|
The name “Charles Daly” has been
associated with fine imported firearms for about 134 years now,
beginning with quality Prussian double guns, and eventually
including rifles, shotguns, and handguns of all types. Today’s
Charles Daly guns are imported by K.B.I., Inc. of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and includes an extensive line of
magazine and double shotguns, pistols, and lever and single shot
rifles that are suited for the Cowboy
Action games, but also serve very well for hunting. The
subject of this piece, and one of the most unique and
interesting rifles to bear the Daly name, is their Little
Sharps.
I first laid my hands on a Daly Little Sharps
almost one year ago at the 2008
SHOT Show, and had been anxious to try one out ever
since. The Little Sharps is built by Armi Sport/Chiappa
Firearms in Italy, and is a handy little rifle, balancing
perfectly and coming to the shoulder like a light bird gun. Back
in September of 2008, I was visiting with The Swede in
the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, when Ernie Lindsey from Wilderness
Sports called and said that a Little Sharps had arrived for
The Swede, so we headed for town and picked it up. Chambered for
the .45 Colt cartridge, that Little Sharps was a real sweetheart
of a rifle, and a joy to shoot. While on the subject of the
Upper Peninsula, I had always thought of Michigan as being
pretty much like Detroit, all crowded and noisy, but I was
wrong. That upper part of Michigan should be its own state. It
is both geographically and socially very different from the
lower part of the state, and the folks up there seem more like
Southerners with a Canadian accent; very hospitable and
friendly, but with an unusual language all their own. They are
pretty independent people, and there is some real wilderness up
in that area. It is a great place to be most of the year, but I
have never spent a Winter there. I would most likely not
survive, even with a Stormy Kromer atop my head.
Back to the rifle, the Little Sharps is modeled
after the 1874 style Sharps rifle, but is about twenty percent
smaller, and a whole lot lighter, weighing roughly half what the
full size 1874 weighs. While in the U.P., we fired that Little
Sharps at targets from twenty-five yards out to three hundred
and fifty yards, and the diminutive rifle proved to be amazingly
easy to fire accurately, even at extended range. Taking turns
with the Little Sharps, Al Anderson (The Swede), Chuck
Smith, Terry Murbach, Boge,
and myself, all tried to wear it out, loading it with every type
of light and heavy .45 Colt ammunition that we had available.
The day after me and Boge ( I realize that is not grammatically
correct, but it just seems more natural) headed South, The
Swede’s lovely daughter, Meg, took a bison with that
Little Sharps at Hog Wild Hunting Preserve. She used a
hard cast lead 260 grain Keith bullet running about 1175
feet-per-second from the muzzle of the Little Sharps, and the
bullets gave complete penetration through the ribs of that
nine-hundred pound buff. Dave Van Elsacker runs a
fine operation at Hog Wild. He has some of the best Russian
boars that I have ever seen, along with bison and several
species of exotic sheep and goats. He has some trophy four-horn
sheep that are the best that I have ever seen, from anywhere in
the world, and his prices are very reasonable as well. I will
put his contact info at the end of this piece, in case you might
be interested in a hunt at Hog Wild. I will also list the
contact info for Wilderness Sports in Ishpeming. Ernie runs a
well-stocked gun shop, has good prices, and he knows his guns.
After returning from the U.P., I put in a
request for a Little Sharps to do a full review, and finally it
arrived, also chambered for the .45 Colt cartridge. In addition
to the .45 Colt, the Little Sharps is chambered for the .17 HMR,
.22 Long Rifle, and .22 Magnum rimfire cartridges, and for the
.218 Bee, .22 Hornet, .357 Magnum, .44 WCF, .30-30, and .38-55
centerfire cartridges. The rimfires wear twenty-four inch
barrels, and the centerfires wear twenty-six inch barrels, all
being of octagon configuration and made of blued steel. The
finish on the barrel is a deep polished almost black, and the
receiver, buttplate, lever, triggers, and hammer are color
case-hardened. The screws are blued. On the sample rifle, the
barrel measures .832 inch across the flats at the breech, and
tapers to .710 inch at the muzzle. The barrel is drilled and
tapped for Malcolm scope mounts, and Daly sells a Malcolm
scope to fit the Little Sharps. The front sight is a blued steel
blade dovetailed into the barrel and adjustable for windage
correction, and the rear is a medium-range sliding Vernier type,
adjustable for elevation. The stock on the Little Sharps is of
straight-grained walnut, well-finished to a satin sheen. The
Little Sharps wears set triggers, as it should, and the crisp
release makes hitting distant targets much easier. The pull
weights on the sample gun measured just under six pounds in
non-set mode, and one pound, five ounces set, and the set mode
pull weight is adjustable. I left the trigger just as it was as
delivered, as I found it perfectly suited to my liking. The
sample rifle weighed in at five pounds, five ounces, and is a
delight to handle and shoot. I have always liked the 1874 Sharps
rifle, but they are too heavy for me to like to carry afield.
Fine at the range for shooting distant targets, but I prefer a
lighter weight rifle to lug over the ridges, and the Little
Sharps is just the perfect size and weight for a hunting Sharps.
Retaining the same delightfully simple single shot action of the
1874, but with half the weight, the Little Sharps is so much
handier to use than its big brother. Shooting the Little Sharps
at targets for accuracy testing, I tried several different
loads, both factory and handloads. The twenty-six inch barrel
delivers between three hundred and four hundred feet-per-second
(fps) more velocity than from a typical .45 Colt revolver,
depending upon the load. One load that proved very accurate in
the test gun is the Buffalo Bore Heavy .45 Colt load,
item number 3A. This load pushes a 325 grain hard cast lead
bullet listed at 1325 fps from a revolver, but clocked 1620 fps
at twelve feet from the muzzle of the Little Sharps. For those
not familiar with a Sharps action, it is very simple to operate.
First, place the hammer at half cock by thumbing it back to the
first notch. Pushing down on the lever/trigger guard drops the
breech block to insert the cartridge. Closing the lever raises
the breech block, then the hammer is pulled back to the full
cock position. At this point, the weapon can be fired with a
pull of the trigger, or the trigger can be set for a lighter
pull by pulling the rear trigger until it clicks into the set
position. The action is as reliable and trouble free as a device
can be, and this Little Sharps is no exception. No malfunctions
of any kind were encountered during my sessions with the rifle.
It proved to be both reliable and accurate, grouping on paper as
good as I can see with this type of sight. Doing my part, the
Little Sharps would cut one ragged hole at fifty yards, with the
Buffalo Bore load listed above, and it would do just as well
with my handloads using the Mt. Baldy 270SAA Keith-style
bullet.
I am really glad to see this Little Sharps on
the market. It seems to be a well-made little rifle, reeking
with nostalgia, yet a very trim, svelte, and handy Sharps
replica that is much lighter and quicker-handling than any
original.
Check out the Little Sharps and other products
online at: www.charlesdaly.com.
For the location of a Charles Daly dealer near
you, click on the DEALER LOCATOR at www.lipseys.com.
To order the Little Sharps online, go to www.galleryofguns.com.
To inquire about hunting at Wild Hog in the U.P.
of Michigan, call Dave at: 906-238-4368.
For the best gun shop in the U.P., check out
Wilderness Sports in downtown Ishpeming, 906-485-4565.
To order the Buffalo Bore Heavy .45 Colt ammo,
go to www.buffalobore.com.
Jeff
Quinn
| For a list of dealers where you can
buy this gun, go to: |
|
To buy this gun online, go to: |
 |
|
 |
|
Al "Swede" Anderson with a full-size
1874 Sharps, and daughter Meg "Swedie"
Anderson with her Little Sharps.
The Little Sharps compared to full-size 1874 Sharps
.50/70.
|
Got something to say about this article? Want to agree (or
disagree) with it? Click the following link to go to the GUNBlast Feedback Page.
|
|
Click pictures for a larger version.
Meg Anderson with her buffalo, taken with the Little Sharps.
The Little Sharps is lightweight, handy, and perfectly
balanced.
Rear sight is a scaled-down folding Vernier type.
Barrel is factory drilled & tapped for scope mounts.
Double set trigger.
The Sharps design is very simple and reliable.
Buffalo Bore's Heavy .45 Colt ammo.
|
