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SPECIAL OFFERING
- SHARPS RIFLE COMPANY GREEN LABEL 5 ROUND BOXES OF .45-
2 6/10 INCH CALIBER, 550 GRAIN PAPER PATCHED CARTRIDGES
– COMPLETE WITH ORIGINAL CARTRIDGE CASES FOR SHARPS
RIFLES: Recently in an old estate, an original
Sharps Rifle Company ammunition crate was found with a
few of these very collectable original Sharps Rifle
Company packets of .45-2.6” cartridges. The crate and
its contents had obviously lain undisturbed since the
man who roamed the buffalo plains finally returned home,
setting aside his Sharps rifle and the crate of big
cartridges to live out the remainder of his life in
tamer pursuits in “the settlements”.
The Sharps Rifle Company introduced the .45-2.6”
cartridge (also known as the .45-100) in November of
1876, however it had a short life span being replaced by
Sharps in June of 1877 with the .45-2.4” cartridge
case. Nonetheless, the .45-2.6” Straight Sharps
Cartridge would have been available in the inventory of
the dealers and hide buyers supplying the commercial
buffalo hunters on the Western Frontier during the
buffalo hunting era.
These packets bear the desirable “early style” labels as
identified by Sellers in his Sharps Firearms,
featuring the heavier shading on the text. This style
of label was used until 1878 when it was replaced with a
label printed with a finer font and this dating is
consistent with the production of the .45-2.6”
cartridge. Bearing the desirable Sharps Rifle Company
green label, each of these packets contain five .45-2.6”
cartridge cases. As the notated on the labels, the
cartridges were loaded with a 550 grain paper-patched
bullet. The style of label, the caliber, and that the
bullets were paper patched make these packets one of the
most desirable among Sharps collectors and one of the
more difficult packets to find.
When I acquired the crate it contained fifteen matching
packets – all with the same label and containing the
same caliber. Eight of the packets have been offered
with the crate, and the remaining seven are offered here
as individual packets. Each of these packets contains
five empty cartridge cases, and all of the cartridge
cases are the correct Berdan primed cases without
headstamps as were sold by Sharps. Some of the cases
had been reprimed in preparation for reloading prior to
storing them, others not – the contents of each packet
are described in detail below.
The cartridge cases had not been properly cleaned before
storing them, probably no more than casually rinsed off
with water as was typical of the buffalo range hunters
who reloaded the cases frequently. As a result, while
in storage and subjected to moisture, the hygroscopic
nature of the black powder residue remaining in the
cases caused an acidic reaction, forming heavy deposits
of verdigris on the cartridge cases and affecting the
paperboard of some of the packets to one degree or
another. I was able to remove the verdigris deposits,
and the cases are now clean, smooth, full form and
bright with no damage to the brass.
Among the related tools and the powder can that was
found in the crate with the cartridge packets were a
number of cast lead .45 caliber bullets from the
period. The majority of the bullets are of the paper
patch type, and I have placed one of these bullets in
each packet so far as they would go.
As often seen on these early Sharps Company labeled
boxes, the cartridge caliber and component data, printed
for a .44 caliber loading, was crossed out and the
caliber, cartridge length, and bullet weight was amended
with the .45-2.6” data in period script. This commonly
encountered practice was likely employed by Sharps to
use up available stocks of the boxes and labels as the
company struggled with its financial situation.
Several of the packets are annotated in pencil on the
bottom with the size of the powder charge loaded in
those cartridges in that particular packet – “90
Grains”, “100 Grains”, etc. The hunter likely loaded
the cartridges with these various charges, and knowing
the characteristics of his rifle, would choose the loads
appropriate for the range at which he was working.
These boxes vary in condition and are priced
accordingly. Considering they survived the handling and
repeated use by the hunter as the cartridges were fired
and reloaded out on the plains, it is remarkable that
they survived at all. There is some of the wear one
would expect to see in such a grouping; however the two
piece boxes retain their full form, with all of the
corners and edges intact. The graphics and text have
been affected to one degree or another by use and the
passage of time, and the extent is reflected in the
price.
The verdigris which formed on the cartridge cases as
described above reacted with the paperboard from which
the packets are made, and had the most effect on the
bottoms of some of the packets – seen below in the
photographs as dark spots on the bottom panel of the
affected packets. The paperboard was weakened, and in
some cases the corrosion dissolved the paper leaving
holes. These affected packets have been restored by
attaching a piece of matching paperboard inside the
packet. This restoration was carefully done and unless
the cartridges are removed from the packets, the visual
affect is negligible. Given the rarity of these
packets, such a restoration was an acceptable
alternative to allowing those weakened packets to
continue to deteriorate. The packets are now stable and
can be displayed or handled without fear of damaging
them.
As the Sharps Company was effectively out of business in
early 1881, boxes of cartridges which bear the company’s
proprietary label were produced during a fairly narrow
window of time and in limited numbers. In addition, the
Sharps Company found it difficult to compete with the
larger ammunition manufacturing companies such as
Winchester and UMC. The comparatively limited
ammunition production by the Sharps Company combined
with the harsh conditions of the buffalo range where so
much of their ammunition was shipped, accounts for the
relative low survival rate and scarcity of these packets
on the market today.
In spite of the wear and aging they exhibit, these are
rare specimens of the very rare packets of paper patched
cartridges manufactured by the famous Sharps Rifle
Company, which seldom appears on the collector market,
and this is an opportunity to acquire a specimen to
display with your Sharps Rifle at a substantial
savings.
Each packet is shown in the photographs below with an
accompanying description.
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