Congradulations on your retirement. I am sure anyone who survived 39 years in a Corporate environment deserves it..:)
As a long time Shiloh owner( since the late 1980's) I have the following advice.
Ditch the glass bedded forend. It's not needed given Shiloh's stock fitting and will do NOTHING to make the rifle shoot better. That 1" thick octagon barrel is as stout as a truck axle...The forend really has no effect ot on it.
Instead put that $$ toward the pewter forend tip. It's beautifully done on the Shilohs and is really a feature unique to Sharps rifles.
You will thank me later.
Thanks for the Congratulations.
Half that time was union, the other half salary. (I've had 7 careers, Machinist, Tool Maker, Tool Designer, NC Programmer, NC Machinist, Engineering application analyst, and IT project manager all at the same company.)
Regarding the pewter forend tip, that's something of an opinion. I think it looks hideous but then again, I collect and shoot old wooden rifles and I like traditional wooden schnabbles.
Regarding glass bedding, do you have any data to back up the 'no effect' on bedding the barrel or just word of mouth. That's something I did considering canning but I've not found any data to prove that it doesn't work.
