If you had watched "Top Shots" on TV - you could have seen the accuracy of the Sharps. These guys were tops marksmen/women and most of them couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with it. It didn't seem to hit consistent. But - they were used to modern firearms. I've never shot a Sharps and I have to believe that some of the fellows on here that have them are probably pretty good with them - but like anything, it takes practice, practice, practice.
In regards to the rifled muskets - many years ago I was part of a shooting competition at Camp Grayling, Michigan. We were shooting on the 1,000 meter machine gun range at pop up/down targets that were about 2" X 4'. We could shoot any Civil War musket/rifle/carbine - total time 1 hour and as many shots that we wanted. We were tow man teams taking turns at being shooter/spotter. I was shooting and Enfield that belonged to my partner and he was shooting a Mississippi Rifle. We both did pretty well on the 2 X 4 foot targets up to about 600 yards once we figured out the wind and the elevation we need to make the minies drop onto the target. At 1,000 meters, they had a full size horse with a rider cut out of 3/8 " steel. It was a temptation to us all and we took shots at it once in a while. Not too many fellas hit it with a rifled musket. One fellow had a Henry rifle though and you could hear the "pings" - once he got his range and windage, he did very well. In comparision, one of my friends tried out his Smith carbine. He is an excellent shot but he couldn't hit shinola beyond 200 yards with it. Like anything else, the various models will be as accurate as the shooter and if they know their weapon, they can do a lot better than the "average joe". As the saying goes . . . "beware of the man who shoots just one gun".
