back up into the firing position, it sliced off the tail of the cartridge like a guillotine. This exposed the gunpowder in the rest of the cartridge still in the chamber to the fire channel for the external percussion cap. When fired, all the paper went out the bore with the bullet, and the shooter simply opened up the breech, inserted another cartridge, and was ready to cap and fire! Nothing to waste time extracting or getting stuck in the chamber.
Here is a picture of the "shearing" type of Sharps cartridge:
There were a couple of problems with this design. Sometimes when the breech block was closed, rather than cleanly shearing off the tail of the cartridge it would "fold" the paper up, thus blocking the gunpowder from the fire channel, causing a misfire. Another problem is that when the tail was sheared off, some powder was in that tail and would end up on top of the breech block. This could add quite a "poof" in your face on firing if you did not remember to dump or blow it off before firing. Still another problem is that if paper folded over on shearing, it would get pinched between the face of the breech block and the chamber. This made a gap between the breech and the chamber, and sometimes powder will spill down and collect under the foregrip. If this powder accumulated and detonated, it could blow the forestock off the gun!
Later designs of the cartridge were shortened so that they exactly fit in the chamber. The tail-end of the cartridge was made with a very lightweight tissue-like paper that the cap blast would burn through. This cartridge fit entirely into the chamber on loading, and so eliminated all of the problems of the shearing-tail cartridge.
Paper was found to be less than ideal for the Sharps Cartridge, as it was prone to tearing where it was tied/joined to the bullet, resulting in the powder dumping everywhere and rending the cartridge ruined. The US arsenals switched to very fine linen, which was found to be much more durable.
Unfortunately such fine linen is not manufactured anymore today. It faded away in the 1940s where it was in use as drafting paper. You can still find new old stock rolls of it from time to time. Of course you can still use paper which is also period-appropriate, especially for those made by the Confederacy. Eras Gone Bullet Molds makes an excellent copy of the Richmond Laboratories Sharps bullet.
Here you can see one I made compared to photographs of historical ones:
Another revolutionary aspect of the Sharps is that it had the capability to use a pellet-style primer. The gun had a built-in pellet primer feeding system that would launch the primer out to the nipple on firing, whereupon the hammer would catch it and smash it on the percussion cone, causing it to fire. In the event that these special primers were not available, traditional musket percussion caps could be used.
In this picture, you can see a sleeve of the disk primers along with an original linen cartridge.
In an emergency, one could load the Sharps like a muzzle loader, pouring powder down the barrel. But you would need an undersized bullet or a patched round ball as you could not force the correct Sharps bullet in from the muzzle. However, you could drop a Sharps bullet into the chamber with the breech open, and then pour in powder to fill the chamber, and close the breech block and fire it that way, also.
The Sharps was one of the few breechloading carbines that made the transition from percussion to self-contained metallic cartridges. It's falling block breech design and beefy receiver provided enough room for extraction mechanisms and strength for heftier cartridges.
