Pedersolis Sharp Schutzen Rifle

Ask anyone with a mild interest in the American West what comes to mind when you mention “Sharps Rifle” and you will probably conjure up visions of buffalo hunters with their Big 50, or Billy Dixon’s fabled long shot at the battle of Adobe Walls. Mention extra heavy barrels, Creedmoor tang sights, spirit levels and palm rests and their thoughts will likely turn to those nineteenth century long range target matches held at Bisley and elsewhere. They will no doubt be as surprised as I was when they see this colossal offering from Pedersoli which is chambered for one of the oldest, and certainly the most used, cartridges of all time – the .22 long rifle.

The Business

Awesome! There is no other word to describe this rifle. Even before you take it out of the box you know it is going to be a handful, despite the fact that felt recoil, if there was to be any, would be minimal. The quality of the fit and finish are a tribute to the workforce at Pedersoli, and would doubtless impress the nineteenth century craftsmen whose work was done to a standard, not a price. The stock and fore-end are two nice pieces of walnut with a finish that errs more towards gloss than matt. If this is oiled it has been painstakingly done and the wood-to-metal fit is excellent.

The twenty seven inch round barrel, which has a diameter of 28mm, is matt black. The screws and the triggers are also black and the rest of the metalwork – receiver, loading lever, hammer, trigger and fancy Schuetzen-style butt plate – are case-hardened. The top of the barrel is tapped with four holes – two just in front of the breech and two towards the front of the forearm - to accept optics and the rifle would really look the part with a nice repro Malcolm scope fitted. There is no fitted rear sight as such but the outfit comes with a mid-range Creedmoor tang sight with the necessary screws. The front sight is a tunnel complete with a spirit level and ten interchangeable inserts and the unit is adjustable for windage. Also in the box is a nice wood palm and a plate fitted into the fore-end provides for three different positions for this rest. As this rifle tipped the scales at around 14lbs I was not sure that would be enough to hold it steady! With everything screwed into place this Pedersoli really does look the business and I knew this rifle would need more than my limited skills to wring the best out of it, but it would be fun trying.

Setting the Sights

My first job was to fit the Creedmoor, and try to get it lined up as near as possible before taking the gun to the range. Fearful that the weather might upset my plans outdoors I opted to do this initial set-up at a short (12-metre) indoor range at the Barbican Armoury near Durham. Fitting the sight at home took all of ten minutes and it proved to be very close to where it should be. Adjustments are made by first loosening the eyecup which allows the elevation and windage screws to be turned and tightening the cup locks the settings. There is an instruction sheet supplied which details the setting up of the sight.  Within 30 minutes, using a rest and cheap ammunition, the rifle was putting fifteen shots into a 20mm circle with very little adjustment to the factory setting of the rear sight. The following day, outdoors, the gun showed it could do exactly the same at twenty five metres. Unfortunately, at fifty metres the one-inch black centre proved too elusive for my eyes! Given the opportunity I will try it again with a different target, and some match ammunition, for I have no doubt this rifle is capable of superb performance. Using the palm rest was a different proposition. This type of shooting is, I feel, best left to those more capable than myself, for at twenty five metres I could not get five shots inside around two inches, way short of what an experienced performer would achieve. 

Extraction Rather Than Ejection

Having used a .45/70 Sharps I am aware of the ejectors ability to kick the empty large calibre case clear of the breech when the lever is dropped smartly, but in the case of this rimfire the case is merely extracted and therefore has to be removed with your fingers. The lever has a “two-stage” action, dropping it to its first position – almost vertical - lowers the breech block, then it needs to be pushed forward another couple of inches to ease the empty case slightly clear of the barrel, from where it is pulled out by hand. If the lever is left in the forward position, the empty case will drop into the recess and the gun needs to be tipped sideways for it to fall out. It does not take long before you are automatically returning the lever to the first position to eliminate this.

Loading the cartridges is done with the lever in this first position and the block could have done with being a little higher as the cartridge does not slide in like its big brother, but rather has to be lifted slightly to enter the breech. I do concede that this would be difficult when mating a .22 barrel to the full size frame and breech block. An inconsequential niggle which did not cause any problem.

The double set trigger was a joy to use and I left it at the factory setting. Surprisingly there was some very minor felt recoil but that large Schuetzen butt plate took care of it. The rifle digested a variety of ammunition throughout the day without the slightest hiccough and I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a new gun as much as this one.

Second Time Lucky?

Armed with some more-visible targets and Eley Match ammunition I took the Pedersoli for an all-too-brief second visit to the range to see what I could do at extended distances. With no alteration to the rear sight from the initial 25-metre setting, after twenty minutes or so I had 5-shot groups of around 1.4 inches at fifty metres, no great shakes I admit but quite pleasing to a fun shooter like myself. Moving back to 100 metres the rear sight was moved up a couple of clicks but I could do no better than 1.9 inches for five shots, but from a personal point of view I was still reasonably happy with this. I have no doubt that a competent target shooter, given time with this rifle, could probably make one hole at the longer distance with five shots. This rifle comes in at serious money, but is also a very serious piece of kit and could easily find its way into rimfire benchrest competitions.

Cleaning and Presentation

With the rear sight raised it is possible to get a cleaning rod and accessories between the vertical rails to allow cleaning from the breech end of the barrel. I did not drop the block but for those unfamiliar with the Sharps action it is merely a case of depressing the detent pin on the right side of the frame, turning the key through 180 degrees and pulling it out of the frame. The breech block and lever can then be pulled from the bottom of the frame.

The presentation of this rifle is completed by an instruction book detailing basic safety procedures, use and storage of the range of Pedersoli cartridge rifles along with parts diagrams for the various models. There is also an entertaining DVD with a little bit about the company and footage of some of the weapons in use. The introduction by Mr. Pedersoli is in Italian with subtitles, although I can vouch for the fact that he speaks very good English.

A Good Choice for Indoor Ranges

For those fans of the Sharps 1874-type action who may not have access to a long outdoor range, or who do not wish to reload for the larger calibres, or perhaps do not wish to suffer the possible discomfort of prolonged shooting of the big bore rifles, this piece is a viable, although rather expensive, alternative. Taking into consideration the cost of ammunition over a period of a few years, then some of that expense would doubtless be recouped. I would like to thank Henry Krank for the loan of this rifle.

Christian Sharps

Christian Sharps, designer of the Sharps rifle, learned the basics of firearms manufacture at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal and in 1848, at the age of 37, he took out his first patent for a breech loading rifle. Production of the rifles was contracted out to established manufacturers, firstly A.S. Nippes of Mill Creek, Pennsylvania and later to the famed Robbins & Lawrence of Windsor, Vermont around 1851. Sharps was employed as a technical advisor to the newly formed Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company and was paid a royalty on each gun produced. Although the company prospered until 1881, moving to Hartford and then Bridgeport in Connecticut, Sharps ended his association with them about 1853 and struck out on his own. In 1854 he started a new enterprise, C. Sharps & Company, and began the manufacture of a single-shot percussion pistol and used the same action to make a small number of “pistol-rifles” with attached stock and fore-end and barrels of about 28”. A small number of percussion revolvers, similar in design to the Smith & Wesson early cartridge pistols, preceded his entry into the cartridge derringer market in about 1859. A short-lived (1862-1866) partnership with William Hankins produced .52 rimfire carbines and rifles for military use and some 15,000 four-shot, .32 rimfire derringers, or pepperboxes as they are sometimes referred to. At the end of his association with Hankins, Christian Sharps reverted to his C. Sharps & Company name and continued to produce a variety of four-shot derringers until the company ceased with his death in 1874. The firm of Tipping & Lawden in Birmingham produced a number of Sharps-type derringers under license from the parent company.

PRICE: circa £1500