Sharps firing pins

[klw]

I've long heard that the firing pins on the cartridge sharps are easily broken.  Is that true?

[Capt. John Fitzgerald]

Yes, if the gun is improperly handled.  You have to remember to ALWAYS bring the hammer back to the safety notch before opening the breach.  This will prevent damage to the firing pin.
The Sharps is a great gun - neat looking, lots of history behind it (I own a Shiloh #3) but it is my humble opinion that if John Browning had invented the 1885 high wall a few years earlier, no one would have given the Sharps a second look.

[Fox Creek Kid]

The Sharps firing pin is a dogleg and a machinst's nightmare. I carry a spare.  The 1885 just had a propensity for blowing firing pins, sometimes into a shooter's face. 

[Montana Slim]

I haven't handled all the availabe varieties of replica & originals...but note they all don't have the same "parts"....some incorporate a camming, mechanical FP retractor (as the breech is lowered) and may use a spring-loaded, 2-piece firing pin with it...which negates positive retraction of the FP (ala Pedersoli "sharps"). The result, if not retracted is either dragging the FP thru the cartridge brass, or particularly in the one-piece designs, breaking the FP.

Slim