Sharps Rifle Featured on Shooting USA Tonight
The July 8th (Wednesday night) episode of Shooting USA features the 1874 Sharps rifle, a lever-action breech-loader favored by plains buffalo hunters. Christian Sharps patented his signature rifle design in 1848. The Sharps Model 1874 was an updated version, chambered for metallic cartridges. According to firearms historian/author Garry James, the Sharps rifle “came in all sorts of different calibers from .40 all the way up to .50, and jillions of different case lengths and styles and configurations”.
Sharps rifles have enjoyed a new-found notoriety, thanks to Hollywood. Tom Selleck starred as Matthew Quigley in the hit movie Quigley Down-Under. In a famous scene (watch below), Quigley used his 1874 Sharps to hit a wooden bucket at very long range*. In this movie clip, Selleck explains the 45-110 cartridge, the rifle’s double-set trigger, and the Vernier rear sight. (45-110 refers to .45 caliber and case capacity of 110 grains of black powder).
The Sharps rifles used in the movie were made by Shiloh Rifle company (Powder River Rifle Company). There were actually three (3) Sharps rifles made for the movie. One went to the NRA’s National Firearms Museum while another was raffled off to support NRA shooting programs. The headline photo shows the third rifle, Selleck’s favorite, which the actor retained for some years until deciding to sell it. This third rifle (with spare barrel and associated items) were sold at auction in 2008.
* Based on the way the movie is edited, we figure the bucket is placed at about 800 yards. A typical speed for a horse galloping is 35 mph, and the horse ran (with rider holding bucket) for 46.5 seconds (0.775 minutes). To calculate yardage, divide 35 by 60 to get miles per minute, times 0.775 for distance traveled over time. Then multiply by 1760, the number of yards in a mile. That gives us 795.66 yards.
Similar Posts:
- Beautiful Shiloh Sharps Rifles — A Blast from the Past
- All-American Field Target Championship in New York 12-14 June
- Crosman Hosts Largest Field Target Match in USA
- Shiloh Sharps at SHOT Show — Blast from the Past
- Registration Opens for All-American Field Target Championship
Tags: 45-110, Auction, Quigley Down Under, Sharps 1874, Tom Selleck, Wild West
My dad watched this movie a bunch of times
Recalculate your yardage. Unless the horse with the bucket carrier was Secretariat he wasn’t going 35mph with 180# of rider and tack on his back up a hilly dirt road. Try 25mph at the most.
Editor: You may well be right… or not. The horse looked like it was mostly Quarter-Horse to us, a breed named for its speed in the Quarter mile, where Quarter-horses have been timed at over 50 mph (so 35 is not pushing it, even with a saddle). If you think the 35 mph is too fast for this make-believe Hollywood scene, you can figure a new yardage using the same formula… just substitute 25/60 for 35/60 and the rest is the same.
Great, now I have to watch the movie. lol
One of my favorite movies. I have no real use for a rifle like this, but I REALLY want one. Ha.
I don’t own a Sharps but many at my gun club do, and they have a monthly competition at 600 yards.
On one occasion, I was in the pits during a black powder 600 yard match. You could hear the bullets distinct sound as it cut the target. I liked it. Some of the groups and scores were just great. I was very impressed.
I have seen some spectacular Sharps and had the honor to hold a few. I fell in love with them immediately. I had to walk away quickly before I got into yet another shooting sport. Just beautiful guns to the eye and touch.
An interesting tidbit about that “spare barrel” is that it’s the aluminum barrel that was mounted to that third rifle so it could be swung controllably in the fights during the movie filming. He sent the rifle back to Sharps afterwords to have it brought up to full functioning.
I’ll rest on my opinion as a licensed by N.Y, Md. and Mass.Thoroughbred race horse trainer. 180 lbs up a hilly dirt road carrying a rider standing in his stirrups for close to half a mile at better than 30mph isn’t possible.
What makes the movie unreal to me is the +- 800 yds shot off hand and a quick snap offhand shot at that….. ONLY IN HOLLYWOOD.