it is the C.S.A Whitworth sharp shooter rifle ..
this was probably the most feared and infamous rifle of the war ,except for the Henry Repeater 44 rimfire , but we will get to the Henry later , now for the Whitworth , most of you are probably more familiar with it than i am , but here is what i know , designed by Whitworth , made in England ,bought privately by the C.S.A for the sharpshooter regiment , a long range target rifle with a polygonal bore that shot a special 45 cal , 450 to 500 grain hexagonal bullet at extreme distances with great precision , maximum effective range 1500 meters , velocity 2,000 plus FPS, i don't know what the standard charge was , but i have read accounts of the sharpshooters using 150 to 200 grains of 2 fg powder , locked down on a machine rest the rifle was capable of 1 and a half inch groups at 400 meters , the bullet could be shot at very high velocity because there was no rifling in the bore to strip , they came in a boxed set with all the tools and i am pretty sure they could be ordered with a optional full length 2 or 3 power scope , i have seen original drawings of the civil war where the artist portrayed the rifle as having a full length brass scope , sharpshooters were sent out with regular infantry to provide cover fire and support , and they were also sent on special undercover operations to just blatantly assassinate persons of high command within the Union army , they would disassemble the rifle , hide it in a gunny sack or something similar , change out of their uniform into civilian clothes , make their way across enemy lines , eliminate the target and escape , this was highly dangerous work because any soldier that was caught out of uniform was immediately executed , it has even been said that at one such battle President lincoln commanded the troops personally and a Reb sharpshooter took a shot at him at 1,000 plus yards and missed and hit the Presidents hat, a second shot rang out as William Seward knocked the president to the ground , the Whitworth is probably the first sniper rifle , as a union general coined the saying ;
{ those Darn Reb Snipers with those Darn Reb Sniper rifles } after having to promote Sargent's to replace all the officers the sharpshooters shot down at one battle,
i might add i think those English make one fine rifle ..
