.52 caliber. 22" barrel. NS: 97222. Moderately oxidized metal with minute traces of blue and case colors, iron mountings, including patchbox in butt. Single shot breechloading Sharps dropping block percussion carbine with Lawrence pellet primer, 900-yard leaf rear sight, German silver blade front sight and sling bar and ring on reverse. Barrel with standard New Model 1863 markings and Sharps address, receiver with weak standard patent marking, lock with clear standard patent marking. Matching serial numbers on the receiver tang and under the barrel. The buttstock is marked with a Confederate "Z" rebuild inspection mark behind the triggerguard. As the buttstock is well past the high end of the cutoff for Sharps NM1859 carbines, and the buttstock has a patchbox, it well may have been the part replaced during the Confederate "clean & repair" process. The alphanumeric mark "M329" is also stamped in the toe line of the stock.

The Confederacy never established enough production capacity to come close to meeting their needs for small arms, so a major part of their armory system was a program of cleaning and repairing small arms to put them back into the field for use. Many of these guns, particularly during the first half of the war, were collected from battlefields after Confederate victories. Most were then sent to Richmond where they were refurbished and often struck with an inspector's mark such as a "Z", "T'", "&" and others. These are all documented in Steve Knott's book "Captured & Collected - Confederate Reissued Firearms." {ANTIQUE}

Good. Bore about good, moderately oxidized and dirty with decent rifling. Metal with some minute traces of blue and case colors in protected areas, showing a moderately oxidized and mottled brownish-gray patina with some scattered minor surface roughness and some lightly scattered pitting. Markings in metal remain mostly clear, with the exception of the receiver patent mark, marks in wood somewhat softer. Mechanically functional action. Pellet primer system appears intact but does not appear to function. Wood good with a moderate amount of scattered bumps, dings and mars from handling and use.