P.S.

If you really, really, really want to bore yourself (ha, ha, ha, play on words!), here's a video of my view down the barrel with a bore scope.

The video begins with the scope all the way down to the breech end, with an unfired brass case in the chamber. I wanted to check the fit of the brass. You can see that I hadn't even chamfered the mouth of the brass case.

Next you will see the most beautiful hand-lapped barrel from 1880. Try scoping a modern barrel for comparison.

NitroX, you asked about this rifle's external condition. It just didn't get used the past 142 years. The bore testifies to the rifle's as new condition.

The video (very large file): Bore Scope Video of Sharps 1878 Long Range Rifle #20863

Curly