The Whitworth was widely considered to have been the first rifle used for true sniping. They were reportedly accurate up to 1,800 yards or more. At shorter distances, such as 500 yards, the Whitworth was far more accurate with tighter groupings than the Enfield rifles of the time thanks to its hexagonal rifling using specially fitted bullets in the shape of the rifling; both of which were originally patented by Sir Joseph Whitworth. The Whitworth rifle was successfully used by British marksmen in competition, but is most famously known for its use by Confederate sharpshooters during the Civil War, of which only approximately 250 Whitworth rifles are believed to been sold to the Confederate Army in total. The small amount of these rifles in use by Confederate sharpshooters took out multiple Union officers and were well known and feared. Union General Sedgwick fell victim to a head shot from a sniper using a Whitworth rifle on May 8th, 1864. Shortly before General Sedgwick was killed, he scolded some of his men for ducking gun fire, telling them that "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." This rifle has a replacement fixed blade front sight with detachable hood, ladder rear sight graduated up to 1,100 yards, "WHITWORTH PATENT" marked on top of the barrel ahead of the rear sight, Birmingham proofs and "52" bore markings on the left of the breech, "Crown/W" marked at the tail of the lock and "WHITWORTH" marked at the front of the lock, a half cock safety mechanism, smooth trigger, full length walnut stock, and sling swivels located on the middle barrel band and tail of the trigger guard tang. Small letters "PRESTON" stamped on the bottom left of the middle and rear barrel bands. Letters "GER" stamped into the left stock flat. "415" marked on the inside of the lock and inside of the patch box door. "413" marked on the underside of the hammer.

Very good with mottled brown patina on the barrel with some patches of moderate pitting towards the muzzle end, smooth gray and brown patina on the lock and patch box, and sharp markings in the metal overall. Stock is fine as lightly sanded and re-oiled with scattered light scratches and moderate dings, a few areas of stain dripping, mostly defined checkering with some light wear, and a few repaired chips at the toe. Mechanically excellent.