Sharps 4-barrel .22

[Rawg the Huug]

One of the pistolas I'd like to find is the Sharps 4-barrel derringer, in .22, preferably. I understand that Sharps remade the gun a few years ago, but for a limited time. I see them once in a while on gunbroker, but they are always listed as having been made over a 100 years ago...which naturally calls for a higher price.

I'm not a collector of antiques & don't want what I call a 'museum piece'. I don't mean 'museum piece as a perjoritive, I simply don't want something that may not be safe to discharge with modern ammo.

Are there many of you fellow cowboy nerds (also not meant as a slight: I consider myself a nerd for all things cowboy/American frontier-related & use the word with some affection) who have these diminutive guns? How do I discern the old from the new? Are they relatively easy to repair if I find one that is not in the best working condition?

I appreciate your collective expertise...& wit. r

[Bill DeShivs]

Sharps did not remake the 4 barrel derringer. Sharps has been out of business for a long time.
Uberti (Italy) made a Sharps copy before importation was outlawed in 1968.
There have been other replicas (Svendsen, etc.) but they were smaller than the originals.

[Fingers McGee]

Miroku also made a copy of the 1859 Sharps .22 cal chambered for 22LR. It's pretty much a clone of the original, as is the Uberti. I've got one of the Miroku's and it's fun to shoot with .22 shorts, longs or long rifles

HJS Arms Company in Texas also made some stainless steel repros of the .22 cal deringer back in the '80s.

[Gatofeo]

A nice little pistol.
I met a guy in northern Idaho who had one. Carried it in his pocket, completely unnoticed. He said he'd knocked off a few rabbits with it, and once discouraged a rough looking panhandler who became adamant.
I don't know if he had an original or later reproduction.
I seem to recall it had a brass frame. I'd be leery of dropping high velocity loads into a brass-framed anything. He carried his with standard velocity .22 Shorts, aware of its weak design.
The old originals shouldn't be fired with anything but the CB caps that CCI makes. These are smokeless rounds, but very low powered. Even then, I'd have the little darlin' checked by a gunsmith before firing.
God knows how many high velocity loads someone else might have run through it, causing an unnoticed crack, before it came your way.
Too many people have the attitude of, "Well, it didn't blow up in my hand, so it must be safe."
Alas, sometimes it takes a number of rounds before damage is apparent or a gun lets go. And with old guns, who knows what kind of High Pressure Hell or abuse they were subjected to before you got them.
Old guns are fun, but I always view them with scrutiny. Through the ages, idiots have always outnumbered the cautious.

[Bill DeShivs]

I wasn't aware of the Miroku copies. I have seen some that were unmarked-perhaps they were the Mirokus.
The HJS was a later incarnation of Erl Svendsens guns. It was made of stainless and chambered in .22LR. The Svendsen and HJS guns were considerably smaller than the original Sharps/Uberti/Mirokus.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

http://www.iverjohnsonarms.com/

has a picture and claim of a new replica. But seems not to be in production and has been on the site for a few years. Vapor-gun, it seems.

The last time I saw the HJS was about 10 years ago. A table at a gun show in Florida had a slew of them for $99 each. Since I was out of state, I wasn't going to go through a transfer for it.

[Fingers McGee]

The Mirokus are marked "Miroku Japan" with the serial number on the bottom of the grip frame. Sides of the frame have the Sharps Patent 1859 marking. The one I have came in a French fitted case.

[Bill DeShivs]

Here is a Svendsen "4 Aces." They are much smaller than the Ubertis.
Mine is the early .22 short version.



Here it is next to a .22 short NAA mini revolver.

[Ralph Allen]

I see no one mentioned the Mossberg "Brownie". Square little 4 shot 22lr. I have one that my dad's uncle used to carry as a backup.
Ralph

[Swampghost]

Anyone still looking for one of these? I just ran across one, Jap repro, LN according to source. I'll see it this week.

PM me, I don't spend any time on this topic.

[DrLaw]

We did a pocket pistol shoot at the club I belong to this autumn and one of the guys brought along a Sharps-style four-barrel .22. I'm not sure if it was an original or a replica. Sure looked nice, but I think if I was going to carry a real tiny gun now-a-days, I would go to the NAA Mini in .22LR.

The Doc is out now.

[Fingers McGee]

Originally Posted by DrLaw

We did a pocket pistol shoot at the club I belong to this autumn and one of the guys brought along a Sharps-style four-barrel .22. I'm not sure if it was an original or a replica. Sure looked nice, but I think if I was going to carry a real tiny gun now-a-days, I would go to the NAA Mini in .22LR.

Would that have been at the US Open ???

[DrLaw]

Well, Fingers, it was in the US, and it was open to club members, but, that would be the only similarity in name.

www.hancockcountygunclub.com is the club.

The Doc is out now.

[Fingers McGee]

Was just wondering. I used mine in a side match at the US Open at the Sparta range in Sept.

[deblaw223]

Do the originals take 22 LR or 22 short?

[RJay]

.22,30 and 32 rim fire, last original made in 1874, the .22 Long Rifle was developed in 1887 by Stevens. The .22 Long was developed in 1871 so , maybe .22 Long. In any case it would have been for black powder.