Amazing and rare Sharps New Model 1863 "Coffee Mill" saddle rifle, single shot, 52-70 caliber. 54cm round barrel, rifled, marked "Sharps Rifle Manufg co Hartford Conn." and "New Model 1863", with marked rear sight. Breech block marked on left side "C. Sharps Pat. Sept. 12th 1848" on right side "RS Lawrence Pat. April 12th 1859" and on the rear plate "C. Sharps Pat. Oct. 5th 1852". Iron fittings and saddle ring. Walnut stock marked J.H.E. with crank for mill built into stock. No. C337**Total length : 99 cmWhite polished finish. B.E. The history of the Sharps "Coffee Mill" is complex: It is known that Lieutenant-Colonel Walter King had prescribed for the 4th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (around 1864) the installation of a mill in the stock of the rifles, not to grind coffee (the various later experiments in this direction proved to be unsuccessful), but to grind wheat or oats for the horses . The ingenuity of the system and its unusual aesthetics meant that the Sharps "Coffee Mill" was remade in the 19th century.