Through a bizarre coincidence with no grounds other than cosmic syncopation, I happen to have an NRAjournal in the house, from Feb 2005, from wehich I glean that the Sharps and the Henry were both flintlocks of the falling-block design at the beginning of the era of breech-load guns. Alexander Henry patented a side-hammer falling-block design in 1865 using a centerfire cartridge. The Sharps during the same period were experimenting with a self-contained rimfire cartridge.

Hentry (whose later development of the Henry-Martini rifle was world-renowned) did away with the Sharps complex multi-part firing pin assembly for a simpler one opiece pin that was retracted by a coil spring. He also dramatically improved the trigger guard and safety device. The big heavy firelock on the Sharps was replaced with a sleeker more streamlined lighter lock in the Henry. The weight of the Henry was much less than the Sharps single-shot rifle which weighed 10, 15 or even 20 pounds. Contrast markedly with the Henry's 7.5 pounds with a 28 inch barrel.

Data excerpted from "1stFreedom" magazine, Feb 2005.

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