doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com 1878 Sharps original military rifle

I think Al Story of the Borchardt Rifle Company N. of Silver City, NM
may still offer his slight receiver bolt/trigger alteration allowing an adjustable trigger.
This rifle has a good bore, age considered.
The early 1900s and somewhat later produced the worst mercuric primers,
which did considerable bore damage if an initial water/oil based bore cleaner was not utilized. Then
followed by a high qualty gun oil lightly coating the bore.

Are you talking about the modification that is detailed in an issue of American Rifleman from the mid 1950s?

Well, not exactly, I'm sure. It is this one Al describes here: http://rugercyl.com/brc-rifles/

I just skimmed over it and it does look like it is different. Maybe better.

So what are you going to do with it?

Half a double is correct.

It has a trigger that is about 5 pounds, that is not gritty and not bad. Perhaps I will leave it alone til I get out to NM next year, as I have a cabin within 50 miles of Silver
City. As in most of the military 1878s, this rifle is a 45-70 GOVT with 32 in barrel. (Some were bought and shipped to China.)
There is a picture in Sellers book and it comes up when researching the Model 78 Sharps. It's a period photo of JP Lower shooting a military 1878 offhand at a two hundred yard target. My guess is that with a bit of trigger adjustment and a mid-range Vernier tang sight, it might shoot well. I have an Axtell Mid-range on my 1874 Sharps now, I will think about installing the spare mid-range, so that the original ladder Sharps sight might still be usable.
At any rate, Sharps original military Borchardt rifles are not that common, especially with good bores. A nice companion rifle to my Winchester 1885 HW in 45-60 WCF, which is a rare chambering. That 1885 has an excellent bore, mid-range Vernier Winchester tang sight- 1885 made made in 1886.
It has already slain a coyote with a 400gr cast FP bullet.

What is the chambering in your 78?

I also have a '78, but I made mine into a schuetzen rifle in .38-55. What time is quick and of course, the action is quite strong. The trigger is really its only liability. Well, maybe I will throw in the difficulty of taking the action apart and putting it back together again. The latter is really not a big deal. It is not that bad, but it is enough that I do not want to make a habit of it.