Manufactured in 1879, the included factory letter lists this rifle being invoiced as a Model 1878 Military Rifle and shipped to Schuyler, Hartley & Graham in New York on 22 January 1879, in a shipment of 1,000 military rifles. The factory letter theorizes that these rifles were destined for the Michigan State National Guard. Also included are some notes from the consignor attributing the rifle to C.A. Ranney, a banker from Craig, Colorado. This exact rifle is pictured on page 355 of the book “Sharps Firearms: Model 1878 ‘Borchardt Patent’ Rifles and other Sharps Models, Volume IV” by Roy Marcot. The rifle was subsequently fitted with a custom barrel marked "GEO. C. SCHOYEN DENVER", who likely also replaced the forearm and stock, indicating that this rifle likely spent most of its working life on the American frontier. These rifles would have been highly prized in the West for their accuracy and dependability. The left side of the receiver is marked with the standard three-line Borchardt patent and Sharps address. The serial number is marked on the bottom of the action just in front of the trigger. The barrel is fitted with a gold plated combination front sight, no provisions for a rear sight on the barrel, and a mid-range peep sight mounted on the upper tang. It is fitted with a checkered Schnabel tip forearm and pistol grip stock with a horn grip cap and checkered hard rubber shotgun buttplate.

Very good as period George Schoyen modified and re-barreled, retaining traces of the brown finish on the barrel and faint case color patterns with some scattered patches of light pitting. The period replaced wood is good with some re-glued cracks visible in the wrist, moderate wear, and some scattered minor handling marks. Mechanically excellent.