I'd agree with that opinion - that it is a widely held opinion, not necessarily an accurate one.   

Most Schuetzen is done with Ballards, High/Low wall Winchesters, Stevens, and similar central hammer rifle with faster lock times.   

Semitraditionalists branch out to Martinis (oooh that should draw some fire), and nontraditionalist shoot things like Ruger #1s and other strange actions.   

Brent

Hello Richard:  I'ld personally like to welcome you to the American Single Shot Rifle Association (ASSRA) on behalf of the Leadership and Members.  I am glad to hear that you are just getting your feet wet in the single shot side of marksmanship and happy that you found the ASSRA.  I would, however, encourage you to instead; "just jump in" , the water is fine.

You will note that our organization is NOT the American Single Shot ______(fill in your brand name)____ Rifle Association.  Lots of folks would fill in "Winchester, Ballard, Maynard, Sharps, Stevens, Peabody, F.Wesson, etc.,etc." or whatever their individual preference might happen to be.  But that's not what the original organizers of this great organization decided upon when they came together to form an organization (association) for the betterment of single shot rifle shooters.

Please don't let these other shooter's personal preferences get in your way of enjoying the sport with whatever you decide is right for you to shoot.   

I believe that I would be much more endearing towards the shooter of a $7k Ballard, who could put aside his personal preference to his Ballard and help me, a lowley Newbie, get started with my $800 Ruger No. 1.

What ever you show up with (hardware), I for one would be glad to see you on the line and shoot along side you.

With best regards,
Harry M. Pope, Jr.

In Memory of Mr. H.M. Pope, 1861-1950

If I were you, I would start by asking myself : What is it that I want?

do you want the Sharps because it is a famous buffalo gun, powerful, with accuracy and long range, and because Quigley used one? those are all good reasons, and if that is what you want, buy a Sharps. I have two and I like them a lot. It is NOT the ideal Schuetzenfest gun, BUT: it qualifies as a Schuetzen gun so you can shoot a Schuetzen match with it. It makes a great hunting rifle. You can shoot buffalo cross-sticks matches with it (assumming the caliber qualifies), and you can shoot BPCR with it. In fact, you can shoot just about any centerfire rifle match with it except rapid fire high power.
If you want a rifle that would be good enough to consistently win in Schuetzen matche, the 1874 would probably not be the best choice. I have won a few medals with mine, but for some reason you just dont see many on the firing line in tradidional Schuetzen competition. 
If the Sharps is what interests you, then buy the Sharps and practice as much as you can. If it doesnt equal your expectations, then you can try something else. just my opinon, fwiw. Joe S

The Sharps wasn't popular for schuetzen matches in it's day, and still isn't. But I sure wouldn't care, if it was what I liked and wanted to give it a try! Welcome!

IMO, it kinda depends on why you want to shoot. If what you enjoy is to be ABLE to shoot along with good people and compete against yourself, to see how much you personally can improve, then shoot what you have or enjoy shooting. If you need to win to enjoy the sport, then it is a whole different matter. Not everyone (me included) is capable of winning. Most of us place somewhere down the list at the end of the day. That doesn't mean we get any less enjoyment from participating. For me, any day spent doing something which allows me the satisfaction of shooting old single shots is a good day. And if the rifle I happen to be shoting gives me particularpleasure, all the better.

Couple of years ago I went to a BP SASS Clinic run by a rather famous person in the Long range and rifle building world.  Well I showed up with my new 45-70 74 Sharps and was looking forward to learning all about long range shooting. The first thing the instructor said was " I like to see people show up who have already lost by the choice of their rifles". I did not enjoy the rest of the class, but I still shoot and enjoy my Sharps even if it is not a Hepburn or Ballard.  Any well made gun in the hand of a good shot will win. I shoot buffalo matches with the sharps and long range with an original Peabody Creedmore 44-100. Both kick my butt by the end of the day, so for Schuetzen I would go with one of my martinis in a smaller caliber. Match the gun to the sport and to what you can shoot well and to heck with what people think.

Blacksmith, if your Sharps is either a Pedersoli or Shiloh then that 'instructor' was either quite ignorant or else very stupid or probably both. Pedersoli and Shiloh barrels and rifles are both very readily capable of winning any, repeat ANY, BPCR match in this country, period, end of discussion. The truth of this statement has been proven many hundreds (actually thousands) of times in the last 10-15 years, and is really not open to debate by any knowledgeable folks.

Obviously the 'instructor' was not very knowledgeable, besides being quite rude.

Would you care to share his identity?
Inquiring minds..........regards, Joe