Lyman’s Sharps scaled down replica chambered in .38-55 Winchester pulls double duty as a range rifle and a hunter.
I live in an ideal setting for putting deer in the freezer. It could be as simple as walking out to the front porch and picking a furry target and harvesting some meat, but I prefer to make more of a “hunt” out of the activity. With the rut over and many bucks at most only carrying half a rack, I switch into doe hunting mode and pick a rifle or pistol that I’ve not yet killed a deer with to expand my hunting experience. Over the past couple of seasons I’ve pulled a Lyman Lil Sharps in .38-55 from the rack, stepped back in time, and collected a few does in January.
The 1874 Sharps rifle fostered legends, but when the great buffalo herds disappeared, the need for a heavy long-range rifle went with them. Perhaps, if Christian Sharps had designed the Lyman’s Ideal scaled-down version of the original 1874 Sharps at the time, his company might have survived.
Sharps made sporting versions from the late 1840s until the late 1880s. After the American Civil War, converted Army surplus rifles transformed into custom firearms. The Sharps factory produced Models 1869 and 1874 in large numbers for the commercial buffalo hunters and frontiersmen. These large-bore rifles were manufactured with some of the most powerful black powder cartridges ever made. Sharps also fabricated special long-range target versions for the then-popular Creedmoor style of 1,000-yard target shooting.
As evidenced by companies building “deer” rifles in .38-55 Winchester, such as Winchester’s Model 1894 Marlin’s Model 336, this cartridge is definitely up to the task. In fact, the legendary .30-30 Winchester began by simply taking a .38-55 case and necking it down to .30 caliber and loaded with smokeless powder.
One hundred thirty years after the last original Sharps Model 1874 rolled off the line, Lyman Products celebrated the legendary rifle with their own Ideal Model Sharps. “Lyman was approached by Chiappa Firearms to see if we would have an interest in teaming up with them on the Sharps rifle,” Lyman’s Tom Griffin said. “After we looked it over and made some changes to personalize it, we felt that it would be a good fit for our line.” Although Sharps never made such a rifle, the Lyman Ideal Sharps is basically a scaled down Model 1874. “It is a somewhat loose version of the 1874,” Griffin added, “not an exact scaled down reproduction. The .38-55 Winchester caliber was chosen, since it is a popular cast bullet caliber, and it ties in well with our line of bullet casting equipment.”
To learn more about the scaled-down version of the 1874 Sharps rifle, I contacted Chiappa. “The ‘Little Sharps’ was originally developed by Ron Otto and Aaron Pursley in Big Sandy, Montana,” said Ron Norton. “The first time I saw the Little Sharps was at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada in 2005. After seeing the many possibilities of a ‘Lil’ Reliable’ in a multitude of calibers for the young, the old and everyone in between, we developed a relationship with Little Sharps and the rest is history.”
The difference between this new rifle and an original Sharps is simply its size. The Little Sharps produced by Chiappa Firearms is a close duplicate of the full-sized Model 1874. The Lyman Ideal is reduced in scale by 20 percent from the original’s dimensions. The ratio of size reduction doesn’t equal weight reduction, though. The new design weighs nearly half as much as its full-sized brother. Modern barrel and action steel make it stronger, too. The new rifle’s button-rifled barrel is as capable of producing superb accuracy matching the legendary rifle’s performance.
Lil’ Reliable
Lyman’s new Ideal model is a continuation of where the historic Sharps rifle series left off. The streamlined lock profile and vintage-style laser engraving are exclusive to this beautiful rifle. Most befitting is the Lyman tang sight and globe front sight.
Double-set triggers raise the accuracy potential, and provide an adjustable, crisp let-off. The bore groove measured .3775 on the rifle I tested. The receiver is finished bright matte, with vintage-style laser engraving. The 26-inch barreled .38-55 rifle has a 1:18-inch twist. The overall length is 42 inches, and the rifle tips the scale at approximately six pounds. The stock is straight-grained, classic walnut.
As much as I like the sight setup on this rifle, my eyes are a far cry from the 20/12 vision I had when I was in college. To give the rifle a fair chance at proving its potential, I decided to add a scope. To match this classic reproduction I chose a William Malcolm 3x that was period correct for this rifle. The Malcolm chosen was a ¾-inch tube, 17-inch-long model that is externally adjustable for windage and elevation.
As sundown crept ever closer on the evening of the last day of Tennessee’s antlerless deer season, I, too, crept down the edge of my home rifle range. As I sat down cross-leg and propped the Lil’ Sharps on my shooting sticks as a doe fed 110 yards away.
The doe picked up my last movement as I took aim and perked up and walked toward me inquisitively. When she stopped at 90 yards I centered the crosshairs on her head and lit the fire. “Meat,” I thought as she toppled over backwards. If I hurried field dressing chores before I needed a light. For a shooter who likes casting bullets or stepping back in time, the Lyman Ideal Lil’ Sharps .38-55 is an excellent rifle.
Barrel Break-In
I took special care for the break-in period of this rifle. To smooth the bore, I fired jacketed .375 250-grain Noslers for the first 50 shots. Between every two shots, I cleaned the bore.
The next 50 shots were cast Lyman 264-grain gas-checked bullets. With all of my cast bullets, I weigh them before sizing and lubricating to segregate by weight. With bullets over 150 grains, I try to put them into groups that fall within one grain. The bullets that fall too far outside the average groups get culled. I sized and gas-checked the culls and used them for seasoning the bore. The break-in exercise not only helps accuracy, it makes cleaning easier and improves barrel life.
Loading the .38-55 Winchester
Initially I had trouble locating new .38-55 brass, so I reformed several once-fired .30-30 Win brass. I did find some once-fired .375 Winchester to use in testing, and a pinch, .375 Winchester brass works for .38-55 Win. loads. Winchester jacketed factory loads offered a baseline for comparison.
For starting loads, I used Reloader 7, IMR 4198 and Accurate 5744. Without much loading data available, my initial loads revealed that this rifle’s 1:18 twist was too slow to stabilize the long 312-grain RCBS bullet or Lyman’s 330-grain bullet.
| Manufacturer | Bullet wt. | Powder | Velocity | Group |
| Winchester (factory load) | 255 | n/a | 1,650 | 2.53 |
| Nosler Partition | 260 | 20 g. IMR 4227 | 1,632 | 3.36 |
| Lyman 375449 | 264 | 23 g. A5744 | 1,638 | 1.28 |
| Lyman 375248 | 249 | 20 g. IMR 4198 | 1,435 | 2.58 |
| Lyman 378674 | 330 | 18 g IMR 4198 | 1,232 | 6.7 |
| RCBS 378-312 | 312 | 18 g IMR 4198 | 1,296 | 5.5 |
The Lyman 375248 249-grain bullet and the Lyman 375449 gas-checked bullet cast from a 50:50 alloy of linotype and clip-on wheel weights got the nod. This alloy has a Brinel hardness of 17, which is higher than ideal for hunting loads, but is fine for target shooting and penetrates deeply.
The 249-grain Lyman 375248 averaged 1,435 fps when pushed by 20 grains of IMR 4198, and produced 2.13-inch 5-shot groups at 50 yards with factory sights. At 100 yards with the Malcolm 3x scope groups measured 2.58 inches. I tried 23 grains of Accurate 5744 behind the 264-grain Lyman, and got a 1,638 fps average. At 50 yards with iron sights, this load kept five shots under two inches, and at 100 yards with the 3x scope its best group measured 1.28 inches.
Sharps Rifles: Home on the Range
Christian Sharps wasn’t much of a business man, but he could design a fine rifle. The fact that he spent the last four years of his life as a trout farmer instead of reaping the benefits of his successful firearms designs speaks volumes to his lack of business acumen.
Even though his business prowess left something to be desired, Sharps’ rifle design that would be christened the 1874 model became legendary in the hands of skilled marksmen. On June 27, 1874, at Adobe Walls on the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle, more than 500 Kiowa and Comanche warriors suddenly surrounded young Billy Dixon and 27 buffalo hunters. The Kiowa medicine man told the warriors that his medicine made them invisible to the bullets of the “white eyes.” When Dixon fired his Sharps sporting rifle and blew a Kiowa from his horse at 1,538 yards, the Indians got a sharp dose of reality.
Just three months later, on September 26, Creedmoor, New York, hosted a crowd of more than 5,000 people. The crowd gathered to witness the first international shooting competition in America.
Armed with their Sharps rifles, the American team had a good lead on the 800-yard targets, but the Irish team gained on them at 900 yards. By the time they had finished shooting at 1,000 yards, the Irish were ahead of the Americans. In the end, the match was determined by the very last shot by the Americans. Shooting a bullseye at 1,000 yards, the Americans emerged the winners with 934 points to the Irish team’s 931.
The 1874-pattern Sharps was a particularly popular rifle that led to the introduction of several derivatives in quick succession. It handled a large number of .40- to .50-caliber cartridges in a variety of loadings and barrel lengths.
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