- OK. So what do we got here? WAYNE: It's an 1861 Sharps and
Hankins experimental rifle. RICK: That's pretty cool. It was most likely
some weird prototype. Do you know how many they made? WAYNE: Somewhere between
700 and 750 in-between five different models. RICK: They were probably
different models they were running off
and probably trying to sell them to the military. You'd normally call something
like this a prototype, but experimental sounds so
much better when you're trying to sell it to the military. [LAUGHS] WAYNE: My Uncle's
a gun collector. And he got me started
in collecting guns. I found the rifle
at a pawn shop, and I got a great deal on it. And looking at the
name of the rifle, I knew it was something special. I'd like to sell my
Sharps and Hankins rifle so I can get the money
to buy more antique firearms. RICK: Right around
that time period, there was a million
and one experimental, or prototypes, all
these other things because there was, like, an
explosion in gun technology. Lot of weird designs
were coming out because all the other
designs were patented. And there was
government contracts going crazy to get guns. I mean, the Civil War
had just broke out. We basically didn't have
anything near of the Army that we needed to
actually go to war. But I imagine a
million guns were sold to the military
during the Civil War and probably close to
that number in the South. By the 1830s, machining
had become so good, you could make better guns. And by the 1850s, all these
weird, experimental guns were coming out. Sharp's rifles are
known for their quality. And even the guns
that didn't sell well are still considered
collectible. It doesn't look like a
rapid fire rifle when you-- literally, the way
you fire this is-- you know, you have
to do this, this, pull the old shell out, put
another shell in, and fire it. But in 1861, that was amazing. CHUMLEE: Does it still fire? WAYNE: I believe it does. Everything looks good. The bore-- There shouldn't be any
problem firing it, it's just finding the ammo for it. This probably takes
a bizarro caliber. And the beautiful thing
is it says Sharps on it. WAYNE: Yes. RICK: And that's where the
term sharpshooter came from. Did you know that?
WAYNE: Yes. I did. RICK: It used to be Sharp's
shooter because Sharps were so accurate. They had serious accuracy
for a very long distance. - Kind of like me.
- Yeah. CHUMLEE: I'm pretty
accurate, Rick. [LAUGHS] RICK: But I dig it. I think they're
really, really cool. There are some concerns here. It looks like the stock has
been at least sanded down. It doesn't look like it's
in the original shape. What do you want for it? Well, I was hoping
to get $3,000. RICK: One of my
problems with this is when you start
getting guns that are, you know, you said there's
only 700 or 800 of them made, and then there's five
different models-- it's a very thin market. And I don't know the value
of it, quite frankly. And I would like someone to take
a look at it if you don't mind. Not at all. SEAN RICH: Sharps--
just the name-- it's well-known to this day. And it's because of the
quality of manufacturing, and the fact that these
guns were very accurate. There's a large collector
base for these guns out there. The barrel length-- when they
were going into production, they're gonna make
it a standard length. It's going to be 23, or
25, or what have you. This has got 23 and-- RICK: 3/4? SEAN RICH: More--
it's-- it's in-between. It's weird. 5/8. SEAN RICH: That would not
be the standard number that they would land on. So that raises a
red flag for me. There stands a chance
that this could be one of the
experimental rifles, but chances are
it's been modified. What do you think it's worth? SEAN RICH: It's a solid
$1,500 to $2000 gun. RICK: So-- but it's
most likely modified. It's a modified rifle. That's what I'm saying. OK.
Thanks, man. Absolutely. When it comes to anything of
this period being experimental, it could be extremely rare. And anything that's
extremely rare could be worth a lot of money. But because of that, that
brings out a lot of the fakers. RICK: I mean, so what will
you realistically take for it? I would say $1,750. No, because that's what he
said I could retail it for. It's been messed with. And if it hadn't
been messed with, I would have paid you
your $3,000 in a minute. I will give you $1,000. That's what I can give. WAYNE: The lowest I
could go would be $1,500. I mean, I'll go $1,050. And I shouldn't even do that,
but that's what I'll do. No, I can't go less than that. Have a nice day. - Thank you.
- All right. Have a good one. WAYNE: It's disappointing
to get the offer. Even the expert said it
was worth more than that. I'm going to take
the gun home and do some more research on it.
