This beautiful rifle is the product of frontier gunsmith Peter Bergersen of Cheyenne, Wyoming. He came west working on the UPPR as a guard and gunsmith. He opened his shop in 1879 down the street from the Freund Bros. He not only was a top notch gunsmith but also a inventor and held multiple patent's. He also was a member of the Cheyenne Rifle Club where he set multiple World records. He was called to testify as a expert witness in the Tom Horn trial. For a time he also took on the job of City Marshall. He was a ardent bicycle rider and was killed while riding to work in 1930 at age 79 after being hit by a truck..
This beautiful gun may well have been Peter Bergersen's personal target rifle. It's basically a 1874 Sharps in which he replaced the Sharps barrel with his own. The barrel is in .40-70 cal. and is signed P. Bergersen on it's top flat. The bore is beautiful as you would expect. The gun had a tang peep sight at one time which has been replaced with a Wm. Malcolm long range sight the optic's of which are very good. The stock is beautiful with the exception of a scratch on the right butt stock. The checkering is at the wrist is still very sharp and crisp. The lock and receiver retain most of their original case colors . The barrel has 90%+ of it's original blue finish. A wonderful piece of western history!
I've got a pretty extensive file that contains pictures of him wearing his Lawman badge and another of him holding a Winchester while dressed in Frontier garb. Also, some business ads.
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