In 1849 Christian Sharps was issued a patent for his 4 shot "revolver"..which revolves the firing pin on the face of the hammer every time you cock the trigger.
The gun was not commercially produced until 1859 once metallic cartridges were in production.(thanks S&W) This was the beginning of the .22 rimfire, and the 4 shot C.Sharps revolving hammer pepperbox.
They made around 85,000 of these little .22 beauties from 1859-1868. Sharps also made other pepperbox models and of course, the infamous Sharps Rifle.
All production stopped with the death of C.Sharps in 1874. He was an amazing man.
Every now and then I like to take this out and shoot it as it really is quite accurate (considering..) and a joy to use. The range is 10 feet and a one hand hold and fired as rapidly as I could thumb the hammer.These rounds will just pass through 1/2" of pine..so while not magnum force..it would get your attention.
Fits my hands well, and I if I had nothing else but a rock..I'd carry it.
C.Sharps "revolver" pepperbox. Let's shoot it.
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