My wife and I run an organized Civil War relic hunt in VA twice a year. Last weekend we had over 300 participants hunting a large area in Brandy Station VA. Brandy was the site of the largest Cavalry engagement in the War.
I was watching a young gentleman digging a hole and he threw out a piece of rusty iron which I immediately recognized. I don't own an 1863 but I do have a 1874 Shiloh and the block are very similar. He didn't know what he had just found but was very happy when I told him.
Doesn't look too bad for spending 144 years in the ground! Good steel in those Sharps Rifles.
There were a few other examples at the Chantilly NVRHA show this weekend. Seems as though a lot of Sharps rifles and carbines were disabled by removing the breechblocks and tosing them...
sharps1859 wrote:There were a few other examples at the Chantilly NVRHA show this weekend. Seems as though a lot of Sharps rifles and carbines were disabled by removing the breechblocks and tosing them...
Quick way of denying their immediate use to the enemy.
