Experimental rifles

[ResearchPress]

Continued from "Military Small-bore Rifles" thread;

KanawhaRanger wrote:

What amazes me is the fact that Whitworth wasn't even an Ordnance engineer or designer to start with... I would like to shoot that smallbore he built with a 1 turn in 1" twist!

David wrote:

I don't know whether that rifle still survives, but in the NRA Museum at Bisley, Surrey, England, there is an original Whitworth with a 60" barrel!

KanawhaRanger wrote:

Do you know if any of the extremely rare .564 cal. with the 1 in 25 twist bores still exist?

Can't answer the last question, but I know someone who may be able to. I might see him at the weekend so will ask.

As an aside, and concerning other interesting rifles...

In 1865 and 1866 the NRA in Great Britain held two rifle matches at the extreme range of 2000 yards. A rifle designed by William Metford and manufactured by George Gibbs was the only successful rifle in the competitions.

Only two of these .50 cal rifles were built. They weighed 15lb. and a bullet weighing 700 grains was used, with a powder charge of 150 grains. The angle of elevation of the rifle used was about 5 deg. 15 min. and, according to Metford, the speed of the bullet fell, in 2000 yards, from 1470ft per second, to 600, or even less. The rifle was fitted with a telescope sight.

One of these rifles is in the NRA museum in Bisley, and the other at the Royal Armouries, Leeds.

A friend has built a repro of one of these, copied from that held at Bisley. Having fired it I can see why the experiments weren't continued and the War Office took up the subject, mounting wheels on such guns and calling them light artillery! ::

What other interesting experimental or limited run muzzle loaders do we know about?

David

 

[Pittsburghunter]

What about scopes? When did they come into play?

What rifles shot with them?

 

[ResearchPress]

Don't know much about the history of telescope sights, but David Davidson, from near Edinburgh, Scotland, has a patent dated 19 December 1862 for "Improvements in the Construction of Telescopes, and in the Method of Arranging and Fixing the Same in Combination with Fire-arms, for the Purpose of Adjustming the Aim Thereof".

He was working in the field before that, and an Apparatus for Pointing Ordnance is illustrated on the front cover of Mechanics' Magazine, dated 20 October 1855.

The Davidson scope saw limited use on Whitworth rifles in the Amercian Civil War.

Viscount Bury in his 1864 "Manual of Rifling and Fifle Sights" illustrates a telescope sight designed by the American J.R. Chapman (c1848), plus those of Metford and Davidson. There are also detailed description of each.

David