Sharps Model 1859 Rifle on Curator's Corner

Sharps Model 1859 Rifle on Curator's Corner

via NRAblog by GOblog.nospam@nospam.nrahq.org (LDalseide) on 7/5/12

NRA Museum Senior Curator holds a Sharps Model 1859 Percussion Carbine.

Fairfax, Virginia - There's always a great deal of anticipation when Thursday night rolls around. What oh what are the Curator's going to bring out tonight for Curator's Corner? Well tonight we have two specials ... the appearance of the National Firearms Museum's Doug Wicklund and the appearance of a Confederate Sharps Model 1859 Percussion Carbine.

The Model 1859 fired a glazed linen combustible .52 caliber cartridge. Available with a round military rifle barrel, it came with a breechblock-mounted plate capable of slight backward movement once under pressure ... made that way to create a somewhat effective gas seal.

Closeup look at the Sharps Model 1859 Rifle.

But what makes this rifle especially special is a carving on the side. Rustic, to say the least, the carving reads:

Rappahannock Station
Nov. 7 1863

Why such a carving? Because this particular rifle was re-appropriated by Union forces following the Battle of Rappahannock Station. A mere months after the death of Stonewall Jackson, and a Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, the Union victory at Rappahannock Station was yet another sign of the South's pending fall.

But to hear the entire story of this rifle, you'll have to tune in tonight to NRANews and Sirius/XM's Patriot Channel. There you will see (or hear) Executive Producer John Popp with Senior Curator Doug Wicklund in the heart of the NRA Museum with this fine piece of equipment and a heck of a story to go with it.