Talk:Sharps rifle

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Contents 1 Berdan-Sharps and Sharps 2 Removed Part 3 Faster than a speeding Springfield 4 Details, details 5 Sharpshooter 6 Fair use rationale for Image:Sharps Berdan Rifle.gif

[edit] Berdan-Sharps and Sharps

As far as I understand, Berdan-Sharps rifle and Sharps rifle are two separate weapons.

i want to check my facts about the tape primer feed but this article needs some serious work, the picture shown is for the carbine version which was issued mainly to calvary along with the spencer seven shot most infantry had the standard length sharps (i re-enact with Co.E USSS)

I agree with the writer above. The original author of this piece has a little correct information, but a lot of what he/she has written, is not iaw the facts. For example, the statement regarding the accuracy of the Sharps rifles used during the Civil War. Accuracy with the paper cartridge Sharps was probably equal to, but not necessarily better than many of the muzzle loading rifles used by both sides. In fact, the English-made Whitworth rifles used by many Confederate sharpshooters were surperior to the Sharps.

[edit] Removed Part

I removed the following paragraph, which did not seem to contribute much to the article, and did not belong where it was in the article, the second paragraph:

As an aside, in a book entitled The Avenging Fury of the Plains, John "Liver-Eating" Johnston, Exploding the Myths - Discovering the Man, the author, Dr. Dennis McLelland, states that mountain man Liver-Eating Johnston used to poise himself upon a high cliff, and use his high powered, telescoped Sharps rifle, to shoot any Sioux or Blackfoot warrior who came within his sights. His Sharps rifle was essentially a "needle gun," so-called because it fired a 130 grain charge, propelling a bullet that McLelland stated "look like a spike."

Everyguy 22:34, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Faster than a speeding Springfield

I've heard its ROF was 3x a muzzleloader. True? Worth including? Trekphiler 05:38, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Details, details

I understand (but can't source...) Sharps' first rifle patent was for a .45, & later proved accurate at up to 1km, using Quigley paper-patch .45-110s, & required large-capacity metallic cartridges to take advantage of this; also, the .45-70 is said to be the first able to drop a buffalo with one shot. Can somebody confirm? Worth including? Trekphiler 06:12, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Re: #2 (effective buffalo rounds) - the .50-90 Sharps is a year older and more effective, so it seems to be unlikely. "Further, the 50-90 proved to be a far better choice than the 45-110" from an article by Mic McPherson. I'm checking to see if I can find anything on the first question. Arthur 22:27, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sharpshooter

Shouldn't the term sharpshooter be talked about in the article? I think the fact that a common word in the English language is named after this gun is worth mentioning. Contralya (talk) 10:20, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Unless you have a source to back up the statement that it is a fact that the word sharpshooter stems from this gun, I do not think it should be in this article as the American Heritage Dictionary (through dictionary.com), the Online Etymology Dictionary (www.etymonline.com), and a few other first page Google search results (see at least http://en.allexperts.com/q/Etymology-Meaning-Words-1474/etymology-sharpshooter.htm) all describe the origin as a literal translation from the German word Scharfschütze in 1802, predating the development of the Sharps rifle by at least 40 years. I agree it is a striking coincidence, but I was not able to find support for such a declaration. (151.207.242.4 (talk) 16:14, 16 May 2008 (UTC))

The claim is baseless. Sharpshooter was used as far back as the American Revolution. Trekphiler (talk) 09:54, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:Sharps Berdan Rifle.gif

Image:Sharps Berdan Rifle.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 05:32, 18 February 2008 (UTC)