M1859 Berdan Sharps Rifle

The M1859 Sharps rifle was used by the Berdan Sharpshooter during the American Civil War. The sculpting of this rifle is part of my project for the Berdan Sharpshooter.

This rifle was fitted with a double-set trigger. By pulling the rear trigger, the forward 'hair' trigger was set so that the slightest pressure would release the hammer. It had a 30" round barrel, a straight type breech design, back action lock with exposed S shaped hammer and pellet primer system. Its rear sight was graduated to either 700 or 800 yards. The overall length of the rifle is 47 1/8" and unloaded weight is 8 lbs 12 ounces.

These are some of the photographs which I used as references for my sculpting.

 
First the shape of the rifle butt was drawn to scale and cut from a piece of basal wood. This served both as a general guide to its shape and also provided a firm base for the application of the putty. Without this, the putty would tend to droop. 

 
Putty was applied over the basal wood and along the length of the wire. Upon hardening, it was scrapped and filed down to the required shape. Three bands were added along the length of the barrel.
 
Instead of using an aluminum foil to make the trigger guard, I decided to use resin. As resin tends to be soft initially, a lump of putty was first applied to where the trigger guard is. Once hardened, it was craved with a sharp blade to the required shape. This served as a template for forming of the trigger guard. Some olive oil was smeared onto it to facilitate easy removal of the trigger guard once it had cured. The hardened trigger guard was eventually removed and trimmed to the required thickness before gluing it back onto the rifle as shown.
 
All the other components, such as the triggers, S-shaped hammer, rear sight and breech block, were made separately and glued in place. As for the rivets and hinges, they were made in place. The sling swivels were made from wire.
 
Attached are also some close up of the completed rifle. Note that the rear sight aperture is set  mid way up the rear sight post as I intend to depict the Berdan sharpshooter aiming at a distant target. Hope you have enjoyed this short article.