Thread: Sharps rifle plans......

I'm sure this has been asked and answered many times but I would like to ask it again. Are there any books on building the Sharps rifle?? I currently own a Quigly Sharps and cannot shoot in competition because of barrel length and weight, too long and too heavy. I would LOVE to build my own and as a machinest I think I could build many of the parts myself. I bought the plans off of ebay and they should be helpful but I would really like a book or a mill program or anything of the like. Thanks for your intrest, Hoss.

Not to sound silly. But if you have one and you have access to a caliper, vernier, mill and lathe. All you need is some 4140 material pre-heat treated to 32C and you have an action. Its really no different than making a shaft with right threads on one end, left threads on the other end, a couple key ways, seal fits and bearing fits. The only major difference is that the shaft has to be more accurate.

Go to Home Gunsmith Forums and assra.com. Home Gunsmith has post showing builds in process, assra has plans if you join.

A couple years ago, I got machinist drawings for the 1874 and 1878 Borschardt from Buffalo Arms. I haven't gotten the time to really sit down and start planning out how to proceed, but a cursory glance over the plans makes it clear that a rotary table is going to be necessary to make rapid progress.

I'm planning on using 8620 for the receiver.

Building any falling block has its chalenges.
The big one being the mortis for block.
Popular options are:
Broach
EDM
Shaper
mill and file

Once you get past the falling block, its a matter drilling holes and miling away the material you dont want.

I have a copy of the ASSRA plans and you could build from them, with a bit of imagination.
They are well worth what they cost.
I scanned them into a PDF format and then started to model them in a professional grade 3D cad package.
Some of the dimensions are a little off and a few are missing.
Nothing critical, stuff like the outside profile of the lock is incomplete and would have to be scaled from the drawing, or a screw hole does not quite line up. Stuff that wont hurt you in a one off build, especaily if you match drill the parts.

The hammer was another area where the data was a bit light.

If you just want another sharps, you will be time and probably money ahead to find an action, tune it up and put your effort into the stock and barrel.
If you want to build a rifle from scratch, consider a more interesting action that is not avaiable from all the usual suspects.
Unless you have acccess to a tracer or 3D pantograph, You will wind up with about the same amount of work and have something that no one else on the range has.

Originally Posted by bsstan

Go to Home Gunsmith Forums and assra.com. Home Gunsmith has post showing builds in process, assra has plans if you join.

Thanks.