It's safe. July here, no fire needed now. Keeping it where I can admire it.   

Gorgeous rifle, Joe; but I'd bet that buttplate soon plays havoc with the shooter's shoulder, even at 26-1/2 pounds.

Also. I agree that the lines suggest Whitmore's style.  The briefest of internet searches turned up this information about Whitmore:

Born at Mansfield, Mass., in 1829, and learned the trade in his father's shop. Worked for Sharps Rifle Co. and Remington. Died in Eastondale, Mass., in 1917.  Maker of heavy barrel, muzzle loading, percussion, target rifles with set triggers.

Several of the Whitmore guns I've seen have been quite fancy, especially for target guns.  In fact, if I remember correctly, his most famous gun is a superb cased and accessorized rife that was gifted to Gen. Grant; it's now in the Smithsonian, I believe.

Bill Lawrence

Bill, sure you're not referencing Nathaniel Whitemore? 

There was more than one Whitmore and one Whitemore.

I'm not going by lines but rather details in rifling profile, trigger and trigger guards and pipes. I have a marked Whitmore rifle to compare this one to. In Ned Roberts book is illustrated a similar rifle to my marked Whitmore. Ned lists it as, "N Angel". 

Trying to nail down the makers of unmarked pieces can be very frustrating. To add to the frustration is the "Webster" stamped under N Whitmore. Owner? Dealer?

If the rifle was held to the shoulder at all, it was placed at the junction of the shoulder and bicep.  Same as an offhand Schuetzen rifle.

I've also seen a Nathaniel L Whitmore.   

Text from, American Firearms Makers, by A Merwyn Carey.

Gives me a headache after while.

How does that flat-base picket ball work with a cloth patch?  I thought that was part of the reason for swaging the base to be hemispherical.

Poor Joe; this is obviously getting to you, but I'll try again.

Whitmore, not Whitemore, made Grant's gun.  I rather suspect "Whitemore" is someone's typographical error.

At various times, Nathaniel John Whitmore used the stamps "Nathaniel J. Whitmore", "N. Whitmore", and "N. J. Whitmore" - i.e., they're all the same person.

Finally, to give you an even bigger headache, the stamp "N. & N. G. Whitmore" is the father-son team of Nathaniel John and Nathaniel Gilbert.

But don't worry so much about it; just enjoy your really great rifle.

Bill Lawrence

The bullet pictured earlier in this thread, is from a mold I re-cut. I picked the wrong mold to re-cut and didn't do a very good job doing it. Got the diameter correct for a linen patch however. 

I made the bullet longer than the typical picket bullet of long ago to get more bearing surface. The rifle shoots the lumpy out of round bullet surprisingly well with no tipping. 

Sounds like you have a great outfit, Waterman.  Going to post pictures?

My old friend Ted Thoreson told me that a picket bullet can be extremely accurate once you get everything down prefect. Told me they like to be pushed hard and fast.