This rifle is marked "H. SLOTTERBEK LOS ANGELES" on top of the barrel behind the rear sight. Henry Slotterbek moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in 1869 and worked there until his death in 1888. As this rifle shows, he was a fine craftsman. This rifle was shipped as a Military Rifle 24 December, 1875. Most of the Slotterbek guns were shipped to A. J. Plate, who was in better financial condition. The gunsmiths who were converting Sharps almost always ordered the cheapest guns, since they were going to replace almost everything anyway. Plate was in San Francisco, but Slotterbek was there regularly to visit his brother Charles. The action is all that remain of the original gun. The barrel, forearm, stock, ramrod, ramrod pipes, sling swivels, front sight and double set triggers were all made by Slotterbek. The octagon portion of the barrel has a ring at the rear like the Sharps but the ring has been faceted to octagonal at the front, slightly larger than the barrel. The barrel is rifled with six grooves and gauges at 38 caliber. There is an oval base with dove tail for the front sight (absent) and the rear sight is a fixed iron sight with notch, dove tailed to the barrel. The forearm is 11 1/2 inches long including the fancy pewter tip. It is held in place by the standard screw at the rear but a wedge has been added to hold the front end. The wedge is held by decorative arrow shaped silver escutcheons. There are also two silver inlays on the bottom of the forearm, one an oval and the other on the flat at the receiver which is a sun burst. The rear ramrod pipe holds the front sling swivel post. The buttstock is walnut with a pistol grip. There are two different checkering patterns with a finer pattern on the top of the wrist, the left wrist flat has an inlaid pearl shield, pearl grip cap and oval inset into the right side, a cheekpiece with a silver shield inset inscribed "Made for / OE", brass Swiss style brass buttplate and sling swivel.

Very fine. The barrel retains much of the Slotterbek original brown finish most of which is aging to a plum hue with minor spotting overall. The lever, receiver and hammer have a smooth mottled gray patina. The lower tang shows strong dark original case colors mixed with dark patina. The wood is very fine with overall scattered minor dents and dings, with crisp checkering. The ramrod is broken and part is absent. The action is excellent.