Dear members of the Double Gun Journal;
.
During the past decades the Double Gun Question & Answer Open Forum belongs to my favorite literature and I learned a lot of things and secrets about the history of guns, how to maintain and repair them.
I always was both, surprised and impressed, about the immense knowledge of all your specialists in this forum and this is what encourages me to ask you these two questions:

I’m a proud owner of an original Sharps “Old Reliable” rifle, cal. 45-70, since a couple of years and I’m interested to get more information about originally cased Sharps rifles.
Pictures and reports are very rare and I found not more than two pictures of cased guns over the past years.
Does anybody of you collectors know whether the Sharps Factory offered such cases as a “Special” or “Extra” with the rifle and did they use labels, beside their letter heads, like numerous gun makers in UK do?
If they used labels, do you know where to buy a good reproduction or even an original?

All your answers are most welcome and I thank you all in advance.

Dieter

Post some pictures of your rifle and case and that can help. If you do not know how to post pics then send me a PM and I will get my email address to you and I will post them for you.

Hi Sidelock;
Thanks for your fast reply but I'm afraid you misunderstood my questions.
I'm owning just the rifle, not the case.
The only pictures I saw in the past was of one cased rifle, what makes me believe that Sharps rifles might have been sold in their original gun cases, was sold in a James D. Julia auction and the other one was shown in a report about a rich guy from New York who fired his Sharps only one time and, because of the heavy recoil, never again.
That's why I'm asking whether the Sharps Company offered such cases on request with the gun or not and whether they used factory labels as well.
I hope this helps to make my questions better understanding.
Best regards Dieter

I'd bet most Sharps rifles arrived in crates holding several. Exceptions might be Creedmoors.

On page 240 of Frank Sellers' book "Sharps Firearms" there is a photograph of a Model 1974 Long Range No. 1 Rifle in the kind of case you describe. It was made for J.P. Lower, of Denver, Colorado, a dealer and shooter, and presented to him by the company on October 3, 1877. It is attributed to the "George Lower Collection".

The only other illustration of a case I have been able to locate is an all leather scabbard type case made for the Model 1877 Long Range Rifle on page 327 of the same book. Unlike the first case, it has a provision for storing the rear sight separately, rather than leaving it mounted on the rifle. (R. H. Taylor Collection)

It's my understanding Sharps didn't offer cases, so if there are any around they were either a very special custom made case, or an owner built case. Some dealers made cases at customer's request, but doubt they'd have a Sharps Rifle Co. label. A label isn't tough to fabricate today using the letterhead as a basis to build it.
Marlin also never made factory cases, but I've built several for my Ballard, and Marlin rifles. I used Marlin catalog images of their logo, and simply copied, and blew them up to the size I wanted, and glued them inside the lid of the cases.

The leather case I mentioned in my post above is marked with Sharps name and was either made by or for the Sharps company, I am fairly sure. However, I don't think it is the type of case which was originally asked about.

I suspect the truck style case was a one of a kind either ordered by Sharps for a prized retailer or one commissioned by the recipient. I suspect the latter, because I don't believe Sharps would have ordered a case which did not have provision for storing the sights separately.

Thank you so much for your comments and trying to bring some light into the “Sharps Mystery” of factory made gun cases and labels.
My conclusion now is that there were no gun cases specially made by the Sharps Company and, as the consequence, no Factory Labels.
These facts are assisted by Frank Seller’s book “Sharps Firearms” and that there were no labels found in the documented cases I found in different reports.
Vall,
it’s a great idea to create an “own Sharps Label” to decorate the lid of a gun case. To be honest, I had the same idea before but then I refused it, because I would have produced a fake and destroyed the originality of that ensemble. I would have used a good reproduction of an original label but wouldn’t go the other way.
My other idea, after finding an original English made gun case in ebay.uk, sometimes they pop up at reasonable prices, is to order a confirmed letter from Dr. Labowskie, who actually owns the Sharps’ records.
After receiving it I would fold it that way that only the letterhead is visible and then fasten it nicely to the lid of the gun case. With this I would kill two birds with one stone. First I would have a document about the whereabouts of my rifle that could raise its value and a letter that could be used as a “Label Decoration”.
Would you agree with me?
But there are some things that worry me. The newest information I could find about Dr. Labowskie were dated from 2005 knowing that he was not a youngster at that time.
Some collectors who asked him to do some research on their rifles were not impressed about his behavior, integrity and the quality and accuracy of his information, not to talk about his research fee of $ 200.00 at that time. They also said that there was a major difference between him and Dr. Moore, who owned the records previously.
So I need some information whether he is still alive or not, if he’s still offering the research-job and what his actual fee is.
Do you have a clue?
Dieter

If original cases are unlikely, the concern about creating or composing a fake should be very low. An original English case might make perceived deception even less likely and depending on the rifle would be tough to find one that would accomodate the barrel length of many of the 1874s. Maybe, case it in a pleasing manner for your tastes as I would not think others would perceive much value beyond the rifle itself. Best of luck with it.

If we were talking altering a gun to fake it, I'd agree not to do so. But we're talking either making a case, or reworking an old case, and I see no issue since you already know Sharps didn't make them. Any serious collector would appreciate a cased gun, and also know it's not from Sharps.
I personally am constantly looking for old hard gun cases to repurpose, and they're tough to find. Most people toss them away once the interior goes bad, and that's exactly what I look for. I want the exterior patina, and then I build out the interior to work with one of my 1800's rifles.
I've scratch built one complete case for an 1893 Marlin factory takedown, two barrel set. It was way too much work, but came out great. I'll never do one from scratch again!
I've repurposed 5 old cases, and I have two cased guns that were done early on in life by some original, or previous owner. I don't see when a case is made as an issue? If it's fitted to the gun well, then I think it's a nice addition.
This case came with my Pope Ballard 3 barrel set, and has the original owner's name on it. He was part of the Denver Rifle Club's team before WWI and after. Sure it's not original, but it is original to that era.



And this Schoyen Ballard came in this case when I purchased it. It's kinda funky with Hereford hide covering, but I like it anyway.

Vall:

Okay, you are right and I agree with you!

If you get any positive information about MD Richard Labowski, please let me know and drop me a short note.

Thanks Dieter

Sorry, I know zero about Labowski. Never owned a Sharps, or ever tried to get a letter.