Whitworth Sporting Rifle

[learntoshoot]

Where would I start to gather information on a Whitworth Sporting Rifle? .451 Caliber. Hexagonal bore. Traditional lock. Maybe made in the late 1850's.

 

[ResearchPress]

Where would I start to gather information on a Whitworth Sporting Rifle? .451 Caliber. Hexagonal bore. Traditional lock. Maybe made in the late 1850's.

I manage a database of over 700 original Whitworth rifles, collated as part of the Whitworth Research Project. Message me here, or email via the linked page, and let me know the rifle serial number - the earliest just had a serial number, later ones the number will have letter before the numbers (B-F). I can check the database to see if the rifle has been previously recorded, and give you a good idea of when the rifle was manufactured.

It's always helpful to be able to document (or update records) for original Whitworth rifles.

David

 

[learntoshoot]

I manage a database of over 700 original Whitworth rifles, collated as part of the Whitworth Research Project. Message me here, or email via the linked page, and let me know the rifle serial number - the earliest just had a serial number, later ones the number will have letter before the numbers (B-F). I can check the database to see if the rifle has been previously recorded, and give you a good idea of when the rifle was manufactured.

It's always helpful to be able to document (or update records) for original Whitworth rifles.

David

Thank you, David. Can I PM you?

 

[ResearchPress]

Thank you, David. Can I PM you?

Yes, please do.

David

 

[learntoshoot]

Well nuts, can't seem to get the PM to go through. So here's a picture. Will you email me at: [email protected] and I'll give you more info.

Thanks.

 

[ResearchPress]

Well nuts, can't seem to get the PM to go through. So here's a picture. Will you email me at: [email protected] and I'll give you more info.

Thanks.

Email sent. Looking forward to hearing from you.

David

 

[Rancocas]

After you two get it figured out, the rest of us sure would like to know some of the info about the rifle.
Beautiful rifle!

 

[Stykbow]

Yeah, what he said!

 

[Relic shooter]

Beautiful & very rare & desirable set you have !
Your Whitworth sporting rifle has much prettier wood & overall finish than the military grade rifle I owned, does your set include the mold ?
About 45 years ago I owned & shot a cased fullstocked Whitworth marked Best Grade in excellent condition & performed well beyond 100 yds, still have a few of the bolts/slugs it used.

 

[learntoshoot]

Hello Relic Shooter,
Yes, I have a bullet mould that throws a round, hollow base bullet. Also numerous accoutrements and the ramrod. Here are some more pictures.

 

[Relic shooter]

Are you sure that the mold cavity doesn't replicate shape of the bore ?

My cased Whitworth lacked the mold so I often fired 'round' sized & lubed cloth soft cast lead 460 grain patched Pope styled 460 grain bullets in my rifle with decent results & always used a thick card wad over the powder to avoid damage to the bullets base.
Almost forgot that I still had these slugs around, amazing the amount of 'stuff' we antique firearm fanatics acquire
PHOTOS;
The long .45 cal Pope mold slugs cast by a vintage Ideal Mold had 14 lube grooves allowing it to conform pretty well to the rifling when fired.
I didn't have access to a barrel section off an early Parker Hale Whitworth so I sometimes purchased Whitworth slugs from Ned Roberts that were shaped to the bore & had a hollow based.
I think Roberts may have swedged these bullets to obtain a perfect fit with the paper-patching.
P.S. I'll try to PM you to see if that helps.
Relic shooter,, now I'm the relic

 

[learntoshoot]

I sent you an email with a couple more pictures.

 

[ResearchPress]

Are you sure that the mold cavity doesn't replicate shape of the bore ?

Whitworth cased sets are sometimes found with moulds, and there were two types made, cylidrical and hexagonal. Moulds are also numbered, but not to the rifle.

Some further info. on my web site: Whitworth moulds (original).

David

 

[Relic shooter]

Whitworth cased sets are sometimes found with moulds, and there were two types made, cylidrical and hexagonal. Moulds are also numbered, but not to the rifle.

Some further info. on my web site: Whitworth moulds (original).

David

David I believe you may be correct in that both round & hexagonal slugs were used in Whitworths.

Having spent several decades shooting & casting round balls & slugs for my odd caliber originals, I can imagine that users the poorly designed Whitworth mold shown with the tiny handles, the user would suffer significant burns once it acquired the proper temperature to produce a flawless projectile.
I think some the shaped Whitworth projectiles I had purchased to shoot in my Whitworth had actually been swaged to eliminate any flaws.
As previously mentioned I also fired cast round projectiles of soft lead with 14 deep lube grooves & obtained decent accuracy.
Possible coincidence follow-up;
During the late 70's I sold & delivered the cased best grade Whitworth that I owned of the same configuration to a gentleman in the Atlanta area. Due to the rarity of scoped Whitworths it's likely I handled the same rifle pictured in the link you provided. As I recall he owned 2 additional examples.
I was fascinated to also see an original Civil War artillery piece resting in same second story gallery along with a couple hundred mostly Civil War era firearms. He stated that he had the upper level floor reinforced & front of the room removed so a crane could place the canon, it's carriage & limber in place.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge, never too old to learn.
Chuck

 

[ResearchPress]

David I believe you may be correct in that both round & hexagonal slugs were used in Whitworths.

Whitworth’s own loading instructions refer to cylindrical bullets - “The cylindrical form of projectile is the best for general use. It is 530 grains in weight and is wrapped with paper.“

Whitworth moulds were made in both hexagonal and cylindrical form, bullets and cartridges were also made in both forms.

David

 

[ResearchPress]

During the late 70's I sold & delivered the cased best grade Whitworth that I owned of the same configuration to a gentleman in the Atlanta area.

George W. Wray perhaps? From your further notes sounds possible - his collection ended up in the Atlanta History Centre. The Centre sold several Whitworths in 2019, that had no connection with the Civil War. Amongst those sold was a cased sporting rifle like the one pictured above.

David

 

[Relic shooter]

George W. Wray perhaps? From your further notes sounds possible - his collection ended up in the Atlanta History Centre. The Centre sold several Whitworths in 2019, that had no connection with the Civil War. Amongst those sold was a cased sporting rifle like the one pictured above.

David

Good eye David !!
Yes, George is the gent that ended up with my Whitworth.
Really nice fellow, hope he is still with us & doing well, if so must be in his 90s.

I was curious if the description of George's gun room would rattle an old memory.
Can't recall if I sent this rifle's serial number & info into the Registry I'll sort through some old documents & photos on the rifle & see if I can locate the serial number to verify it's travels..
I acquired the rifle from a fellow collector at a Texas gun show, traded him a nice Sharps Berdan sniper rifle with double set triggers for it.
Not sure who came out on top of that transaction but I was deeply into accuracy & specialized collecting mostly European & English muzzleloading firearms.
Chuck aka Relic shooter

 

[ResearchPress]

Can't recall if I sent this rifle's serial number & info into the Registry I'll sort through some old documents & photos on the rifle & see if I can locate the serial number to verify it's travels..

Yes, it would be interesting to know. I have details of all the Whitworth rifles that were in the George W. Wray collection. BTW, there’s a book called ‘Confederate Odyssey’ that covers the George W. Wray collection at the Atlanta History Centre. Author was Gordon L. Jones.

David

 

[Relic shooter]

Correction on the Whitworth;
David the cased Whitworth I sold to George was a military styled full stock with chequered wrist & forearm & was inscribed Best Grade.
Just realized the photo you enclosed was a half stock example.
Relic shooter

Yes, it would be interesting to know. I have details of all the Whitworth rifles that were in the George W. Wray collection. BTW, there’s a book called ‘Confederate Odyssey’ that covers the George W. Wray collection at the Atlanta History Centre. Author was Gordon L. Jones.

David

Thanks David

 

[52Bore]

Very nice rifle and cased set…
I was just recently sharing photos of Whitworth displays, including a pair of sporting rifles.. on FB.
Good timing..
Glad to see another.