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Originally Posted by Rick
First picture .
Is that a Sniper's rifle from the Civil War ?
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The period is right. It is not an Enfield. Looks like a Whitworth or a Baker. Could be a Civil War sniper. Sight tube is a little smaller diameter than usual. I'd love to have one.
I am looking at buying a Civil War sniper rifle that weighs 35 pounds. This is much heavier than an average target/sniper rifle.
One of the problems with the sight tubes was in that recoil in a light weight rifle would often give the guy sighting down the tube, a black eye. The heavier guns had less recoil, but were, of course harder to carry.
Black powder had a limit of how fast it could push a bullet. Smokeless was superior in pushing bullets faster and also did not give away the sniper's position.
Prone snipers using black powder would fire and roll away from the smoke because the other side would open fire at the smoke cloud, hoping to get lucky.