Sharps Misfire-1 in 10 Million Chance?

[Southron Sr.]

This past weekend at the Brierfield, Alabama Skirmish my Sharps misfired on my third shot in the Carbine Team Matches. I have owned and shot this carbine for 16 years and it NEVER misfires!

After firing several more caps with no effect (in other words, no 'KER-BOOM), the carbine was cleared at the end of the event and then the breechblock disassembled to see what the trouble was.

The culprit was a very compressed piece of cartridge paper blocking the flashhole of my Aampco nipple! This has to be a 1 in 10 Million occurance because my cartridge paper usually completely burns up 100% of the time!

It is hard to imagine an unburned piece of cartridge paper flying completely through the flash channel in the breech block (and making some rather sharp turns) until it hit the flashole in the bottom of the nipple and then wadding up, blocks it!

OH Well! I guess strange things happen sometimes.

P.S. MANY THANKS TO THE 20TH GEORGIA FOR HOSTING A FABULOUS SKIRMISH!

[Greg Ogdan, 11444]

I feel your pain! I too, shoot the best of the CW carbines and I cannot imagine such a thing happening.

PS Maynards are greatly over rated, don't you think?!

[Southron Sr.]

Dear Greg:

On the ride home I was thinking what could have caused that piece of paper to "not combust" and find its way all the way back to the bottom of the nipple-and it is still a mystery.

As for the "Great Maynard Carbine Controversey" I will only state that I have seen some Maynards that could shoot in the same class with Sharps Carbines; however, I note that I don't know of any Buffalo Hunters that used 50-110 Maynards in the Great Buffalo Hunts of the 1870's.

I also note that Billy Dixon did not use a 50-110 Maynard to shoot that Indian War Cheif at a distance of 1,538 Yards at the Battle of Adobe Walls.

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

Are you sure? I thought it was a Smith Carbine that he didn't use????