The carbine bears the Confederate inspector’s stamp “Q” on the butt stock to the rear of the trigger tang. The weapon was one of the weapons captured and collected by the Confederacy from prisoners and battlefields and turned in to the CS government. The mark and the whole “C & R” process is detailed in Steve Knott’s 2019 ground breaking book, “Captured and Collected: - Confederate Reissued Firearms”.  The list of letters has grown slightly from its initial list and includes D, Y, Z, an ampersand (&), and an S. Estimates on the number of firearms passing through the Confederate C & R system run as high as 250,000, gathered by ordnance teams and civilians, and turned in by CS units for reissue. Most of these guns came from eastern battlefields that Confederate victories left accessible, and the repair work was concentrated at facilities at Danville, Staunton, Lynchburg, and Richmond.

This fine example still retains a faint original inspector’s cartouche behind the sling bar. The butt stock shows normal wear with very light sling swivel marks across the stock on the bar side. The serial number C,5036 on the tang matches the barrel number under the walnut forestock. The date of manufacture is late March / April 1864. All the original Sharps markings are visible but weak at spots. The metal is smooth with gray speckled patina. The carbine is mechanically perfect, including the Sharps pellet primer system. The bore’s rifling is very strong.

We have encountered very few Sharps carbines which went through the “C & R” process. Rather scarce! [ss] [ph:L]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire.

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