OB - EXCELLENT- all original parts; over 80% original finish; sharp lettering, numerals and design on metal; unmarred wood.

Only approximately 1,000 Sharps New Model 1863 Military rifles with a saber bayonet lug were manufactured in the C,30000-C,40000 serial range, compared to approximately 6,150 Sharps New Model 1863 Military rifles with a front sight doubling as a bayonet lug, and over 60,000 New Model 1863 carbines, making these a desirable and scarce Sharps variation. The initials "T.W.R" of inspector Thomas W. Russell are marked on the left flat of the barrel at the breech, with no final inspection cartouches visible in the wood. The replacement barrel is non-matching numbered "C,39464" on the underside. This high condition Sharps rifle was most likely assembled this way, utilizing leftover parts from the factory, at the tail end of the Civil War or in the immediate post-Civil War era. Iron blade front and Lawrence patent ladder rear sight with 800 yard center notch mounted on the blued barrel with three barrel bands. Casehardened barrel bands, receiver, hammer, trigger guard lever, lower tang, patch box, and buttplate. Two piece walnut stock with iron patch box. Includes an "1860" dated Ames brass handled saber bayonet numbered "37298" on the flat of the brass handle, leather scabbard with brass ends, and a sealed period box containing ten cartridges of Sharps .52 caliber ammunition.