Hi Bill, Rick, & Charles,
With regard to that sniper rifle, below is the pic of the description (sorry for the blurry photo) -- it's a .44 caliber Morgan James target rifle.
The description reads:
Morgan James Target Rifle,
Caliber .44
Cadet military training included familiarity with the most modern equipment and designs. Therefore, in January 1860, Lt. Holabird, Adjutant of the U.S. Military Academy, wrote to Morgan James of Utica, N.Y., and ordered this rifle fully equipped with telescope sight and loading tool for $95.00.
The original order states, "It may be well to remark that this gun of yours is to be placed in the Model and Small Arms Room (today known as the West Point Museum) at the Military Academy as a specimen of the Improved American Rifle, and also to be fired in comparison with others of different designs and principals."
Muzzleloading rifles of this type were intended to be civilian target arms, but many were used during the Civil War by sharpshooters for long range sniping. As an example of their accuracy, a full-size facsimile of a target shot by Morgan James in 1859 is shown here. He fired using a rest to support the rifle at a distance of 220 yards. The shot outside the circle was the sighting shot, after which he adjusted the telescope and fired nine shots.
I also found this photo I took of a Bristish-American musket, as well as a series of photos on the Brewster-Heller body armor.
This post is off-topic, and am just posting it just the same in view of the queries on the sniper rifle.
Thank you.
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