GUN FALL 2015
The live portion of this session begins on Monday, October 5, 2015.
RARE FORT GRIFFIN TEXAS SHIPPED SHARPS MODEL 1874 HEAVY BUFFALO RIFLE IDENTIFIED TO R C GUIRE, DEPUTY AND VIGILANTE.SHARPS187416030645 CAL.Cal. 45. True “Camp Gun” buffalo rifle with 30" heavy oct bbl, orig Sharps front sight and Lawrence patent ladder rear sight. Top flat of bbl has the “Old Reliable” cartouche and Bridgeport address. Cal marking is over the chamber area. Rifle has Sharps double set triggers. Mounted with straight grain American walnut including a standard smooth Sharps forearm and straight stock with coarse checkered Sharps steel buttplate. Accompanied by Sharps factory record letter. They identify this rifle as being listed in order book No.4 as a Model 1874 sporting rifle invoiced at Bridgeport on July 9, 1877 to Frank Conrad, merchant and outfitter of Fort Griffin, Texas. It was shipped with 30" oct bbl in Cal. 45 2-7/8 with double triggers, open sights and oil finished stocks. Weight is listed as 15-3/4 lbs in a ten gun shipment. This is an early gun shipped to the heart of buffalo hunting territory identified to Robert Carter Guire where few exist today, camp guns took a serious beating in the old days. The Guire family are noted in historical records of the west. RC Guire was 21 years old when this gun was shipped to Fort Griffin. Consignor who found this gun along with a few glass shards and a couple of pieces of sheet metal (which accompany lot) found near the foundation of Conrad’s store at Ft Griffin located on land near Buena Vista, Colorado has done considerable research and correspondence concerning Guire. Guire was a deputy county sheriff in Trinidad Colorado...a high town of the old west... a copy of his commission is recorded at the county office in Trinidad with a copy in the files with the gun .Guire lived there when Bat Masterson was city marshal....Many important westerners spent time in Trinidad..... (his very large file of notes, photographs and correspondence are included in this lot) There is a you-tube video link on web showing facial recognition between Deputy Guire and possibly Guire holding this very gun. Our consignor who is quite an artist built this wonderful display to show gun, including a contemporary vintage saddle representative of the time, indiscernible maker''s mark, facsimile photographs, reader boards, 2 cartridges and accoutrements. This display won an award at the Colorado Gun Collectors Association annual show in 2014. Guire was involved in several land wars and the one consignor sites in Colorado where Guire killed the wrong man and was indicted caused he and his family a hasty departure back East to Arkansas. Guire lived until 1904 when found dead in a well digging project with unanswered circumstances to this day. According to letters from consignor, there is a model 1885 highwall Winchester with Guire''s name applied on bbl in same style as subject Sharps though stolen from the family several years ago. Consignor''s notes and correspondence paint an interesting portrait of life in the "Wild West". Guire had a lifetime of adventure and experience as a hunter, surveyor, rancher, Deputy Marshall and vigilante. Guire lived a short 48 years though filled with adventure PROVENANCE: R C Guire, Ft. Griffin, Texas. CONDITION: Bbl, frame, breechblock, latch, lever, triggers, hammer and front sight all orig with mottled pitting from wear in the fire. Bbl markings including address, Cal., and Guire''s name are all discernible. SN on frame weak but discernible. Stocks and buttplate are restorations, as are several screws. The rear sight is pitted but markings are partially discernible, including Lawrence''s patent and elevation marks, the small crossbar on blade is replaced. This is a wonderful, historic restored relic that displays beautifully with accompanying saddle, other small items excavated with gun, display and accoutrements. The reata accompanying this group was hand-made by Navaho for the consignor for the vintage display. 49155-1 JS (15,000-30,000)