This is a very fine example of an extremely rare Sharps Model 1877 No. 1 Long Range Rifle with blued barrel, casehardened receiver, lock plate and lever and checkered, oil-finished stock and forearm. The No. 1 stock and forearm feature fancy highly figured walnut, a black horn forend cap and a browned metal pistol grip cap. The rifle has a wind gauge front sight with spirit level, a folding Vernier rear sight on the receiver tang and a tang sight base mounted on the heel of the stock. The top of the barrel is roll-stamped with the trademark "Old Reliable" in a rectangle followed by "SHARPS RIFLE CO. BRIDGEPORT CONN." in one line. The serial number, "161720" is stamped in tiny letters on the receiver tang ahead of the rear sight base. The Model 1877 rifle was designed for Creedmoor rule target shooting that required rifles to weigh ten pounds or less and have a single trigger and metallic sights. The Model 1877 receiver and breechblock were designed to be as light as possible and facilitate use of the heaviest barrel that was consistent with the ten-pound weight limitation. Sharps manufactured approximately 100 Model 1877 rifles in 1877-1878; 46 of these rifles were No. 1 rifles.

Very fine. The barrel retains approximately 60-70% of the faded original blue finish and has scattered and very light pitting overall. The rifle retains approximately half of the dove/gray case colors on the receiver, hammer, lever and buttplate. The markings are crisp. The bore is bright with sharp rifling. The stock and forend are in excellent condition and retain nearly all of the original oil finish. The checkering on the forearm and pistol grip is sharp. Wear on the stock and forearm is limited to some very minor handling marks. This is a very fine example of a rare and very desirable Sharps Model 1877 Rifle. One may look most of their life to find another one of these for sale!