Lot 90

42nd PA "Bucktails" Issued Berdan Sharps New Model 1859 Rifle

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42nd PA "Bucktails" Issued Berdan Sharps New Model 1859 Rifle

Estimate: $9,500 - $16,000

Starting Bid: $8,500

(0 Bids)

by Rock Island Auction Company
June 27, 2026 5:00 PM CDT
Live Auction
3600 Harwood Road
Bedford, TX, US 76021

Historic Documented Civil War U.S. Berdan Sharpshooters Range Sharps Model 1859 Breech Loading Percussion Military Rifle with Double Set Triggers Issued to Company C of the 42nd Pennsylvania Infantry (Bucktails) and Attributed to Corporal Firman Fields Kirk During the American Civil War there were few units more feared than the sharpshooters. Like the riflemen of the American Revolution, they played both a deadly role on the battlefield and a psychological one. Men on both sides knew that at any moment they could be picked off by a marksman lying in wait for someone to foolish enough to expose themselves. Their distinctive weapons too became iconic and feared. The green uniformed "Berdan Sharpshooters" of the 1st and 2nd Regiments of U.S. Sharpshooters (U.S.S.) received the most publicity during the war and are well-known for their special Sharps Model 1859 rifles. This historic Sharps was manufactured in 1862 and is one of the 2,000 rifles in the 54,000-57,000 range special ordered with double set triggers and a front sight doubling as a socket bayonet lug for use by the Berdan Sharpshooters. Some of these rifles were put into storage at the Washington Arsenal and then issued to the 42nd Pennsylvania Infantry, nicknamed the "Bucktails," after they protested in August 1862 that they were issued inferior arms. This example is documented by serial number (55081) as issued to Company C (The Cameron Rifles) of the "Bucktails" on page 92 of "Civil War Sharps Carbines & Rifles" by Coates and McAulay. Company C was primarily recruited in Cameron County in north central Pennsylvania. The sparsely populated county had just been created in March of 1860 and was named after Simon Cameron who competed with Abraham Lincoln for the Republican nomination and was appointed by Lincoln as Secretary of War. Cameron’s brother James was killed at the First Battle of Bull Run at the beginning of the war. The "Bucktails" were part of the famous Pennsylvania Reserve Division of the Army of the Potomac that saw action in multiple campaigns and suffered heavy casualties, including during many of the most famous battles of the war. The nickname "Bucktails" is in reference to the distinctive piece of deer hide or buck's tail the regiment attached to their forage caps. They received their Sharps rifles for the Maryland Campaign in 1862, suffered heavy losses at Antietam on September 17, 1862, and went on to fight at Fredericksburg before being sent to Washington, D.C., to recuperate. They then fought at Gettysburg and Spotsylvania before mustering out on June 11, 1864. They lost 11 officers, 151 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and another 88 from disease. At Gettysburg, the "Bucktails" and other Pennsylvania Reserves had arrived on the scene from Cemetery Ridge to the north and met the charging Confederates as the other Union troops were in disarray. Imagine how the Confederates must have felt originally seeing the Union troops fleeing as they captured that strategic landmark only to be faced with the fresh Pennsylvania Reserves who met their charge and then poured on deadly fire. The veterans and recruits were transferred to the 190th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in 1864. The 190th continued to fight in multiple battles, including Cold Harbor and the Siege of Petersburg, and were at Appomattox Court House for the surrender of General Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia. They participated in the Grand Review before mustering out on June 28, 1865. They lost 3 officers, 43 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, and another 168 to disease. The rifle is accompanied by an unsigned typewritten letter stating: "This rifle, serial number 55081 is identified in the records as being issued to the above listed Company C. The rifle reportedly descended in the family and includes an old paper [not included with this lot] declaring it to be 'My Grandfathers Old Civil War Gun'. The rifle has initials 'WF' carved in the stock. Private Firman Fields Kirk had a son, William... It is assumed that his son carved his initials into the stock indicating the transfer of ownership." An accompanying binder contains related research documents on Kirk and his unit, including a scan of a period picture titled "A Group of Bucktail Survivors" showing a portrait of Firman F. Kirk and a picture of a monument of the 42nd Infantry Thirteenth Reserve "Bucktails" on which Firman F. Kirk's name is listed under the names of enlisted men in Company C. Firman F. Kirk (1842 - 1916) is also listed in muster rolls from the Civil War database as enlisted in 1861 as part of Company C, also known as the "Cameron Rifles", of the "Bucktails," with his original rank as a private with the 1st Pennsylvania Rifles (13th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves Corps/42nd Pennsylvania). He mustered out as a corporal, reenlisted with Company C of the 190th Pennsylvania as a corporal, and mustered out as a sergeant. The 1st Pennsylvania Rifles were originally tied to the 13th Regiment Pennsylvania Reserves Corps when formed in May of 1861 and were subsequently re-designated the 42nd Pennsylvania when called into service in June of 1861. Many of the men later transferred to the 190th Pennsylvania in 1864. Kirk was reported missing in the Philadelphia Inquirer on June 6, 1864, and has two records of imprisonment as a prisoner of war: one at Fredericksburg on December 13, 1862, and the second at Weldon Road on August 19, 1864. On November 29, 1916, The Wellsboro Agitator reported on the “Death of a ‘Bucktail’” and notes that of thirty-two men that joined Company C, only Kirk and John P. Blair remained with the company when it returned home. They also note that he spent nine months in the dreaded Andersonville Prison and was active in veteran organizations after the war. Elsewhere he is recorded as working in the lumber business in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. This historic rifle has a nickel-silver blade/bayonet lug front sight, Lawrence patent notch and ladder rear sight, the Sharps Hartford address on top of the barrel ahead of the rear sight and "NEW MODEL 1859" at the breech, adjustable double set triggers, long military type forearm, sling swivels on the middle barrel band and buttstock, an iron patch box, and is correctly not fit with a lever latch. Matching serial numbers are marked on the receiver and underside of the barrel.

Manufacturer: Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company

Model: New Model 1859

BBL: 30 inch round

Stock: walnut

Gauge: 52

Finish: blue/casehardened

Serial Number55081

Class: Antique

  • Provenance: Corporal Firman Fields Kirk, Company C (The Cameron Rifles), 42nd Pennsylvania Infantry (Bucktails), The Kirk Family; A Private Collection
  • Condition: Good with the unmistakable appearance of a historic Civil War issued rifle with brown patina, oxidation, a replacement nipple, detached rear sight ladder, and mostly legible markings in the metal. The wood is also good as period refurbished with a repaired rear right section of the forearm, absent rear barrel band retainer, and characteristic battle scars. The automatic primer mechanism is absent, and the set trigger does not engage; otherwise, the rifle mechanically functions. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a highly desirable, documented example historic Berdan Sharpshooters Sharps rifle issued to Company C of the Pennsylvania "Bucktails" and attributed to Corporal Firman Fields Kirk.

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Bid Increments
From: To: Increments:
$0 $199 $10
$200 $499 $25
$500 $999 $50
$1,000 $1,999 $100
$2,000 $4,999 $250
$5,000 $9,999 $500
$10,000 $19,999 $1,000
$20,000 $49,999 $2,500
$50,000 $99,999 $5,000
$100,000 $199,999 $10,000
$200,000 + $25,000