That is that when loading a round it doesn't mar or mess up the end of the barrel or rifling
Mr. UCV you are so close, but not quite right. That "removeable barrel extension thingy" is simply the end of the barrel.
The end of the octagon barrel of the above target rifle was mounted on a lathe and turned round so the false muzzle would fit over it, thus centering the false muzzle over the barrel.
A bullet would be inserted into the false muzzle and a plunger-type device would be place over the false muzzle and the plunger would then be pushed and the bullet would then be pushed into the bore. A short ram rod might be used to push the bullet farther down the bore, and then a longer ramrod would be used to push the bullet down to the breach. All of this was done to make sure the bullet was loaded concentric to the bore, to engrave rifling into the bullet, and to protect the end of the rifling at the end of bore from wear. The bullets in the rifles were of an elongated type similar to modern projectiles, therefore the need to make sure it was concentric to the bore. The ramrod in the above pictured rifle is more than likely used to clean the bore of the rifle after a shot was taken rather than being used for loading. The ramrod used for loading was pretty stout with a handle at the end.
5-6 years ago, we had a gentleman come on this forum and showed us his ancestor's target rifle. If my memory serves me (less and less these days), his ancestor was a Berdan Sharpshooter and the rifle the gentleman had was his ancestor's privately purchased rifle. The most highly unusual thing about his ancestor's rifle was, that in addition to the rifle and scope, he had all of the accoutrements that went with the rifle. There was a couple of different type of bullet molds, a false muzzle and short starter, a tin of caps, I mean everything that one would need to not only shoot the rifle, but the tools needed to maintain the rifle. Even the wooden case used to ship the rifle was included. I don't think the gentleman realized what he had. I have no idea what a scoped target rifle like that would be worth, but when you also have everything that was needed to shoot and maintain it included, I wouldn't be surprised that the value was doubled.
Below is a Morgan James target rifle with the short starter inserted on the barrel. Notice that it has a "post" or short handle of some type on the top. The purpose of this "post" is a safety devise to block the sights of the rifle so as to remind the shooter to remove the false muzzle before shooting the rifle.
To the O.P.; I tried to find some information on Charles Dieckow of Utica, NY and all I could find was that he was a gun maker in Utica from around 1860-1881 and that information is credited from the "Mike D'Ambra" collection, which might be where your rifle came from.
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