Shiloh Rifle

by

began in 1976
New York, Montana

  • 1848-1881 32-year run of original Sharps rifle production
  • March 12, 1874 Sharps died (64)

Modern Sharps

  • 1976 started as Shiloh Products, Inc
    – in Farmingdale, New York
    – founded by Len Mulé & Wolfgang Droege
  • Len Mulé
    –  manufactured high quality bullet moulds for blackpowder shooters
    –  four-cavity design
    –  sold as the “Shiloh IV” moulds
  • 1975 the premiered New Model 1863 Rifle & New Model 1863 Carbine
    – worked with Pinetree Casting (a division of Ruger)
    – used original Civil War salvage parts from Dixie Gun Works
  • 1976 percussion rifles and carbines produced at Farmingdale, New York plant
  • 1976 Len Mulé began researching and working on the blueprints of the cartridge models Shiloh Model 1874
  • 1977 Model 1874 metallic cartridge rifle models went into production
  • 1983 Shiloh Sharps Rifle Company
    – moved to Big Timber, Montana
    –  Merged with C. Sharps Arms
    –  180/acre shooting range
  • 1986 Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company split from C. Sharps Arms
  • 1990 Quigley Down Under – Shiloh manufactured the Sharps rifle
  • 1991 purchased by the Bryant brothers
  • 1996 started in house Foundry

Shiloh Rifle
201 Centennial Dr
Big Timber, Montana 59011

shilohrifle.com

Shiloh Sharps

About Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing

Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company, known to shooters as Shiloh Sharps, builds faithful reproductions of the Sharps single-shot rifles that served on the Civil War battlefield and the Western plains. The modern story began in 1976 with Shiloh Products, Inc., a partnership between Len Mulé of Garfield, New Jersey, who did the early drawings and prototype work for the Model 1863 and is often called the second founder of Sharps, and Wolfgang Droege, owner of a tool company in Farmingdale, New York. Their percussion and metallic cartridge reproductions found a following among re-enactors and target shooters because they could regularly fire modern ammunition, and many parts interchange with original Sharps components.

The Farmingdale partnership ran until 1983, when Shiloh Sharps Rifle production began; after the business changed hands, manufacturing moved to Big Timber, Montana, where the rifles are still built. Shiloh catalogs two basic families, the percussion Model 1863 and the black-powder cartridge Model 1874, each in many barrel lengths and calibers. The company gained wide public attention when a Shiloh Model 1874 appeared in the 1990 film Quigley Down Under, and its rifles remain popular for black-powder cartridge silhouette and long-range competition.

Key Facts

  • 1976: Shiloh Products, Inc. begins as a partnership of Len Mulé and Wolfgang Droege in Farmingdale, New York
  • 1983: Shiloh Sharps Rifle production begins; manufacturing later centered in Big Timber, Montana
  • 1990: Shiloh Model 1874 featured in the film Quigley Down Under
  • Products: Sharps Model 1863 percussion and Model 1874 cartridge rifles

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Sources

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