The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

I was searching for something else when this caught my eye.

WOW.

Alpha, you took the words right out of my mouth...

'Wow' for sure, but perhaps with added 'Ouch' - that looks like a fairly substantial calibre!

Reading a bit more they could be anywhere between .48 and .68 and typically weighed 30-35lbs so over 15kgs. Apparently they were used at some serious distances as well. I would give one house room!

I didn't know that either the Roundheads or Royalists used percussion cap guns during the Civil War, seems they hadn't been developed then, to my knowledge at least.

Could it be a Whitworth Rifle?

http://www.americancivilwarstory.com/wh ... rifle.html

No it is not.

It is a bench rest gun, when sharpshooter units, like Berdans, were being formed many of the soldiers were civilian marksmen and they came to the army with their own target rifles which did some sterling work.

These heavy benchrest guns were very accurate but not practical for lugging around in the field they were known as "the heavies", these civilian guns were replaced as soon as could be with regulation issue firearms, some of which were Whitworths.

Bench rest guns could still be used in fixed positions for specific applications if they were available but as I have said they were all private property and never government issue.

They usually came with a false muzzle for loading the projectile, which would usually be conical and paper patched.

Saw that one, or one very much like it, in the Gettysburg museum. I'll try and grab a still from the video I took when I was there.

worth a read

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Muzzle-Loading- ... 0935632964

some of these were seriously accurate