That's cool bronko... always liked the looks of those Sharps rifles. Hiram Berdan, the man who founded (and funded) the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters during the Civil War, chose the Sharps rifle for it's accuracy and reliability. He was a wealthy businessman at the onset of the war but he was also an avid shooter and firearms enthusiast.

He wouldn't allow just anyone to become a part of his unit. The men who enlisted into the Berdan Sharpshooters had to qualify at ranges up to 500 (I believe) yards to make the grade. The rifles his 1st U.S. Sharpshooters carried were single shot rifles that used a paper cartridge loaded at the breech. He was from Phelps NY, a little over an hour north of where I live.

BPS