Sharps Model 1853 Slant-Breech Carbine
Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company · Carbine · Discontinued · 1853
Also known as: John Brown Sharps, Beecher's Bible, Sharps Slant-Breech Carbine
Overview
The Sharps Model 1853 Slant-Breech is a single-shot, breech-loading percussion carbine designed by Christian Sharps and built by the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company in Hartford, Connecticut. Chambered in .52 caliber and fed a linen or paper combustible cartridge ignited by the patented Sharps pellet-primer system, it used a vertically sliding breechblock operated by a toggle-linked trigger-guard lever angled rearward, giving the model its slant-breech name. Fitted with a saddle ring for cavalry use, it offered a far higher rate of fire than the muzzle-loaders of its day.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3459 g (122.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 953 mm (37.52") |
| Barrel Length | 546 mm (21.50") |
| Action Type | Falling Block |
| Firing Mechanism | Percussion |
| Trigger Type | Single Action |
| Magazine Capacity | 1 rounds |
| Muzzle Velocity | 290 m/s (951 fps) |
| Effective Range | 180 m (197 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 460 m (503 yd) |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Number of Grooves | 6 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Walnut |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .52 Caliber Percussion · primary — also known as .52 cal, .52 caliber combustible cartridge, .52 paper cartridge
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Single Shot Breech Loaded
- Features: Saddle Ring, Vertically Sliding Breechblock, Toggle Link Lever, Sharps Pellet Primer, Single Shot Breechloader
Variants
- Sharps Model 1853 Sporting Rifle - Rifle
Service history
Operators
- United States Army · adopted 1855
- Free-State (Free Soil) Kansas settlers · adopted 1855
Conflicts
- Bleeding Kansas (1854-1859)
- John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry (1859)
Production
Estimated total produced: 18,000 · Production years: 1853-1859
Approximately 9,000 carbines produced in 1853-1854 with total Model 1853 output (carbines and rifles) reaching roughly 18,000; about 4,930 carbines were bought by US Army Ordnance 1858-1859.
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Christian Sharps
Discontinued: 1859
Notes
Widely known as the John Brown Sharps; roughly 900 examples were shipped to anti-slavery settlers during Bleeding Kansas in crates labeled BIBLES, earning the nickname Beecher's Bibles. John Brown carried Model 1853 carbines on his 1859 Harpers Ferry raid. A drawback of the slant-breech design was gas leakage at the breech as the block and barrel wore.
Background
Reverend Henry Ward Beecher declared the Sharps carbine held more moral power than a hundred Bibles, so the New England abolitionists who funded shipments to Kansas dubbed the rifles Beecher's Bibles and crated them as books to slip them past pro-slavery checkpoints on the Missouri River.