Sharps NM 1863 carbine question

[moleary]

I have an 1863 Sharps carbine with a worn SN and looking for help with dating it. Pix below show what I think is the "C" (100,000) mark in front of the numbers, as well as remnant of another digit at the end. Anyone agree/disagree? It has an iron patch box and I can't find anywhere if the patch boxes were an option throughout the NM1863 production range, or only at the beginning before they were removed? Any thoughts welcome!

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