C Sharps 1875 Misfiring

[juanvaldez]

My recently aquired 1875 (80's vintage) seems to be occasionally giving me light strikes on my primers. Shot about 50 rounds the other day and had 3 that did not go boom. I have a couple spare pins with the gun so thought maybe I should take her apart and change the pin. Can anyone give me some pointers? I pulled the pin that the block pivots on but did not immediately see how to drop the block out.

Sean

[docone31]

There are a bunch of Sharps Shooters on this forum. I looked but I could not find out how. I had an 1863 Paper Cutter. All I had to do was pull back the hammer, drop the lever, pull the pin and slide it downwards and out. With a firing pin, and extractor in there, there might be some tricks.
The old plainsmen always carried a screw driver with their Sharps. Perhaps to hold back the extractor?

[docone31]

Found sumpin, same as my 1863,
Before attempting to disassemble your rifle or carbine, you must make sure it is UNLOADED!
FIELD STRIPPING:
With the action closed, pull the hammer rearward to the “Safe” position.
Locate the lever hinge pin (Part # 02) on the right side of the receiver near the rear of the forearm. Next to the lever hinge pin is a small plunger pin that acts as a lock to prevent the lever from rotating accidentally.
Depress the small plunger pin which will allow the lever hinge pin to be rotated approximately 180 degrees. With the rifle turned upside down, rotate the lever hinge pin forward and backward slightly while pulling outward to remove it.
Slide the trigger guard/lever and breech block out of the rifle. This completes the field stripping process.
Further disassembly of your Sharps rifle or carbine should only be attempted by a competent gunsmith.
It is simpler than I guessed. This is from the IAB Sharps owners manual.
Should be simple. The firing pin swap should be simple also. That you will have to figuire out.

[juanvaldez]

1875 is different...uses a threaded pin, breech block does not seem to want to drop out

[docone31]

I know how frustrating that is.
I will keep on looking.
Others will pipe in also I hope.

[Don McDowell]

You have to loosen or remove the lever spring under the forearm.
Then you can drop the breechblock out but the extractor can be a pain in the butt, both coming out and going in.
You most likely have a broken cracked transfer bar.
If you shoot that rifle alot, then call up there and order 2 firing pins and a transfer bar, then when you get those in send in your old firing pins and the transfer bar, they'll send you replacements.
That way you stay a step ahead with a good supply of firing pins and an extra transfer bar.
Nothing worse than taking a shxxty score at a match because your gun quit, and having to finish up with unknown rifles and loads.:(

[montana_charlie]

I have never seen or handled a 1875 Sharps. But, just looking at pictures on the C. Sharps website, it's obvious that it doesn't fieldstrip in the same way as the 1874.
That lever hinge pin held captive by the spring loaded button does not appear to exist on the 1875.

Your best bet would be to check your owner's manual (if you have one) or get a fresh one from C. Sharps. I am certain they would normally supply such information with a new rifle so the owner could maintain it.

CM

[Don McDowell]

If he drops the forearm, gets the lever spring out of the way, removes the threaded pin holding the breech block it'll all slide out if the extractor doesn't get in the way.
Then when its out he'll find a screw at the bottom of the transfer bar , that the bar pivots on and also holds the bar in place. When he takes that screw out and slides the transfer bar out, he should be able to see the crack that has developed and lets the actual part of the bar that contacts the firing pin to be bent towards the rear. If experience is any indicator, by this time the firing pin spring will have spit the firing pin out, and both will be wandering around inside the breech block.
This is the time to replace the firing pin, but he will need a pair of tweezers and a long feeler guage is a real handy deal. As you must depress the firing pin into its recess to reinstall the transfer bar.
The first time you take it apart is a real puzzle , after that its no sweat you can do it with a leathermand and a pocket knife in about 5 minutes or less.
Also while its apart and we're not in the middle of a match, its the perfect time to prefit any and all extra firing pins.

[NickSS]

I own several 1875 Sharps rifles and have had the same problem on all of them. The prime reason is if you have a broken firing pin. They are easy to break if you try to open the action without half cocking the hammer. The other reason is a crack on the transfer bar. My rifles are mostly the older model that have a large headed screw holding the transfer bar in place. One of my rifles developed a crack on the transfer bar and gave light strikes on the pin. The others were broken firing pins. Broken pins seam to occur every 1500 rounds or so.

To repair either do the following steps. A. Remove the forend which is held on with two screws and loosen the lever spring screw. B. Open the lever and remove the breach block pivot screw. Pull the breach block downwards and the extractor will hang it up. push the extractor up and forward (there is a milled out section in the frame for it to move into) and slide the block out. C. On the right side of the block is two screws the lower one goes through the lever toggle link and the upper holds the transfer bar in place. Remove the transfer bar screw and pull the transfer bar out to the right. Examine the transfer bar for any cracks (mine was cracked on the radius of the screw hole). If no cracks tilt the block towards the rear and shake ot some and the firing pin and spring will fall out (it may take a little maneuvering to get it out as there is not much room in the block). It will be obvious if it is broken.

To replace the firing pin and spring first put the spring into the firing pin hole this is done either with a thin set of tweezers or sticking a screw driver (small) through the springs coils and working it into the hole. Then put the pin in this takes some fooling around. First you drop the pin through and angled hole in the bottom of the breach block (you may need to remove the lever toggle screw) nose first. then with either a thin set of tweezers or a small screw driver work the nose of the pin into the pin hole until it is in position. compress the pin into the hole with a small screwdriver blade and slide the transfer bar into place (once the bar is behind the pin pull the screw driver out so that you can fully seat the transfer bar.

A note on firing pins; they are not all the same. It seams like over the years C Sharps has changed dimensions on them and if you call them for replacements you need to order the correct length. I bought three batches of pins to get one that will work in each of my rifles. These varied in length from .428" to .435". It is possible that your firing pin is not broke just short. If the previous owner broke a pin and called the company to get some more it is possible that the ones he got were short and he got frustrated and sold his rifle. I finally got the right lengths for my rifles by putting the transfer bar into the block with not firing pin and using a thin steel rod I measured the depth of the hole from the face of the breach block to the face of the transfer bar when it was all the way to the rear. Subtract a couple of thousandths of an inch and you got the length for the pin. C Sharps will make them any length you need for your rifle.

The only tricky thing about assembly is the extractor. Slide it in and move the bottom forward into the recess made for it Then slide the breach block in. You will have to play with the block and extractor till the both slide into place.

[W7RDP]

NickSS's post was very helpful in replacing a broken firing pin in my C Sharp's 1875 45-70. Pete at C Sharps was also very helpful and sent me an owner's manual, I am the second owner. C Sharps now ships firing pins that are long and you may need to dress off the head of the firing pin so that it just flush with the breach block face.