Arguably, the English Whitworth rifle was the first purpose built, long range muzzleloading rifle. With it's hexagonal bore, helical hexagonal bullet, paper patch and custom sights, it was lethal out to 1000yds when the average military musket could barely make it that far. Whitworth sold his rifles in England to any and all with the cash to afford his high tech rifle and one of the early purchasers was the Confederate States of America. The Confederacy is said to have purchased about 400+ Whitworth rifles and of those shipped, only about 250 made it through the Federal blockade. In the hands of Confederates snipers, this was a highly effective tool. The 45cal Whitworth bullet makes a particular type of whistle in flight and is distinctive from any other contemporary projectile. At the battle of Spotsylvania, Union General John Sedgewick was attempting to rally his men who were taking cover from incoming Confederate sniper fire. Gen Sedgewick boldly stood upright and proclaimed that "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance". No sooner had those words been uttered when a Whitworth whistle was heard and Gen Sedgewick was shot through the head at a distance of nearly 800yds. Today, the Whitworth still has a legendary status among those knowledgeable of long distance shooting. An original Whitworth with Confederate provenance is extremely rare and examples have been sold for more than $150,000.
A friend of mine has a replica Whitworth and he wanted a case for it like it would have come with as shipped to the Confederate military. I researched it and there are surviving civilian examples in England. I copied one of those and adjusted the measurements to fit his replica Whitworth. Another friend did some digital magic on a jpg of an original label like in the top of an original case. Wood is locally harvested NC red oak. Partitions are locally harvested NC poplar. Perimeter inlay is black walnut reclaimed from a NC tobacco barn known to be built in the 1870s so the walnut tree was alive during the Civil War.
First pic is an original Whitworth in it's case with tools and supplies.
Original-
My replica-
A friend of mine has a replica Whitworth and he wanted a case for it like it would have come with as shipped to the Confederate military. I researched it and there are surviving civilian examples in England. I copied one of those and adjusted the measurements to fit his replica Whitworth. Another friend did some digital magic on a jpg of an original label like in the top of an original case. Wood is locally harvested NC red oak. Partitions are locally harvested NC poplar. Perimeter inlay is black walnut reclaimed from a NC tobacco barn known to be built in the 1870s so the walnut tree was alive during the Civil War.
First pic is an original Whitworth in it's case with tools and supplies.
Original-
My replica-
