Fans of True Grit and Quigley Down Under appreciate the quality and utility of the fine rifles made by Sharps in the 19th Century. These weapons were also favored by buffalo hunters due to their ability to lob a thumb-sized chunk of lead far distances with great accuracy and massive killing power.*
Yankee soldiers during the American Civil War also appreciated one other feature which was available on a small quantity of Sharps carbines and rifles--namely, a mill in the stock where a soldier could grind corn or wheat for breakfast for his unit. These firearms were general referred to as "coffee-grinders," but tests by the National Park Service suggest that they were far more effective at grinding grain than breaking down beans.
Today there are probably only about a dozen genuine "coffee-grinders" still known to exist, although reproductions abound. The real things are worth a fortune.
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| Photo by National Park Service/Springfield Armory |
*However, the most famous bison slayer of them all, Buffalo Bill Cody, preferred using a Springfield Trapdoor rifle named "Lucretia Borgia."
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