Thanks for all of the comments. I've been reading Baker, Selous, and the like for years, which is what originally got me interested in these old guns. I love researching and reading about the men who used and needed such arms. Since those days are gone forever, the next best thing to do in my mind is to go out into the field once in a while and experience them first hand. I consider myself lucky to be able to walk in their shoes for a brief while.

Also, I never cease to be amazed at the skill and ingenuity of the men who made guns like this. This rifle has a 3/4" wide rib painstakingly filed on the barrel (the cross section is like a teardrop with the point filed flat), and when I mounted the gun in the dark it immediately dawned on me that that was exactly the reason for it.

Finally, I sincerely hope that another hundred or two years from now someone else will still be hunting with guns like this and appreciate them as much as I do, and think about the sights they've seen.

Bob