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— Guns Of The Old West, Fall 2011 —
by Jay Langston
Lyman Ideal model .38-55 Win
Christian Sharps wasn’t much
of a
businessman. The fact that he spent the last
4 years of his life as a trout farmer instead
of reaping the benefits of his successful
firearms designs speaks volumes to his lack
of business acumen. But he could design
a fine rifle.
Sharps’ rifle design that came to
be known as the 1874 model became
legendary in the hands of skilledmarksmen.
On June 27, 1874, at Adobe Walls
on the Canadian River in the Texas
Panhandle, more than 500 Kiowa and
“Old Reliable” performance reborn as “Lil’ Reliable” - a smaller scale 1874 Sharps rifle!