Charles Daily Little Sharps

[MGySgt]

I just seen an add for one of these and I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with these?

I was thinking that the 30/30 would be a very good plinking gun.

Thoughts?

Drew

[ktw]

Have seen these http://www.littlesharps.com/ (kind of pricey), but not one from Charles Daly.

Charles Daly is an importer. I am interested but would like to know who is actually making them.

-ktw

[Bullshop]

I know nothing of a Charles daily little sharps, but there is a little sharps being made by some fellas in Big Sandy Montana. Its an exact replica 1874 scaled down for smaller cartridges. The makers show up at the bigger gun shows in MT. The guns are flat gorgeous and it is reflected in the price.
I have no idea if they are now accoiated with CD but I would tend to doubt it.
BIC/BS

[C A Plater]

I see them in their brochure (http://www.charlesdaly.com/pdf/CharlesDaly2007.pdf) but not on the web site and I'm guessing they are Italian made like the revolvers and the 92 clones they are selling. Looks interesting although I'd like to see one in person first.

[Boz330]

Very interesting, but I would like to see one as well. Didn't see any MSRP on it either, not to mention calibers. I really like the idea of a scaled down Sharps.
It also says drilled and tapped for scope. I wonder if they mean a Malcomb style or modern. A modern would look really out of place on a Sharps.

Drew where did you see the ad?

Bob

[MGySgt]

Bob - I seen the add in this months Shooting Times - anothe subscription I am dropping.

KTW - What do you mean - kind of pricey - I would say that is down right expensive - too expensive for my blood - I could buy 2 more Pedersoli's and have change left over!

Daniel - I really don't think that your 'Little Sharps' company would be associated with Charles Daily - that is like a volkswagen Bug and a Dino Ferriei (SP? but you know what I mean).

Drew
CA Plater - I would like to see one also. The one in the add had a single trigger - is it a single set - or just a 'normal' trigger? One of the Itilian imports - if not Perdersoli - I don't think I want it.

[waksupi]

The ones out of Big Sandy are works of art.

[Boz330]

If they were made by Uberti they probably wouldn't be to bad. But the old addage applies, "you get what you pay for". A lot of time can be spent on fit and polish that doesn't make the gun shoot any better. I'm sure the ones made in MT are works of art, but way out of my budget for a plinker or even a hunting rifle.

Bob

[MGySgt]

Bob - Mine too!

[ktw]

KTW - What do you mean - kind of pricey - I would say that is down right expensive - too expensive for my blood - I could buy 2 more Pedersoli's and have change left over!

I wasn't planning to spend that kind of money on one anytime soon, either.

It does strike me as somewhat strange that many people seem to be willing, if not downright eager, to drop $2k-$6k on things like snowmobiles, ATVs, jet skis, boats, laptop computers, etc; all of which depreciate quickly and more or less wear out in a few years of normal use. Yet many of us have a hard time rationalizing $1k-$2k for a firearm which, with proper care, can last two or three lifetimes.

Not all firearms are worth anywhere near that much. Some are. A small percentage of those may even be worth that much to me. I don't consider a large asking price to be a stopper, only a price that does not reflect the total value I could expect to receive from owning the product.

-ktw

[MGySgt]

KTW - 1-2K for it - not a problem but according to their web site it starts at $3250 and then goes UP.

My Pedersoli Quigley is not exactly cheap and it will never go into the woods in my hands, not because of price - I am too old to carry that much steel around when I have another Sharps that is considerably lighter - an IAB that has been re-chambered to 45/90 and a set of Lee Shaver Mid Range Sights that shoots almost as good as the Quigley.

I do love to shoot both of them. But I was looking for something a little easier on the powder and lead that would also be fun to shoot and could be taken for deer if I so desire. Or maybe teach one of the Grandchildern what it is like to shoot a Sharps. HMMMMM Hadn't thought of that earlier :shock:

Naw wouldn't work, I would have to buy 2 - they are twins And I can't afford tha kind of outlay!


Drew

[BruceB]

The Little Sharps' Rifle Company was taken over some time back by Dakota Arms, if I remember rightly. Since then, Dakota has fallen on hard times, so I have no idea what the status of the Little Sharps' outfit might be.

I have handled several examples of the original company's rifles, and they are exquisite. One "showpiece", meaning not intended for practical field use, was a display of the company's artistic abilities, and oh, my, was it EVER!

The front sight was a silver gopher sculpture, posed standing up and looking back down the barrel at the shooter. On the top flat of the barrel was a string of gopher tracks, inlaid in gold, leading to the critter on the front end. The gorgeous case coloring might have been by Turnbull, but I'm not sure now. Fabulous wood, great engraving, beautiful rifle....and over $7000. A much more practical rifle went for about $3000, also VERY nice. As a devoted Shiloh fan, I don't find these tags too scary. Pay for quality, and GET quality.

In 1970, we bought a new Olds 442/W30, essentially a factory-prepared race-car. That same year, I bought a very nice (but not super-elaborate) Beretta side-by-side shotgun. It has ejectors, full coverage action engraving, matted vent rib, decent wood, silver inlay, etc. For this gun, I paid almost exactly ten percent of the new car's price. Taking inflation into account, I reckon that the gun would have cost several grand in today's market.

I still own that shotgun. It's still in very good condition, but it has fired many thousands of rounds over hundreds of happy days afield. I used it on ptarmigan at forty below zero, on ducks in rain, sleet and snow, on upland birds in brush tangles and rocky country, and even on a trap range a few times. That shotgun has at least one full duffel-bag of memories attached to it, and it's one of my favorite guns.

I could have done all the above with a bolt-action Mossberg. Doing it with the Beretta just added a lot of savory flavor to the experience. On days when the birds weren't flying, I could also just sit in the blind and admire the instrument! I'm proud to own such a nice shotgun, and it gives me pause when I wonder what piece of Japanese production used the remains of the Oldsmobile, while the shotgun served me so well for 36 years.

Inexpensive guns certainly have their place. So do the more-expensive ones.

[Nueces]

Well put, BruceB

[Buckshot]

............I think one of the reasons most people will balk at paying that kind of money for a single firearm is because it IS just that. A single firearm. You look at the price and realize you can get a pair of M92 clones, one each in 45 and 357, a pair of SAA's in the same caliber, and a nice bolt action rifle and maybe even a 22 RF.

Having nice stuff IS nice. But most of us have an illness and it's called "Gunitis" and we're "Gunaholics". It's sure been a major downfall of mine! :-) Quality does tell, more then just 'Lookability'. However, workmanlike quality serves it's purpose, and allows most of us the fun of diversity.

.................Buckshot

[omgb]

The most I ever spent on a single gun was the $1,800 I spent on my Ruger Gold Lable SXS. It was worth every penny and if amortized over the next maybe 20 years of my shooting life, it's not much money at all. Now, I have a hankering for a double rifle. I honestly am not going to use it on game, but I'd like to have one for kicks and giggles. I'm thinking maybe 5K used. That's a whole lot of beans for one gun. On the other hand, if I amortize it over the next 20 years.......[smilie=1:

[Boz330]

All good points from everyone. If you want it and can justify it no problem, and I have sure done that before. I think that one of the Little Sharpes would be a neat gun in say 38-55 for deer hunting. Even one of the smaller calibers would be neat but I like hunting with BP and the bigger bores are a little more friendly.
I would also like to have one of the nice ones for a wall hanger and shooter but that just invites someone to break in and steal it so all of my stuff stays in the safe. If the CD Little Sharps get easy to find I might have to take a serious look at one.

Bob

[tom barthel]

If my ship comes in and is loaded with gold, I may get one. Untill then, I'll just have to be content with my NEF handi-rifles, bolt and lever rifles. I hope they can find enough high rollers to stay in business. I have had custom rifles. Hated to get my sweaty hands on the steel or scratches on the wood. No fun at all. I still missed just as often as with inexpensive rifles.

[Boz330]

I always found that I couldn't enjoy a gun till it had that first scratch or dent. After that it wasn't a cherry anymore and I didn't mind toting it through the woods.

Bob

[MGySgt]

Bob - A honest scratch while hunting doesn't bother me at all - I would love to put the first scratch on my Quigley in the high country of CO when I dropped a large Bull Elk with it.

It is just that the darn thing weighs 13.25 pounds - and if I have to walk very far with it in that thin air up there I just might wind up with another HA and it just might kill me this time.

Drew

[Boz330]

Bob - A honest scratch while hunting doesn't bother me at all - I would love to put the first scratch on my Quigley in the high country of CO when I dropped a large Bull Elk with it.

It is just that the darn thing weighs 13.25 pounds - and if I have to walk very far with it in that thin air up there I just might wind up with another HA and it just might kill me this time.

Drew

Drew, pick some lower country and get a Sporting Sharps, much lighter. I guided in NM for several years and there is some country there that isn't all that bad to hunt in. I have had a number of hunters that had heart problems and never lost a one. Around the area we hunted elevations ran 7K to 8K and some of it was fairly flat compared to CO and not near as high. That doesn't eliminate the need to get in as good a shape as possible though. It does take some walking, we didn't do horse back hunts.

Bob

[KCSO]

Semms like it was Jeff Cooper who said he would rather have only 4 GGOD guns than a house full of cheapies. I have a few GOOD guns and some ex military guns that didn't cost a lot. The Little Sharps by Charles Daly will be interesting. I have yet to get one but if they are as well made as the rest of the line they will be keepers. Daly imports their guns from either Italy or the Phillipines so until I see a proof mark I won't know. I DO know having carried a Charles Daly 45 for the last 10 years that they are a quality gun. I did a little internal tweaking and set the trigger to 4# and the gun so far has over 10,000 round and is working on the second barrel.

[Buckshot]

[QUOTE=KCSO;207350]Semms like it was Jeff Cooper who said he would rather have only 4 GGOD guns than a house full of cheapies. I have a few GOOD guns and some ex military guns that didn't cost a lot.QUOTE]

................Thinking real hard, ALL my guns are good guns. Some cost more then some of the others. One of the very highest quality ones I own I paid $89 for and is a M1908 contract Mauser made for Brazil by DWM. I could not afford to buy one of similar quality if made today as a custom gun. And to be made to the same level of fit and finish, it WOULD have to be at least a semi-custom rifle. I have many others that meet the same criteria.

Now if what Mr. Cooper said was that he would rather have 4 expensive custom made guns then a house full of run of the mill, made by the thousands FACTORY guns, that would be different. Anyone whose interests ly in that direction is certainly entitled to all the enjoyment such firearms can bring.

If he said (or meant) expensive guns are good and cheap ones (comparatively) are junk, then the good Colonel is as full of crap as a Christmas goose. The former would be only his personal opinion, and the later mine.

..................Buckshot

[DonH]

Daniel - I really don't think that your 'Little Sharps' company would be associated with Charles Daily - that is like a volkswagen Bug and a Dino Ferriei (SP? but you know what I mean).



That is amusing since lil old Volkswagen owns, in addition to Porsche, Bugatti!

[KCSO]

As Ii remember he was berating the people who bought and collected cheap junk. It was some hard to tell with Cooper as he also thought highly of the Krag and they were cheap surplus at the time. As to Quality I would rather have a Krag or a Argentine than a new Remington. Most of the old military guns were NOT cheap when they were issued and were the BEST each country though they could get. Yes war time expediency lessened the finish on a few of them but they were and are still good solid guns.

[JDL]

I believe I read somewhere that the CD Sharps is made in Turkey. Either a .30-30 or a .38-55 would do me fine and I'd lean toward the former.
This past Saturday I looked at a little over/under .410 made in Turkey and was impressed and no, it wasn't Purdey quality but, seemed to be a resonable buy. -JDL