I'm going to throw my opinion in here but before I do I want everyone to know that I am not insulting anybody's gun.  I'm just voicing my opinion based on my limited experience.

I've owned a C.Sharps 1875 and handled a few 1874's and 1885's from them.  I was always disappointed.  Basically I think they are ugly.  The wood seems to be at least a grade or two below everyone else's wood and they put a very dull finish on it that makes it look even worse.  The flats on their octagon barrels all have rounded edges, maybe even by design.  The inletting on my '75 was mediocre.  I could go on but you get the point.  Notice I didn't say anything about how they worked, shot, etc...  Obviously I am not an expert and this is based on a small sample size but that is my experience and my opinion.

That's interesting chawk.   I would say that on all but one of my C. Sharps rifles, the inletting is as good as my Shilohs.  I agree with you on the wood, and the rounded octagon "flats".  i do like the way mine look, but most of mine have extra fancy wood.

I've always had good dealings with the people at C. Sharps, although the customer service at Shiloh is on an entirely different level.  In my experience, the only company that does as well on customer service is CPA.

To me the deciding factor is accuracy.  My Shiloh Sharps rifles will out-shoot my out of the box C. Sharps rifles.   

Chris.

Brian Chilson, our many, many, many time national BPCR champion (this year with scope, for instance) and holder of many, if not most, records (13 chickens, anyone?) shoots a C. Sharps. He performs about the same in ,22BPCR (think he won irons this year) and also shoots a C. Sharps there, as well. And, he holds the nat'l record for 800/900/1000yd with his C. Sharps, as well. Brian once told me that he puts about 11,000 rounds down the barrel of his BPCR rifle and the same down the barrel of his .22 rifle each year. He seems to be pretty happy with C. Sharps as he has been shooting them for ~20yr. Can't ask much more of your rifles.