Early Shiloh catalogs

[Big Gun]

A 1978 C. Sharps catalog shows the following rifles as available: Hunter's rifle, Infantry (Berdan) rifle, Military carbine, Business rifle, Octagon Sporting rifle (No. 3) and Octagon Sporting rifle (No. 2). This catalog was mailed to me from Richland WA as they were the distributor for those dealers west of the Mississippi River. It listed 51 dealers and mail order houses in twelve states, including one each in Hawaii and Alaska.

The Octagon Sporting rifle No. 3 mentioned above was available in 28" or 30" barrel, plain schnabble, straight grip, military buttplate (called rifle buttplate back then), DST, and a sliding verier tang mounted sight. It appears to have the semi-buckhorn rear (called Lawrence back then) and blade front sights. The Octagon Sporting Rifle No. 2 differs in that it has a pistol grip. Calibers offered were 45-70, 45-90, 45-120, 50-70, 50-90 and 50-140.

It did not appear that one could order any options on those rifles.

The percussion rifles listed from $356 to $410 each. The centerfire rifles listed from $375 to $465, the most expensive being the No. 3 and No. 2 Octagon Sporting rifles.

This catalog goes on to show a Half-Octagon Sporting rifle, Creedmore rifle (No. 3), Creedmore Rifle (No. 2) and Long Range rifle. These four rifles were listed as being available later on and were spec'd in the catalog, but not priced. The above Half-Octagon Sporting rifle appears to look like the current Roughrider with a half-octagon barrel and sliding vernier tang sight with blade front. The Creedmore rifle No. 3 and No. 2 both have a vernier rear and globe front sights, both with single trigger. The No. 2 has a pistol grip. The Long Range rifle looks very similiar to the current LRE.

As a side note, in 1981 one could order a Gemmer rifle in either percussion or metallic cartridge at a cost of $1250 for either, plus C. Sharps was also offering custom rifles built to your specifications in 1981. Those listed in their List No. 3 ranged in price from $950 to $2150 for one with all the bells and whistles.

A dealer I contacted in 1981 offered 10% off a Sharps if I bought one, 15% if I bought two and 20% if I bought three...and that was the most he could offer.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions on information contained in early catalogs as I have a number of them in my collection...and I am looking for a 1995 and 1998 Shiloh catalog if anyone is willing to part with one. If you choose to contact me via private message, please use Shiloh Catalogs as the subject line.