It surely seems that lately the news has been comprised of more than enough negative stories. These are “interesting times” to be sure and one has to look hard to see any bright spots in current events. Of course, the media focuses on the sensational news occurring every day; positive developments rarely make it to the broadcasts of many “news” outlets. I’m using the word “news” loosely, as a good portion to what we listen to as news, is simply propaganda, or termed more correctly, “perception influencing.” ...Read More >

Our cover for this issue comes to us from Ron Paxton, friend and associate of William “Bill” Mapoles. Bill has written an exceptional article on the real-life accuracy of the Sharps New Model 1859 rifle using linen and paper cartridges. The rifle pictured on the cover is one of the 2,000 rifles specially produced for “Berdan’s Sharpshooters” of Civil War fame. Bill has exploded a few myths surrounding the ammunition for the early-day Sharps and it makes for especially interesting reading. ...Read More >

Back in early 1982, I was more than a little excited when my new Shiloh Sharps Model 1874 rifle arrived. It had been manufactured by the “Shiloh Rifle Mfg. Co., Farmingdale, N.Y.” and bore the “Old Reliable” stamp on its barrel. Just as I had ordered, my new rifle was their No. 1 Deluxe Sporter Model, with a 30-inch octagon barrel, weighing 10½ pounds, and was chambered for the .45-110 27⁄8-inch cartridge. I had purchased the rifle for hunting – as I had specified – and it came fitted with the basic Shiloh sporting tang sight and blade front sight. ...Read More >

In a lifetime of reading gun books and magazines, I have never seen a test of linen cartridges, nor have I ever seen an accuracy test of an original New Model 1859 Sharps rifle. The question I will answer is, “How accurate were they?” Precision accuracy tests as we know them today, were simply not done by the government back then. We also know that linen cartridges were widely used in the Civil War, and that this type of rifle was used by Berdan’s Sharpshooters, among others. Suffice it to say that Berdan’s men killed more Confederates than any other regiment in the Union Army, mostly using linen cartridges, so let’s see how well their rifles actually performed. ...Read More >