Shooting the War

ARMS AND ARMOUR
Guns and Pistols
Old firearms arc popular collector’s items, and no olde oake beame type of pub or cafe worth its salt feels fully decorated without weapons on its walls, so good ones are expensive; nevertheless one sometimes comes across old guns and pistols in junk shops and these can be in pretty bad condition. It is usually possible to mend and clean these things and make them look very decorative; by spending money they can be restored to near perfection, and you can even fire them if you dare. For really careful restoration, try to find a picture of a gun like yours or a similar actual weapon in a museum, which you can copy.
As a first step make sure that any gun you buy is not loaded. It is not ridiculous to suggest that an old pistol which has been knocking about for years could be loaded, for it has happened, and even ancient gunpowder will explode violently. Gently insert a wooden rod or dowel into the muzzle and when it will go no further make a pencil mark. Withdraw the rod and lay it alongside the barrel with the pencil mark by the muzzle and the point at which the barrel is blocked can be exactly gauged. The powder must be carefully removed. If you have a shotgun
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the cleaning rod wch goes with will it wiprobably have a cap on the end which unscrews to reveal a screw tip. Screw this gently into the charge in the old gun and remove it like a cork. Failing a cleaning rod, an ordinary screw welded to a piece of stiff wire would do just as well. After this the barrel should be washed out with warm water and thoroughly dried.
Unless the gun is really terribly rusted, or contrariwise is in excellent condition, it is probably best to strip it down into its component parts, just as one would when cleaning a modern gun. Normally the lock is removed first by unscrewing it from the stock. First remove the screw which holds the cock (in the flintlock) or hammer (in the percussion lock) and slide off the part. Next unscrew the pivot of the pan cover and the pan cover spring screw and remove tile parts. ‘then unscrew the holding bolts or screws until the lock plates can be removed. (See Fig. i.)
Penetrating oil applied to the screws and left for a while will allow many a stubborn screw to be removed. Do use well-fitting screwdrivers, as if you spoil a screw ]lead by using a wrongly fitting screwdriver it may be impossible to get it out without drilling. The drilling out of screws is extremely tricky and may result in damage to the pistol, so don’t try it unless you must. Expert help may be necessary. One way to loosen obstinate screws is first to place a little lubricating oil round tile head of the screw, and then to touch the head of tine screw for a second or two with the tip of a red-hot poker. This meat causes expansion and contraction to loosen the screw and the oil will penetrate and help with the withdrawal.
Dispiiawlitt,9 a flitalock, arid reassembling (see Fig. r). In order to take the lock to pieces for cleaning or repair the four screws which hold the mainspring, the sear, the scar spring and the bridle, must be half loosened. Then take out the mainspring screw and remove the mainspring. There is a pill at the rear end of the mainspring which engages in the lock plate, and the other end of the mainspring which engages in the toe of the tumbler. Compress the mainspring and it will come away easily. A hand vice is a useful tool for this job. Once tile mainspring is off, the other screws may be removed and die other parts will come off quite easily. Having cleaned all parts with fine files and emery paper or powder, and got rid of all the rust, oil everything well, and cover with Vaseline. Then set about reassembling. lock plate to take the cock on the outside. The scar and the sear spring come next and then the bridle. The square lug on the scar spring fits a slot in the lock plate and holds the spring in position. Compress the mainspring and put it on the lock plate with the holding pin in position, and put the lower end of the spring back over the tumbler toe. Then secure the screw. Without a hand vice, depress the tumbler to the fired position so that the end of the mainspring will go over it. Then put the cock oil and pull it back to the half cocked position so that the tumbler toe comes and compresses the mainspring. The rest of the pieces are put back in the reverse order to removal, the pan cover spring and pan cover going on last.
The barrel of the gun comes off next. This has a metal extension called a tang which runs into the stock. The tang screws are removed, and any retaining bands or pins. Trigger guard, butt cap and ramrod pipes are usually screwed or pinned in place and must be removed with care. If a gun is in bad condition it is likely that the rusty screws and pins are stuck into the wooden stock parts, and too much beef will merely result in breaking off chunks of wood complete with the pins and screws. Gentle tapping and the judicious use of penetrating oil will help. But leave things where they are rather than risk breaking the stock. Expert gunsmiths make their own castings and spare parts, but for those without the necessary tools or ability, castings can be bought, which only need filing to fit. Normans of Framlingham in Suffolk specialise in these parts and have a comprehensive catalogue.
Guns will be more or less rusty, either with ordinary brown rust or that black rust which seems to have eaten right into the metal and looks like black ink stains. When restoring or cleaning any kind of metal, the rule is not to overdo things. Gentle abrasives, gentle cleaners and gentle fingers give the best results. Patience is better than a power tool. Start by applying a mixture of oil and paraffin, or by soaking the metal parts in it. Patent rust removers arc fine if used with care. They should never be left on for a very long time, or they will etch the metal, and will probably dull it, although in this case can always be re- polished. Penetrating oil contains rust remover, so if you have been using this to remove screws, be sure to wipe it all off the metal before leaving the work for any length of time. Clean the inside of the barrel with a wire brush on a rod.
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Having cleaned off all possible rust, polish die metal work with jeweller’s emery, which is considerably finer than ordinary emery paper and comes in various grades (see Abrasives). Start with a coarse grade and finish with fine grades and you can get a mirror finish. Don’t be too quick to resort to buffing wheels or harsh abrasives; you may make deep scratches or rub off marks or chasings which cannot be replaced. Barrels may have a brown colour which is due to deliberate rusting, so that the barrel would not rust further while the gun was in use. To re-brown a barrel it must first be polished mirror bright and then treated with many successive solutions of a certain acid formula. Gunsmiths guard these formulae closely, and most send their barrels to an acknowledged expert to have the job done. It costs several pounds and would probably not be worth your while, simply to restore a not very valuable piece of junk.
Blue barrels were originally coloured by a heat process. Blueing is equally an expert’s job which takes time and experience, although solutions can be bought which enable the amateur to blue barrels quite effectively.
Clean brass parts, trigger guards, ramrod pipes, butt caps, etc. with ordinary metal polish. If these are missing new ones can be bought (see above) and fitted by filing.
Having achieved the polish and colour you want, the next thing is to maintain it. Be very careful not to handle the metal parts of your gun. after its final polish, as sweaty
fingers leave a deposit which causes spots of rust. (This
applies to ametal work.) A piece of wood carefully
jammed in the muzzle will make a temporary handle while applying a final finish to the gun. Wipe over the metal parts with a very thin layer of oil; or if you don’t like this, try wiping with aduster which is impregnated with silicone—these can be bought for dusting furniture in any hardware store. Some people like to lacquer things on the principle that lacquering reduces cleaning to ‘iaminimum.Un- less lacquer is of extremely good quality, it will darken in time and altogether spoil the look of the job. (See Lacquer.)
The wooden stocks or butts are another matter, and often need a lot of repair. The stock may be completely split. Modern impact adhesives, such as Evo-stik, make a strong join very easy, but it is best to make sure that they do fit accurately, as with impact adhesives once the two faces of a
join are put together they must remain if a good join is to be made. If the stock is chipped or if there is a piece missing, you are going to have to find a piece of more or less matching wood to replace it. Clean the old stock first with fine steel wool and linseed oil. Rub away until the dirt and any old varnish has gone, then you will be able to see the graiui and colour of the wood. Finding the right piece of wood may be difficult. A friendly furniture restorer is about the most likely mail to help—you will only need a small piece anyway. Whittle the new wood to fit with a sharp knife and fine sandpaper. If you are an expert wood- carver and have die tools, making a matching piece should be no problem. Remember, having bonded new and old, that it may be necessary to bore small holes for the pins or screws to take the metal parts when the pistol is reassembled and this should be done with care. When the bond is set, rub the whole stock well with linseed before reassembling the gun.
Shallow dents in wooden gun stocks can sometimes be reduced by steaming. Soak a piece of thick cloth in hot water and put it over the dent and then hold a hot iron on the cloth and get up a good head of steam; this swells the wood and reduces the dents a little, but as the wood dries right out they will probably reappear to some degree.
Gunstocks arc often attacked by woodworm and if this has happened, treat the stock with all anti-woodworm dressing such as Rentokil. If the stock is badly honey- combed, inject syntheticresin into the holes with a hypodermic syringe or even soak it in a thin mix to stiffen the whole thing.
Burr walnut (see Woods) is most commonly used for gun stocks and is mainly imported. You would probably have to buy a new stock blank through the trade and shape it to fit, if a whole new stock is required.
Of course if you can get hold of several pistols all more or less alike, you can make up composite restorations using sound parts from each. What you will have at the finish is a fake, not a restoration, but if it is just for decoration, then it doesn’t really matter, and only an expert will be able to tell that it isn’t the genuine article!
The periodical Guns Review contains much interesting information about antique firearms.
Swords
Swords turn up in junk shops in odd lots with old hickory shafted golf clubs, broken walking sticks and elderly umbrellas, and are usually a relic of somebody’s great grandfather’s service in the cavalry. The services still use dress swords and ceremonial swords, and these, being expensive items, get handed on and do not appear in junk shops. Valuable old swords are real collector’s items and you are unlikely to be trying to restore one of these. However, any old sword can look quite fine once it has been cleaned and polished. Knives and daggers and bayonets come into the same category and are perhaps more common in junk shops. Very often the scabbard, particularly if it is an Oriental one, is as attractive as the weapon itself and warrants as much care as the blade.
As with the restoration and cleaning of any kind of metal object, care is needed. Too violent attempts at rust removal may remove interesting marks or engraving or inlay, and half the fun of cleaning up these things is in what may come to light underneath. A sword, like a gun, can be dismantled into its component parts, and if this can be done without breaking the weapon or damaging it, it is far better to take it apart for cleaning. Blades were often made somewhere other than the hilts or sheaths, and the whole assembled by sword-smiths before sale. Parts got broken and were replaced, and a sword or a dagger can be a composite bearing different makers’ marks and still be quite genuine. If you find a sheathed sword in a junk shop, take it carefully out of the sheath holding the whole thing pointed downward. Be especially careful with knives and daggers for an old scabbard can split as you take out the weapon which may still be razor sharp.
To take a sword apart (see Fig. 3) first check the button at the top of the hilt. The tang, or top end of the blade, passes right up through the Ht and the pommel at the top, and is then burred over the button to hold the whole thing together. File off the overlap and slide the blade from the hilt; but it may not come out that easily. Later swords may have a screw-iii button. Grip the blade in a vice, near the top, but make sure the vice is padded, or the sword well wrapped, so that it will not be marked by the vice. Using a piece of hard wood as a punch, tap the base of the pommel upwards away from the grip, working round and round it till it loosens and the hilt begins to slide off the blade; but do be careful not to damage anything. Best leave well alone if there is no movement at all. Penetrating oil may help, if you can get some to run between the tang of the blade and the hilt. If the sword has only a small pommel, tap the hilt round the shells, at the bottom. Once again, be very careful for it is terribly easy to break castings.
Now the blade and the hilt are separate and can be coped with on their merits. If the grip is wooden and covered with leather, it may be split, and you will have to carve yourself a new grip using the old one as a pattern. Beech and walnut are tile most common woods, but any wood could be used to remake a grip which is to be covered—after all the sword is not going to be used in battle. If the grip is leather-covered, and the leather is sound, give it a good dose of leather dressing. There are various proprietary dressings and the same one can be used on a leather sheath. Some dressings give a long-lasting finish, others need more frequent renewing (see Leather Dressings).
A new leather grip cover can be made quite easily by cutting out a piece from any suitable leather. Clean off all the old leather and make the grip smooth and clean. Then very carefully pare or bevel the edges of the new leather grip so that they fit round the handle without a ridge where the join conics. Soak the leather and put it on the grip, smoothing it to fit. Then bind it on to dry. Rubber bands may leave grooves in the leather, so some kind of wide tape or bandage just to hold it in position while it dries is better. When the leather is quite dry, remove the binding, and, very carefully, the leather piece which should by now be exactly the right shape and fit. Using an adhesive, such as Evo-stik which will not stain the leather, stick it firmly to the wooden grip. Very often lints are wholly or partly bound with brass wire. If this has to be replaced, two strands of brim piano wire or picture wire, twisted together, make a good job. The actual binding is not so easy as the ends of the wire have to be neatly tucked in.
The cleaning of metal hilts andblades must be care- fully done. Brass and silver hilts will probably conic up well with ordinary metal polishes and some elbow grease, but steel hilts will need rubbing with abrasive. Make up various pads and sticks to help with the rubbing down,
well
checking that the stick is wepadded with foam rubber under the emery paper; this makes it easier to get into difficult corners. Blades which have inlay should be treated very gently, as any rough treatment will bring it off. Soap and water and a soft cloth for drying are die best; certainly it is dangerous to use strong metal polishes or rust removing preparations. Clean plain blades and steel hilts with oil and paraffin mixture to remove loose rust, and then wash with strong detergent to get rid of all grease. Clean very greasy metal with carbon tetrachloride. Then wipe rust remover on the metal and remove it after a few minutes. You will get some idea of how much rust is going to shift, and can repeat the treatment until the metal is clean. The big danger is that rust remover, if left too long, will work unevenly and will start to etch the metal, and you will end up with a pitted surface. Oriental swords are very often meant to have a dull finish, and after a wipe over with rust remover, all they will need is a polish with a soft cloth, whereas Western steel is worked over with emery until it has a mirror finish. Don’t get fingerprints on to the polished metal or they will form rust spots in time. Rub the finished metal over with a light film of oil, or use a silicone-impregnated duster or silicone furniture polish, sparingly, on a soft cloth. Lacquer, if used, must be of high quality, or it will darken in time and have to be removed. Lacquer is really a lazy and not wholly satisfactory way of finishing polished metals (see Lacquer).
If metal parts of the hilt, quillons, shell guards etc., are broken or damaged, it may be possible to braze carefully shaped new parts into place, but this does seem to me to be a job for the expert as it requires special tools and a knowledge of technique.
If the top of the tang was filed off to free the blade, hammer out the tang a little so that there is something to burr over again on replacement. Be very careful, and hammer gently with the tang laid flat on a block. Reassemble hilt and blade and tap it into position tapping the pommel well home. Use a small mallet or a piece of wood, not a metal hammer. Burr over the top of the tang with a punch and file it smooth and neat.
If your sword or dagger has a metal scabbard, treat it in the same way as the blade, cleaning with great care if it has any engraving or inlay. If it is plain, wipe it with rust remover and rub with abrasive, and finish it with a silicone wipe.
Damaged leather scabbards take some mending. If the stitching has gone, it may be possible to restitch it, but often the holes have broken out and the leather is dry and dead anyway and won’t hold stitches. Just stick the edges together as neatly as you can with adhesive.
If the scabbard is broken, insert a strip of cardboard or veneer or plastic to support it. If leather is in good condition all it needs is a wipe with ordinary leather dressing. Sonic scabbards have been stained and polished or boned, these are best retouched and polished with ordinary leather polish.
Old pieces of armour, even complete suits picked up iii very bad condition, can be completely cleaned and done up. The methods used for cleaning sword blades, guns etc. arc suitable for armour. Museums use a phosphoric acid cleaner known as Deoxidise.
I know of someone who bought a terribly rusty old suit of armour for C20, without knowing anything about it, and cleaned and restored it and sold it for 0300. I suppose the basic cost of 4zo puts it outside the category of junk, but it is the kind of profit one likes to dream about.
Burnishing. Any cavalry mark will tell you that the only way to get swords, cuirasses, spurs, bits irons etc. chromium bright is to burnish diem. They are first cleaned with metal polish and then burnished. A burnisher is a leather pad with small steel rings like chain mail sewn to it, arid the object to be burnished is rubbed very hard with this pad. The metal will come to chromium brightness if you use enough elbow grease. The object is then greased very lightly, or lacquered to preserve the shine; but before doing this, small objects can be kept dry and bright in a bag of bran.
By the way, the shoulder pieces of a trooper’s dress uniform, which look like pieces of chain mail, are in fact ornamental burnishers.
Bits, irons and spurs are ornamental enough to become collectors’ items, and they should be burnished as described, or by being put into a canvas bag with a handful of ball-bearings and swung around for a bit. It is air old trick to burnish a curb chain by folding it inside a big duster or piece of cloth, and then, holding both ends tightly, to swing it about with a circular motion.

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They were very similar to their predecessors; except that the metal furniture was now brass instead of iron, and the musket had a new lock with some minor modifications meissen porcelain louis xiv . The Royal cypher, when used, was the ‘A R’ of the reigning sovereign porzellan clock spain . The barrel of the musket was forty-six inches, or slightly longer than the James II pattern computers internet blog .
With the issue of these arms slings were fitted to all muskets for the first time trestle table lyre base .
The universal use of flintlocks in the Army, as well as on private firearms, resulted in the flint industry becoming of prime importance british longcase makers . It was a very ancient industry directoire sofa . The art of chipping, or `knapping’, flints had been practised in neolithic, times, when arrowheads, spearheads, axes, tools, etc cast regency period candlestick ., had been manufactured from the flint deposits at such places as Brandon in Suffolk antique neoclassical furniture side cabinet . For many years, however, there had been little requirement for flint, except for the comparatively low standard stone used for ordinary ignition epergne art deco glass . The arrival of flintlock arms created a new and increasing demand for high-quality flint marc duplantier . Nevertheless the process available was tedious and inefficient, and yielded indifferent flints indian vernacular furniture . Gradually the art was re-learnt, and by the end of the eighteenth century English flints had become famous throughout Europe antique hot water plate warmer . In 1686 a Government factory was established important pieces art deco furniture .at Brandon, and all flints for the Army were made there during the whole remaining life of flintlock firearms drawing ornaments for furniture .
Until the early eighteenth century flints were generally made from the brown flintstone which was gathered from the fields antique tables small . This broke rather easily, for its irregularity in grain made it brittle empire gateleg table . The much superior black flint was subsequently discovered at depths of from 5o to zoo feet, and from about the middle of the eighteenth century all flint was quarried antique paper mache pedestal table .
Flints were divided into different sizes according to the type of weapon sheriton clock . As far as the Army was concerned, these consisted of the musket, the carbine and the pistol; and they were each again divided into ‘Best’, ‘Second’ and ‘Common’ according to their quality, which was assessed by the colour of the stone (the darker the better) and by the regularity of the shape antique kidney table lion ball legs . A good flint knapper could gauge the size of a flint by the naked eye to within a sixteenth of an inch and could trim it to a chisel edge 18th century trestle table .
`Best’ flints could be expected to give from forty to fifty shots, without fear of a misfire, whilst ‘Common’ flints would only give about half this number ornate italy shell spoon . Most musket flints were the cheap ‘Common’ variety redwood trinket box .
Flints were sold by the thousand and were packed in half casks, which held 2000 of t1w musket size, 3000 of the carbine and 4000 of the pistol antique spanish sideboard .
In the seventeenth century it was the practice of both officers and other ranks to wear their side arms when off duty identify antique paper mache trays . When the bayonet was added to the sword it appears that there must have been some temptation to use this handy little weapon in local brawls with the civil population century furniture chinoiserie dining table chair credenza . This is reflected in the following order which was promulgated in 1687:
`For the prevention of mischief that may happen by the carrying of bayonets We hereby strictly forbid all officers and soldiers of what quality soever within Our pay or entertainment to carry a dagger or bayonet at any other time than when such officer or soldier shall be upon duty or under their arms upon pain of being punished at Direction of a Court Martial and the officers and commanders in chief of Our several regiments, troops and companies and Governors of Our Garrisons are hereby required to cause these Our commands to be forthwith read and published at the head of each respective regiment, troop and company that all persons may give obedience thereunto meissen figures on bronze bases .
`Given at Our Court at Whitehall the 4th day of March,
1686/7
`By His Majesties Command antique meissen porcelain .’
It is quite likely that this order was drafted personally by King James II furniture design . It is very like the tone of some of his letters dealing with military organization and administration antique posset pots .
Grenadiers and Musketeers seem to have worn swords throughout Marlborough’s campaigns draw-leaf tables . The armament of a Grenadier was particularly impressive; for it comprised (according to the Exercise of hoot of 16go) firelock, bayonet, sword, hatchet and grenades antique french campaign chair .
There is an interesting hint of regimental insignia on swords in a notice of a deserter in the Post Man in 1703 care of antique oak chest woodworm rot . The man belonged to Lord Lucas’s Regiment (later the 34th Foot) and is described as wearing a sword with brass mounting and an ‘L’ on the shell norman bel geddes desks . How far this was a common practice is not known sarcophagus chests andre-charles boulle . The detail on a sword depended entirely on the taste of the Colonel, and the swords for a regiment were, in fact, purchased by the Colonel out of the money allowed him by the Government for the provision of all clothing, swords and necessaries of the other ranks under his command antique maple drop leaf dining table .
The Duke of Marlborough would allow no weapon other than the sword to be used by mounted troops jupe patent mechanism . The pistol he regarded as the enemy of effective cavalry action antique victorian writing table . Brigadier-General Richard Kane, in his Discipline of Horse of 1745, said:
`They should handle their swords well, which is the only Weapon our British Horse makes use of when they charge the enemy; more than this is superfluous empire revival benches . The Duke of Marlborough would allow the Horse but three Charges of Powder and Ball to each man for a Campaign, and that for guarding their Horses when at Grass, and not to be made use of in action roman tripod table .
`Dragoons should be well instructed in the use of arms, having often occasion to make use of them on foot; but when on horseback, they are to fight as the Horse do sheraton period cutlery urn .’
The type of swords supplied to the cavalry, however, does not seem to have been beyond criticism baroque paper mache plate . In 1691 Sir Albert Cunningham, Colonel of the 6th Dragoons, wrote to the Secretary at War, ‘We want good broad cutting swords with three-barred hilts’ how drop leaf table evolved . In 1706 Colonel J designs for dressing table glasses . Crofts of the Royal Dragoons said in a letter that, ‘It was impossible to get flaming (i antique pembroke tables .e antique dining table stored legs . curved) blades but I pitched upon the best sword for service I could find’ antique duncan phyfe mahogany coffee table with brass claw feet . A year later his successor, Colonel St barrel leg oak dining table .-Pierre, wrote “chest of drawers” +cherry +1840s . ‘The swords are good, but a handfull too short, there is no dealing with the French but with good swords, they have excellent ones antique wooden handle forks . We are resolved, whatever it cost, if we come to Baralina and can find German blades, to buy them and put them upon our handles, which are large enough clarice cliff aj wilkinson teardrop plate .’
It is apparent that there must have been considerable variety in the swords carried by the cavalry japanese tray table w/ folding legs . There is a tantalizing bill of 1689 for a steel horseman’s sword with a rich gilt handle, apparently belonging to the loth Horse secession style furniture .
Towards the end of the seventeenth century there was some improvement in the gunpowder antique wood trestle table with leaves . The proportions were altered to six parts of saltpetre to one each of charcoal and sulphur antique console table carved wood . But the most noteworthy advance was in the quality of the saltpetre goldscheider ceramic figurines+made in austria. 1920 . Previously it had been chiefly obtained by the laborious and probably uncongenial task of washing out earth collected from underneath long-established dung-hills drop leaf table stable base . It was now imported from foreign countries where it could be found in a free state 3 leg drum table with leather top .
BROWN BESS
At some period in the earlier part of the eighteenth century there appeared the most famous weapon that was ever placed in the hands of the British soldier 3 leg drum table with leather top . This was the musket which became popularly known as ‘Brown Bess’ “edwards & roberts” furniture satinwood . The actual date of its introduction is unknown edwardian satinwood combination wardrobe . It*is popularly supposed to have been designed in the reign of Queen Anne 19th century mechanical desks . Nevertheless there is an old tradition that the musket was chosen by the great Duke of Marlborough when he was Captain-General and Master-General of the Ordnance german art deco porcelain harlequin . The earliest one known to the author is in the Tower of London, and bears the date 1717 on the lock plate 1920’s walnut buffet, four drawers .
The origin of the name is as much a mystery as Brown Bess’s date of birth, and there have been many theories to account for it antique gateleg card table . However, the ‘brown’ probably referred to the colour of the weapon, or part of it; and this was most likely the stock, which was of walnut wood stained a reddish brown 17th century drop leaf table . The stocks of all the British Army’s previous firearms had been black sofas . It has been said, also, that the barrel was browned by pickling in an acid bath asian chest with fake drawers . It may have been issued in this condition, but during most of the years when this musket was in use the barrel appears to have been highly polished; in accordance with the British Army’s normal practice with any piece of metal, unless ordered to do otherwise 1800’s library table . Bess’ may have been a mere term of affection; on the other hand it may have been derived from ‘buss’,a German word for a gun and used in ‘arquebus’ and `blunderbuss’ antique english tea tables .
That such a gun should acquire a nickname was, however, almost inevitable french oak, “barley twist” chest of drawers . It was noteworthy in two respects antique card table brass feet folding . It had the beautiful lines of the private fowling-pieces of the day, and, for ease of handling and for performance, it was the finest smooth-bore firearm in any army for the whole of its active existence antique hexagon ladles . These qualities undoubtedly earned the affection of the soldiers who handled it, and if troops become fond of a piece of equipment, maintenance and cleanliness present few difficulties antique wooden pot cupboard .
Of Brown Bess Mr glass front marquetry cabinet . Scurfield in a notable article on ‘British Military Smoothbore Firearms’, which he contributed to the journal of the Society for drmy Historical Research, says: ‘I have seen and handled many muskets of the eighteenth century, and have no hesitation in saying that for workmanship, handiness and appearance (much more important in those days than in these) the Old English musket was, as the armament of the “common soldier”, unsurpassed 1940’s marble tables . Compared with her predecessors and contemporaries, such as the French Model 1717, which was not radically altered until 1754, Brown Bess has the grace of a fowling-piece, the lightest stock compatible with capacity to stand up to a campaign, well-shaped moulded brass furniture, and a lock which had a reputation for giving fewer missfires, “flashes in the pan”, than that of any other military firearm georgian serving tables . Wherein lay the superiority of the English lock is now quite beyond ascertainment; but modern amateurs of historic arms, such as the late Major H vincennes gilded porcelain asian design . R 19th century lion claw pedestal table . S expensive marble tables . Brown, Mr 19th century apostle spoon . Mark Dineley, and others, confirm that it is less unreliable in igniting the charge than any other military lock they have experimented with anitque side cabinet .’
The barrel length of the first model was about 451 or 46 inches malard furniture . The bore was 11, or a shade over •75 calibre 18th c, hot water plate . The bullets vere 131 or 14 to the pound, which would slip easily down a barrel of this diameter a & s smee finsbury . The mounts were brass throughout jean dunand pottery . These comprised the buttplate, small shield (or escutcheon), side plate (on the side opposite the lock plate to receive the latter’s screws), trigger guard and four ramrod pipes apartment for milliner suzanne 1929 . The ramrod was of wood with a brass tip muller freres primavera . The butt-plate was a heavy moulded piece, and, in conjunction with the light fore-end, served to keep the balance of the gun fairly well back in spite of the long barrel small square drop leaf table with 2 chairs . The lock was of an improved type with a steel bearing, or ‘bridle’, to support the tumbler and prevent it from pressing against the lock plate antique wine cooler and stand . The escutcheon, which was on the top of the small of the butt, was primarily intended to take the screw which passed right through the small from the rearward extension of the trigger guard art nouveau cupboard . It was also frequently engraved or stamped with the company letter and individual number antique canning jars with good luck on them . The lock plate, which was of iron, bore the crowned Royal cypher, and, in addition, either the word ‘Tower’ or the contractor’s name empire drum night table . This was to become the standard practice for many years cabriole legs . Previously the Royal cypher had been, as already mentioned, limited in its use king charles silver flatware . The contractor’s name had sometimes appeared, but often the plate was devoid of any inscription gilbert rhode . The word ‘Tower’ indicated that the arm bearing it had been assembled at the Tower of London from parts supplied by contractors 1940’s art deco black and gray lacquer bedroom set prices . At a later period arms were similarly assembled in Ireland at Dublin Castle, and the lock plates were marked ‘Dublin Castle’ century furniture drop leaf table . Those arms made and assembled by contractors sometimes had the date of manufacture after the name of the maker 17th century georgian sideboards .
The bayonet was of the same basic pattern, with triangular blade, as that adopted in the reign of Queen Anne; but it was much improved matthew boulton roast cover . The socket was four inches long; and the blade length was now seventeen inches, and remained so until about z 70 spanish revival italian walnut trestle library table . The scabbard was of leather, and carried suspended from a cross-belt over the right shoulder baroque style depression furniture with walnut and walnut veneers . Another cross-belt over the left shoulder supported a cartridge pouch and two brass pickers for cleaning the vent silver tray with top .
The cartridge used with the Brown Bess musket consisted of a tube of stout cartridge paper, sealed at both ends with pack thread antique scroll maker . It contained six to eight drams of powder and also a lead bullet saxony flowers 1700s . antique octagon table with twelve legs . This type of cartridge had been in use for some time by mounted troops derby porcelain figurines mark r 1762 . The soldier bit off the rear end of the cartridge, squeezed a small portion of the powder into the flash-pan and emptied the remainder down the barrel art deco glass vase . He then inserted the bullet and rammed it with the paper cartridge on top as wadding antique chinese chamber pot . With this method of loading the soldier could fire about two to three rounds per minute; but the loose-fitting bullet ‘limited the range of reasonably accurate fire to some fifty yards making pottery . Various unauthorized methods of loading to ease the soldier’s task and speed up the rate of fire had been adopted with the matchlock musket at least as early as the reign of Charles I wodden chair dining table leaf design . The powder was poured into the barrel and the bullet dropped on top of it without the use of wad or ramrod antique mahogony carved dressing table . The charge was then firmed home by banging the butt on the ground winthrop china cabinet . Range and penetration, of course, both suffered double scroll legs desk art deco .
The same procedure was adopted with the flintlock, but as the powder used was fine enough to be used for both primer and charge, the private soldier, ever a genius at finding laboursaving devices, managed to eliminate another of the normal loading tasks early soft paste teapots . Having shut the pan after firing, he discovered that banging the butt on the ground not only consolidated the charge but also sent sufficient powder through the touchhole into the pan to prime the musket haviland france deco cup . The rate of fire was increased to from four to five rounds a minute, but there was a considerable proportion of misfires owing to insufficient powder reaching the pan, and the fire was horribly inaccurate wood antique tripod table glass top 1950 .
In certain circuirfstances loading with a loose bullet withoui wadding was a recognized practice, and was known as loading with ‘running ball’ antique gateleg table new york . Sentries’ arms loaded with running ball, for instance, could be unloaded by holding the barrel downwards and letting the bullet run out myott son & co blue hanley est: 1880 . If the wadding was inserted the only way of unloading was to discharge the musket gate leg table oak antique round .
Even Brown Bess, the best of smooth-bore muskets, could not compare in accuracy or speed of fire with the old English long bow greek marble console table . Colonel Hanger, in his book To d11 Sportsmen of X 814, said: ‘A soldier’s musket, if not exceedingly ill-bored (as many are), will strike the figure of a man at 8o yards; it may be even at a hundred; but a soldier must be very unfortunate indeed who shall be wounded by a common musket at 150 yards, provided his antagonist aims at him; and as to firing at a man at 20o yards with a common musket, you may as well fire at the moon and have the same hopes of hitting your object a dutch walnut and burr-walnut longcase clock . I do maintain and will prove, whenever called on, that no man was ever killed at 20o yards, by a common soldier’s musket, by the person who aimed at him antique empire table .’
In about 1841 a special test was carried out by the Royal Engineers to find out what Brown Bess could really do primevera crackle glaze bird . The results were not impressive art noveau furniture . The range of the piece was-an), thing from ioo yards to 700, according to the elevation of the barrel antique dining room table rectangle +connected double pedestal . At every elevation tried, however, there was at least a hundred yards’ variation in the possible range, and at some elevations this exceeded 300 yards bronze chair french . At iSo yards a target about twice as high and twice as broad as a man was hit three times out of four art deco writing sets . At any greater range, even with the musket fixed in a rest, this same target was not hit at all regency card table value . At a range of 2 5o yards a target twice as wide again was fired at, but of ten shots none registered a hit and no one discovered where they went goldscheider figures women . This test certainly bore out Colonel Hanger’s contention, In addition to the inaccurate shooting of the flintlock, there were always some misfires; and in a lengthy test carried out in 1834 against a percussion musket these worked out at i in 6-1pL burr walnut art deco dresser bakelit .
Nevertheless, for the close-order fighting, short ranges and volley firing of its day Brown Bess was a great weapon; and few viewed its supersession without regret
It was not till 1794 that any new pattern musket was introduced, but as this event took place during the Napoleonic wars, when firearms were at a premium, there was no question of Brown Bess being withdrawn from service antique walnut tall boys . In fact, the old musket must have been in the hands of a large proportiop of the British infantry until the reduction of the Army after the battle of Waterloo 17 century dining tables .
The modifications which were effected during this long career were comparatively few ” american card table” . The most important was the reduction of the barrel length to forty-two inches somewhere about the middle of the century islamic arts ivory inlaid wood cabinet . However, there was no immediate replacement of the forty-six-inch barrel muskets, and some of these were undoubtedly still in service at the time of the American War of Independence antique music stand london . Mr rent baroque wood carving furniture . Scurfield, irx citing the evidence of American students of military affairs for this, mentions an interesting theory as to the use of the long muskets square walnut and burr elm coffee table . He says: ‘Several such amateurs have informed me that among arms left in the United States after the Revolution are a number of extra long firelocks which they describe as “British Grenadier Muskets” wedgwood forgeries . I see no reason to doubt the accuracy of this statement, except perhaps spanish revival italian walnut trestle library table . that part of it which links the long musket with Grenadiers; although my informants were knowledgeable collectors of arms, it may be a romantic embellishment 1940s enamel chronographs .

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The screw barrel has already been mentioned in connection with a pistol which first became popular in the reign of Charles 1. A rifled version of this `turn-of}’ pistol was produced in the Civil War to meet the demand for an accurate and hard-hitting short-range weapon. The barrel unscrewed at the breech, and the charge and ball were put into the chamber. The pistol took a very heavy charge, and the chamber .was about the same size as that of the modern bolt-action rifle. The walls of the barrel were specially thickened to withstand the force of the discharge. It has been suggested that these pistols were designed to penetrate the heavy armour which still appeared in the form of helmets and back and breast plates. An account which is given later in this chapter would seem to support this view.
These rifled ‘turn-off’ pistols were full-length cavalry holster weapons. In the cavalry tactics of the period, the discharge of pistols at the enemy formed the preliminary to the normal shock action. That little is heard of rifled pistols after the Restoration may be due to the alteration in cavalry tactics. Marlborough, for instance, would not allow his cavalry to use pistols in a set-piece action at all.
The demand for privately manufactured arms led to the names of some of the gunmakers of the period becoming famous for the standards of design, workmanship and precision of their firearms. William Upton of Oxford, for instance, was perhaps the best known of the suppliers of arms to the Royalist army. The Royalist headquarters was in Oxford throughout most of the war so that Upton was well placed to meet the requirements of the King’s officers. He made pistols and carbines, both rifled and smooth bore, and his arms were known for their quality.
Another famous maker of firearms was Harman Barne of London. He was gunmaker to Prince Rupert and made one of the earliest known breech-loading magazine rifles. Six shots could be fired in succession from this remarkable weapon, and one movement of a lever which formed the trigger guard successively loaded with powder and ball, primed the pan, closed the pan cover and cocked the lock.
Although Barne’s rifle was far too expensive and complicated in manufacture for adoption as a millt4ry firearm, it is worth describing, since it was the first conception in England of present-day requirements in a hand-operated rifle. It was nearly 25o years, however, before Barne’s ideas were incorporated in the personal firearms of the British Army..
In appearance the rifle was similar to a finely made flintlock piece of the period, save for some additional bulk round the lock. There are no obvious mechanical complications. Its mechanism is best explained by the method of loading, which is as follows:
(a) The rifle is held in the left hand, vertically with the muzzle upwards and the barrel towards the body.
(b) With the right hand the trigger guard is turned to the right and upwards.
(c) The movement of the trigger guard turns a cylindrical breech block. This passes vertically through the barrel, and is drilled through with a hole which is in line with the bore of the barrel when it is in the closed position.
(d) The trigger guard also moves a powder measure, from its normal position below and in front of the trigger. This measure normally communicates with a powder magazine which is in a hollow in the stock below the lock, and is thus filled with powder when the rifle is held vertically. As the measure moves a spring flap closes its aperture, and a similar flap closes the opening of the powder. magazine. When the trigger guard has turned through i 8o degrees the flap on the measure strikes the front of the lock plate, opens and allows the powder to pour down a channel which runs inside the plate to an aperture on the right of the barrel. The movement of the breech block has brought its central hole into the line with this aperture, and the powder runs into it.
(e) Meanwhile the other end of the breech-block hole ,has received a bullet from the bullet magazine. This is a tube containing six bullets communicating with an aperture in the left side of the barrel. Through this a bullet is fed into the breech block before the powder is introduced.
(f) The trigger guard is now reversed to its normal position. This movement actuates links on the inside of the lock plate which move the tumbler of the lock to full cock, and close the pan cover. At the same *time a small portion of powder for. priming is dropped into the pan.
The rifle is now ready for firing; the very complicated process of loading, cocking and priming a flintlock weapon having been performed by a to-and-fro movement of the hand, in the same way as with a modern bolt-action rifle.
J. N. George, in his English Guns and Rifles, is of the opinion that this rifle was made for .Prince Rupert himself; and he considers that support is given to this supposition by the stamped impression on the butt, of a capital ‘R’ and the figure ‘3; which might well be the Prince’s initial and the serial number of the weapon in his private armoury. Since Barne was a London gunsmith (the gun is inscribed ‘Harman Barne, Londini), George points out that if he made this piece for the Prince it must have been Wore the start of the Civil War, since London was, throughout, in the possession of the forces of Parliament.
Edmund Nicholson of London provided the same type of arms for the forces of Parliament as Upton did for the Royalists. He too was known as a maker of fine arms, and he was still making guns after the Restoration.

By about the middle of the seventeenth century the calibre of the various types of firearms had become more or less fixed, and there was little change during the whole of the time that muzzle-loading arms remained in use. These dimensions -were: x2-bore for a musket, with i42 bullets to the pound; 16-bore for a carbine, with 20 to a pound bullets; and 20-24 bore for a pistol, with 34 bullets to the pound. Muskets and carbines were fitted with fore and back sights until the reign of James II, but pistols had no sights.
The pike remained the standard shock weapon of the infantry
FIG. 47. RAPIR HILTS.
Prow the Tower Zrmotwy, London.
and was the complement of the musket, until the adoption of the bayonet. In 1645 its length was 15 feet, but this appears to have been increased to x 8 feet a short time later. The best steel was used for the heads, and the staves were of well-seasoned ash. From the head downwards they were protected for 3 or 4 inches with iron plates to prevent the heads being cut off by the swords of the cavalry. It was behind the protection of these long pikes that the musketeer retired when he had to go through the lengthy process of reloading his weapon.
There was no standard sword for either cavalry or infantry during this period; but for most of it the most popular weapon was the rapier, which had been introduced from the Con-tinent in the sixteenth’ century. It was a long, very light sword, generally with a rup protection below the quillons, or cross-piece, and often with a knuckle guard as well. The use of the rapier was so universal that even pikemen were equipped with it, though it was far too long for effective use in battle by a man who was already encumbered with a heavy pike.
A vivid description of the use of the various weapons of the Civil War is contained in a contemporary account by Richard Atkyns, a junior Royalist officer of Horse. He says:
`When we came within 20 score yards of the enemy, we found about Zoo dragoons half musket shot before a regiment of horse of theirs in two divisions, both in order to receive us. At this punctilio of time, from as clear a sunshine day as could be seen,, there fell a sudden mist, that we could not see ten yards off, but we still marched on; the dragoons amazed with the mist, and hearing our horse come on; gave us a volley of shot out of distance, and disordered not one man of us, and before we came up to them, they took horse and away they ran.
`I waited upon Prince Maurice, and presented him with a case of pistols, which my uncle Sandys brought newly out of France; the neatest that I ever saw, which he then wanted.
`When I came to the top of the hill, I saw Sir Bevill Grinvill’s stand of pikes, which certainly preserved our army from a total rout, with the loss of his most precious life: they stood as upon the eaves of a house for steepness; but as unmovable as a rock; on which side of this stand of pikes our horse were, I could not discover; for the air was so darkened by the smoke of the powder, that for a quarter of an hour together (I dare say) there was no light seen, but what the fire of the volleys of shot gave.

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The improvement of the lock of the matchlock musket, which is referred to in this list, and some of the various accessories are discussed later. There are certain other- points worth noting.
The prices quoted show that firelocks (i.e. wheel-locks) -were much more expensive than snaphaunces (the name” applied at the time to any type of flintlock). A pair of wheel-lock pistols are priced at C,3, whereas flintlocks cost only &; and a wheel-lock arquebus was (1 16s. as compared with Cr for a flintlock carbine. The new type of matchlock musket was considerably cheaper than weapons with the spark ignition locks, for it could be purchased for 15s. 6d.
It is of interest that the proving and subsequent stamping of firearms had to be carried.out free of charge. The cost, no. doubt, was borne by the committee of gunmakefs; and it was probably considered that they were amply compensated by the elimination of competition from the sale of cheap and unserviceable arms.
The Commission of 1631 led six years later to the incorporation by Charles I of the Gunmakers’ Company of London as a permanent body. The aims of the Company were to protect the skilled gunsmiths from such unskilled competitors as blacksmiths, and from price undercutting ftom the import of cheap foreign arms; ‘that they may be the better enabled at all times to furnish Us and our-Subjects with good serviceable Handguns for Military Service and otherwise and to settle a better form of Regulation and Government of the said Art and Mystery’.
The original members of the Company were sixty-three in number, starting with ‘Henry Rowland our now Gun-Maker’, who had been the first mentioned of the seven gunmakers of the 1631 Commission.
There were to be ‘two or more of the said Company chosen to assist for the searching viewing gaging proving making trial marking or stamping of Handguns’.
They had the power to punish the ‘uttering of unartificial unmerchantable bad and deceitful Guns or parts of Guns or Guns made of ill materials whereby our Loving Subjects may be damnified or endangered’.
The proof was to be ‘with good and sufficient Gunpowder the weight of d Bullett of Lead sizeable to every several Gun be it greater or lesser according to the Bore of the Piece together with the said sizeable Bullett and rammed with paper before and after the Bullett the Charges of which said Proof and trial in the powder paper Bullett Shot and fraying powder for firing to be necessarily used therein to be always provided defrayed and born by the Makers or Owners of the same Guns’.
The stamp to show that a gun had been proved was to be
Cone Stamp or Stamps to be engraved with the letters G.P. 0
crowned’; and this was to be used to ‘mark or stamp all such Handguns Daggs Pistols and parts of Guns only as upon search view gage tryal and proof shall be found sufficiently serviceable and of good materials’.
The proof referred to above consisted in the gun barrels being fired with the test charge, first in the rough and then in the finished state, The ball was the standard size for the gun, but the powder was double the normal charge. The barrels to be proved were laid in racks with their muzzles towards a bank of sand. From twenty to a hundred were fired at a time by laying a trail of gunpowder which ran down the line of barrels across their touch-holes. After each proof the barrels which had passed the test were stamped with the marks of the Company. The mark’ for the first proof, to show ‘that the barrel had been tested in the rough, was a crown over the letter V. The mark indicating that the barrel had survived the second proof, of being tested in its finished state, was a crown over the letters G.P. (for ‘Gunmakers’ Proof’).
Under the original Charter of 1637 the right of proof vested in the Company applied only to weapons sold within ten miles of the City of London. A great number of arms, therefore, were both made in England and imported from the Continent without having been submitted to the proof; and most loving subjects continued to be damnified by bad and deceitful guns. This omission was subsequently rectified in the reign of Charles II, when a new and amplified Charter was granted in 1672. This forbade the sale of unproved firearms throughout England, and laid down that the only acceptable evidence of proof were the Company’s marks.
In about 1630 improvements were made to the mechanism of the matchlock musket, which was, of course, the standard infantry weapon. The flash-pan, with its cover, and a short shield to protect the eye of the musketeer from the flash of the priming powder, were attached to the lock. In addition, the scear and serpentine (which was now known as the ‘cock) were actuated by a separate trigger, instead of the long crossbow pattern trigger, or ‘tricker’, with its rigid attachment to the scear. These alterations made the matchlock a much better weapon, and gave the English some b advantage over Con- tinental armies, in most of which the old lock was retained till the end of the century. There were other gradual improvements and alterations to the musket during the first half of the seventeenth century. Progressive modifications to the stock eventually resulted in a form which bore some resemblance to the weapons of today. The balance of the gun was brought further back towards the rear, by lightening the barrel and reinforcing.the breech; thereby making it easier to dispense with the rest. The bore of the barrel was standardized at io, and this was designed to provide an easy fit for a i 2-bore bullet. The outside of the barrel was protected against rust by ‘russeting’; an ancient process which had been used to protect the steel-work on hafted weapons, and involved coating with some dark pigment.
Certain accessories were used with the musket at this period. They comprised: a wooden ramrod, with a horn or bone tip; a cleaning tool, known as a ’scowrer’; a tool for extracting bullets, called a ‘worm; an iron-shod musket rest; and a bandolier incorporating a set of twelve wooden chargers, each holding sufficient powder for one bullet. The rest in point of fact was now seldom used, and rarely carried on active service. It was retained as part of the musketeer’s equipment for many more years; presumably because its use added considerably to the accuracy of fire. On the other hand it was a nuisance on the march, and impaired individual mobility in action.
The matchlock was now no longer used for cavalry firearms, and all pistols and carbines were either firelocks (i.e. wheel-locks) or flintlocks.
The design of firearms was, and always has been, intimately connected with the quality of the gunpowder. The first gunpowder used consisted of equal parts of saltpetre (a chemical compound composed of nitric acid and potash), sulphur and charcoal. In the early days this was in the form of a meal, or fine powder.. In the fifteenth century the proportion of saltpetre was much increased, and the respective quantities became saltpetre eight parts, charcoal and sulphur three parts each. The hand-gun now became a practical proposition, whereas the old powder had only been suitable for cannon. At the beginning of the sixteenth century the saltpetre was again increased, the new proportions being four parts of saltpetre to one each of charcoal and sulphur. This change vastly increased the use of the arquebus.
The chief disadvantage of the meal gunpowder was the lack of air space acid consequent slow combustion. In i 52 `corned’ gunpowder was introduced. This was made by pounding the meal powder into a solid cake and then breaking it up into grains. This not only gave the required air space, but it also resulted in a better mixture of the components. The new powder- was still far short, however, of what was required. The grain was coarse and there was still too much charcoal and sulphur. Further, the saltpetre itself was full of impurities. Compared with later gunpowder, therefore, it was still relatively slow burning and a large charge was required. These deficiencies in speed of combustion and propelling power made it necessary to have a long barrel if the full strength was to be developed by the time the bullet left the gun. During the sixteenth century some improvement was effected by increasing the proportion of saltpetre to five parts to one part of each of the others.
The Civil War in England between Ying and Common–wealth was in one respect a turning-point in our military history; for it was the first conflict in which firearms exercised at least as much influence on the battlefield as shock weapons. The infantry arm was still the matchlock musket, with its original barrel length of 48 inches. The bore, however, had been reduced to the so-called ‘English’ bore, or 12.
In addition to the matchlocks there were a certain number of flintlock muskets. Some of these had the English lock with the steel and pan cover in one piece; others had the old snaphaunce lock with separate steel and pan cover. These latter -were almost certainly imported from the Continent. The barrel of both these flintlocks was 421 inches, .or Sl inches shorter than the matchlock.
A third type of flintlock in use was a conversion from the old arquebus. The barrel was only 4o inches long, but it was an unbalanced weapon, mainly owing. to its very light butt.
Cavalry firearms were either flintlocks or firelocks (wheel-locks). Heavy cavalry carried pistols and sometimes carbines. The Dragoons had their dragon, but this peculiar weapon was probably already being replaced by some sort of light musket, i.e. musketoon, carried hooked to a shoulder belt by runner and swivel.
The circumstances under which the Civil War was fought and the inevitable.shortage of arms resulted in a large number of sporting and other private arms being used on both sides. It was owing to the use of these private weapons that rifled firearms were first issued to English troops. Sharpshooters in particular were frequently armed with sporting rifles and the more accurate fowling-pieces. In his account of the defence of Lathom House by the Countess of Derby in x644, Bishop Rutter says:
`Upon the top of the towers were placed the best and choicest marksmen, who usually attended the Earl in his hunting and other sports as huntsmen, keepers, fowlers and the like, who continually kept watch, with screwed guns (rifles) and long fowling-pieces, to the great annoyance and loss of the enemy, especially of their commanders, who were frequently killed in their Trenches, or as they came or went to or from them.’
The first rifled barrel was probably made as early as 15 zo by Augustus Cotter at Nuremberg. The idea of spinning the bullet is believed to have been inspired by the effect of feathering an arrow, with the obvious hope that the appallingly inaccurate firearm of the day might be made to shoot as straight as the bow and arrow. However, although rifled arms were used in Europe during the second quarter of the sixteenth century, there was no real military requirement for them. For the close-order tactics of the day and for another three centuries the smooth-bore firearm gave adequate results. For sporting purposes, however, there were obvious advantages in having the most accurate firearm possible.
The rifles used in the Civil War were probably wheel-locks of German make. The bullets for these weapons were spherical, and were rammed down the barrel wrapped in a greased rag to make them a tight fit in the rifling.
Shortly before the start of the Civil War a breech-loading rifle appeared in England which was destined to be the standard sporting rifle for the next one and a half centuries. It is likely, therefore, that some arms of this type were used in the fighting. The bullet of a breech-loading rifle was cast somewhat larger than the bore, and therefore was gripped more securely by the grooves than the muzzle-loaded bullet in its greased patch. Breech-loading rifles were, however, considerably slower to reload than muzzle-loaders, so that they were not popular weapons for close-order fighting.
There were two methods of breech-loading; one of which was based on a detachable barrel, and the other on a threaded iron plug. In the first method the barrel was unscrewed from a fixed breeching or chamber, and the latter was loaded with the powder and bullet. In the second method a hole was drilled in the breech which was closed by a screw plug. The powder and then the bullet were inserted into the chamber through this hole.

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Nevertheless Henry did his best to ensure that, in spite of the increasing use of firearms, there should remain a large reserve of trained archers in the country from whom he could raise the bulk of his infantry in the event of war. In a new statute of 154:1 the vast majority of the male population between the ages of seventeen and -sixty were required to exercise themselves in archery and to be in possession of a bow and arrows. This was an even wider age limit than was laid down in the statute of 1511. At the same time the use of firearms was limited to certain persons and occasions as follows: ‘It shall be lawful, from henceforth, to all gentlemen yeomen, and servingmen of every lord, spiritual and temporal, and of all knights, esquires, and gentlemen, and to all the inhabitants of cities, boroughs, and market towns, of this Realm of England, to shoot with any hand-gun, demihake, or hagbut, at any butt or bank of earth, only in places convenient for the same: so that every such hand-gun, etcetera, be of the several lengths aforesaid, and not under. And that it shall be lawful, to every of the said lord and lords, knights, esquires, and gentlemen, and the inhabitants of every city, borough, and market town, to have and keep in every of their houses such hand-gun or hand-guns, of the length of one whole yard, and not under, to the intent to use and shoot in the same, at a butt or bank of earth only, as is above said, whereby they and every one of them, by the exercise thereof, in form above said, may the better aid and assist in the defense of this realm, when need shall require.’
There were many to lament the passing of the bow. In 1549 Bishop Latimer, preaching before Edward VI, denounced the vices of the age, and advocated, as a method of combating

FiG. 22. ARBALESTIERS.
The process of loadin,-, is clearly shown. Note the use of the windlass.
them, a return to the noble and manly pastimes which had been practised in his youth. He said: ‘In my time my poore father was as diligent to teach me to shoote as to learn *  me any other thing; and so I think other men did their children. He taught me how to draw, how to lay my body in my bow, and not to draw with strength of arms, as other nations doe, but with strength of the body. I had my bowes bought me according to my age and strength, as I increased in them, so my bowes were made bigger and bigger, for men shall never shoot well except they be brought up in it. It is a goodlie art, a wholesome kind of exercise, and much commended in phisicke. As late as z 55 there is a record in the Venetian State Papers of an appreciation of the English archers by one Giovanni Michele. He says: ‘. . . they, to say the truth; being. most expqrt archers, so that they would not yield to any other people more trained and experienced then they are; and such is their opinion of archery and their esteem of it, that they doubtless prefer it to all sorts of arms, and to harquebuses, in which they trust less, feeling more sure of their bows and arrows; contrary, however, to the judgement of the captains and soldiers of other nations. They draw the bow with such force and dexterity at the same time, that some are said to pierce corslets and body-armour; r; and there are few among them, even those that are moderately practised, who will not undertake at a convenient distance, either aiming point-blank, or in the air (as they generally do, that the arrow may fly further), to hit within an inch and a half of the mark.’    With moulinet or windlass.
The cross-bow was a mechanical
version of the bow, which was far more popular than the latter on the continent of Europe, but which was little used in England. It had neither the range nor speed of discharge of the long bow, but, on the other  hand, comparatively little training was required to enable a soldier to handle it reasonably effectively.
There were two kinds of cross-bow: the arbalest, which was a heavy weapon, and the latch, which was much the lighter, and the more popular in England. The bow of the arbalest was generally of steel. This was strained by means of a small windlass, which fitted on to the end of the butt, and wound up a .tackle which was hooked on to the bow-string. At the foremost end of the arbalest was a stirrup which rested on the ground during this operation, and in which the foot was placed to hold the weapon steady. The windlass and tackle when not in use were carried slung from the waist belt. The arbalest was held in tension, and the bow released by means of a ‘lock’. The early cross-bow locks varied considerably in design. They were not built up on a plate like a gun-lock, but consisted of mutually independent levers set on
FIG. 26. A LATCH.
Elizabeth I.
to the tiller or stock. The lever pivots were pins which passed through the stock from one side to the other. In the sixteenth century the type of lock was introduced which was to be used for many centuries on firearms. In this the mechanism was built on to a plate which was fixed to the stock. The release was actuated by a ‘tricker’, or hair trigger.
The latch was a much lighter weapon, and it was bent by a windlass of much simpler form than that employed for the arbalest. This was the ‘goat’s foot’ lever which worked by means of a cog and ratchet.
The early firearms were more useful for their moral effect than for any damage that they caused; and throughout the mediaeval period the personal, or hand, firearm played a sub-sidiary r6le. The noise and smoke were most impressive; and in the earliest and most inaccurate days there was, from the user’s point of view, a comforting theory that the wounds they caused were poisonous and incurable. Soldiers armed with
FiG. 27. LATCH.
Elizabeth I.
hand-guns would, indeed, need some comfort, for they must have been fearsome weapons to fire, and the observable results extremely disappointing.
0
Hand-auns of sorts were in use in the fourteenth century,  for Froissart mentions their use in an English force commanded by Sir John Chandos in 1369. These were probably very small weapons mounted on the end of a long shaft; for a bill submitted a few years later by William de Sleaforde, Keeper of the Privy Purse, includes the sum of thirteen shillings for fitting eight guns with helves, in the same manner as pikes. The helve, or shaft, was used to give support to the gun, and was generally stuck into the ground at a low angle. To give horizontal fire it might be hooked on to a wall or tree, the front
end being supported by a forked    FIG. 30. A HAND-GUN. rest. The charge was generally
ignited by inserting a red-hot wire through the touch-hole.
In a MS. which is in the British Museum, there is the figure of a soldier firing a hand-gun of a very early form. The MS. is marked `Royal, 15 E IV’, but it is dedicated to Edward V, and must presumably have been completed in 1485. The gun has no stock and is rested on top of the shoulder. It is being fired by applying-a match to the touch-hole, which is on top of the piece. From the attitude of the soldier it looks as if the gun, in its recoil, is likely to prove a far more dangerous weapon to himself than it is to any conceivable enemy This type of gun was, however, already out of date at the time the book was written. The first improvement seems to have been made during the reign of Henry VI, when the touchhole was moved to the side of the barrel, and a pan was secured below the touch-hole to hold the priming powder. Some of
FIG- 32. A HAND-GUN OF 1468.
these guns were turned into dual-purpose weapons by fixing an axe-head to the rear end. By the last quarter of the fifteenth century stocks were being fitted, which enabled the- gun to be held much more firmly and gave the firer some chance of dispatching his bullet in a generally appropriate direction. The butt was, however, held more often between elbow and body than it was into the shoulder. The final improvement to the hand-gun proper was the addition of a cover to the pan to prevent the powder being blown away by the wind.
The match, which replaced the original hot wire, was of cord or similar material which had been soaked in saltpetre or lees of wine. Thus treated, it burnt slowly and was not easily extinguished by inclement weather.
FIG- 33. A HAND-GUN WITH A STOCK.
Although the term ‘hand-gun’ was used to denote a personal firearm until the middle of the sixteenth century, the original crude weapon was replaced by the genesis of the matchlock, when mechanical means were introduced to apply the match to the priming pan about the first quarter of the fifteenth century. This innovation resulted in an enormous improvement in the accuracy of shooting; for the firer could now hold his weapon with both hands, instead of requiring one hand free to apply the loose match. The match was held in a pair of metal jaws, which were brought down on -to the priming pan by raising a long pivoted lever which extended towards the butt. The match holder was called a ‘dog’, ’serpentine’ or ‘dragon’ from its fancied resemblance to these animals.
The matchlock proper was an improvement on the above mechanism, which was now embodied in a ‘lock’. The match was held in the forked holder, or ’serpentine’, by a
FIG. 34. A CALIVER-MAN.
From the Roll of the Funeral of Sir Philip Sydney, 1586.
thumb screw. Linked to the serpentine was a lever, or ’scear’,
which was pivoted inside the lock plate. Raising the rear end
of the scear swung the serpentine over to the flash-pan. The
scear was actuated by a long trigger, similar in form to that of a
cross-bow, which was screwed to its rear end. A scear springwas
fixed inside the lock plate which pressed against the forward
end of the scear, so keeping the lighted match clear of the pan
until the trigger was pressed. The flash-pan was secured to the breech, and was closed by a hinged pan cover. This was always kept closed until the weapon was about to be fired.
The matchlock mechanism was probably suggested by that of the cross-bow. The firearms first fitted with this lock were called ‘arquebuses’; and it has been suggested that the term
FIG. 35. A MUSQUFTUR.
From the. Poll of the Fuxeral of Sir Philip Sydney, r536.
`arquebus’ referred to the lock, and was a corruption of the Italian arcabouza, or ‘bow with a mouth’. When, the first regular unit of English troops, the Yeomen of the Guard, was formed after Henry VII’s victory at Bosworth, one-half of the men were armed with bows and the other half with arquebuses. Of the two the archers were the more-formidable. The effective range of these early arquebuses was only about fifty yards, and they were probably incapable of killing a. man at a greater distance than ioo yards. On the other hand, it was not considered permissible for a fully trained archer to practise at the butts at a shorter range than 22o yards. In addition the archer could shoot six arrows to one shot of the arquebusier. As has already been pointed out, however, it took far less time to train an arquebusier than an archer.
The preparation of the matchlock for firing was, indeed, an appallingly slow business. The procedure for reloading was as follows:
(a) The match, which was lighted at both ends, was removed from the serpentine.
FiG. 36. AN ENGLTSTI MUSQUET.
Elizabeth I.
(b) A charge of powder was measured out from-the powder flask. This was done by reversing the flask and pressing a catch, which allowed the powder to flow into the nozzle of the flask, at the same time stopping up the mouth with a finger. When the nozzle was full the catch was released, this being the requisite charge of powder.
(c) The charge of powder was poured into the barrel.
(d) A bullet was extracted from the pouch and put down the barrel on top of the powder.
(e) A wad of rag, paper or tow was inserted in ‘the barrel and rammed down on top of bullet and powder.
(f) The flash-pan was filled with fine-grained powder from the ‘touch-box’; the cover closed and surplus powder blown away.

(g) The match was put back into the serpentine and adjusted for length. (Adjustments to the match had to be made frequently, or it burnt down too close to the serpentine and went out. The lighted free end was then used to relight the serpentine end.)
The original matchlock arquebus was froze to 31 feet in length overall, with a very short and sharply curved stock. This was intended to be supported against the chest rather than the shoulder. The barrel length was from 24 to 30
FIG- 37. THE HARQUEBUS.
Top: An Harquebus with a Trigger (Henry VIII).
Bottom: The Lock of an Harquebus of a later date with its Serpentine.
inches, and the bore between 20 and 30 (i.e. the number of bullets to the pound).
The different terms used for early firearms are extremely confusing; for not only were different names sometimes applied to the same weapon, but also with the passage of years a name often came to mean something entirely different from its original usage. Thus, ‘arquebus’ and ‘matchlock’ were originally synonymous; but in later years `arquebus’ denoted any light firearm which could be discharged from the breast or shoulder without the use of a rest. Again, ‘hacquebut’ or ‘hakbut’ (and many other spellings) was often used as an alternative to ‘arquebus’, but in earlier times it referred to a firearm with a very curved stock which brought the Ibarrel to eye level. Smaller versions were known as ‘dcmi-hags’ or `half-hackbuts’, and were really a form of pistol.
The introduction of the matchlock marks the close of the
FIG. 38. A D.ENII-FIAG.
mediaeval period, and the approaching end of the superiority of shock weapons. The increasing efficiency of firearms was to result, soon, in the virtual disappearance of armour from the battlefield, and by the latter years of the sixteenth century the bullet had established equality with cold steel.

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The lance was, of course, the weapon specially associated with the knight. At its head, in the great days of chivalry, it bore the small flag which indicated the knight’s rank and. status. A baron or knight-banneret had a square or rectangular banner emblazoned with its owner’s arms. A knight commanding in the field had a swallow-tailed pennon, also
FIG. 6. BATTLE-AXES.
2, Henry VIII; 3 & 4, Elizabeth I; 5, James I; 6, Dutch.
emblazoned with his arms. If, for his distinguished conduct in action, he was made a knight-bannerct on the battlefield, his pennon was converted technically into a banner by cutting off the swallow tails. An ordinary knight, fighting in the ranks, carried a triangular pennon, or pensil, on which might be either his badge or arms, and frequently depicted so that they were the right way up when the lance was horizontal. In the reign of Henry VIII all this gay individual heraldry was swept away, and the lances of the cavalry bore the white pennon and red cross of St. George.
There were a number of other shafted weapons which had their origin in mediaeval times; some of them lasting until a
FIG. 8. BATTLE-AXES. From the Bayeux Tapestry.
much later period of history. The oldest of these was probably the battle-axe, which was used by the Normans at Hastings, and it had some affinity with the Saxon bill. It had, however, a much shorter shaft, and was essentially a weapon for the mounted man. Another early weapon was the guisarme, which was a form of lance with a hook at,its side, and which was known to the Normans in the eleventh century. It was probably derived from the peasant’s ox-goad.

FIG. 9. MACES.
Top row: Quadrelle, temp. Edward IV; Massuelle, temp. Richard III; temp. Henry VII with hand-gun; Henry VIII; Philip & Mary. Middle row: Mace, temp. Henry V-, Henry VI; Henry VI, Edward IV; Henry VII; Henry VII; Henry VIII. Bottom row: Henry VIII; Henry VIII; Henry VIII; Edward VI.

The guisarme appears to have been little used in England, but from it came a derivative which was very popular in Wales. It had a broad, heavy, pointed blade on the end of a long shaft, and could be used either for cutting or thrusting. Presumably experience of it in the Welsh wars had impressed its value on the English, for in the first year of Richard III’s reign one Nicholas Spicer is recorded as having issued an order for the impressment of smiths to make Zoo Welsh glaives. Chaucer gives a hint at its formidable nature in a line: ‘And
FIG. 10. PIKE HEADS.
Left to right: Henry VII;’Henry VIII; Edward VI; Elizabeth I;
James 1; Charles I; Cromwell; Charles II; Charles II.
whet their tongue as sharp as sword or glaive’. In the sixteenth century the glaive was fashioned in all manner of decorative shapes, and generally richly engraved.
The baston is another of the shafted weapons of the Bayeux Tapestry. At its best it was an iron-tipped staff, but was sometimes merely a wooden bludgeon or a knotted club. It was succeeded by the similar but much more decorative mace. Maces became very popular with the many war-like prelates of the Middle Ages; since by using this arm in battle they were able to persuade their elastic consciences that they were evading the condemnation of all holding office in the Church who fought with the sword. Maces were made in all sorts of decorative and fantastic shapes, and they were the weapons of the King’s Serjeants-at-Arms as early as the fourteenth century. There was a smaller kind of mace called a masuel. This must have been a cheap, handy and dangerous little weapon, for it was included in the list of arms which Edward 1, in the first year of his reign, forbade his turbulent London subjects to carry.
The pike, which from the time of its introduction until the coming of the bayonet was to be the main shock weapon of the British infantry, did not reach England until the reign of
FIG. II. LINSTOCKS.
Early Italian; Elizabeth I; Elizabeth I; Charles 1.
Edward IV. It could not claim to be an original weapon; for it was merely a modification of the cavalry lance adapted to the needs of infantry, and a reintroduction in a slightly different form of the earlier short and light infantry spear. Nevertheless, its appearance on the continent of Europe in the hands of well-disciplined infantry revolutionized military tactics. For the first time for centuries infantry had a shock weapon with which they could face and repel cavalry. For 400 years mounted troops had dominated the battlefield. That place was now to be taken by the infantry until armoured formations arrived to-redress the balance some 5oo years later.

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This is the story of the weapons used by the British soldier throughout the ages, and the many developments in personal arms during the course of history, and the reasons which influenced their design. It starts at the Battle of Hastings in which the seeds of the British army were sown, and it ends with the short magazine Lee-Enfield rifle which served the British Army through half a century and two world wars.
It is interesting to learn that in the days of chivalry the weapons of the aspirant to the order of Knighthood were placed at the altar and were never to be used save in defence of honour, virtue and justice. The hilt of his sword was the emblem of Christianity, and to this day the pressure of his lips on the Cross is commemorated in the officer’s salute. It is facts such as these which help to explain the fascination which hand weapons have for so many.
From military arms have descended their counterparts in the chase, in sporting combat and on the range. These too form an interesting study, both in the multiplicity of their design and types, far exceeding the recognized weapons of war.
The craftsmanship shown in the manufacture of these weapons, of which many fine examples are illustrated in this volume, will appeal to both the connoisseur and the collector, besides the fascinating story of how they came into use.

During his long vigil through the hours of darkness the weapons of the aspirant to the order of knighthood were placed at the altar. He was taught that these weapons must never be used save in the defence of honour, virtue and justice. The hilt of his sword was formed in the shape of the emblem of Christianity; and to this day the pressure of his lips on the Cross, as he draws his sword, is commemorated in the Officer’s salute.
It seems probable that it is this tradition of the higher symbolism of weapons that has been largely responsible for the care and attention which, throughout his history, the British soldier has been exhorted to bestow upon his personal arms.
It is no doubt the glamour of ancient chivalry which explains in part the fascination which hand weapons have for so many. This is not, of course, the sole reason. The skill and craftsmanship so often shown in their manufacture, and the fact that they are of a convenient size for handling and display, invite the attention of the collector.
From military arms have descended their counterparts in the chase, in sporting combat and on the range. These too form an attractive study, but in the multiplicity of their type and design they exceed by far the authorized weapons of war; and to deal with them adequately would be beyond the scope of any one book.
This, then, is the story of the weapons which have been used by British fighting men, and of such developments which have influenced their design. It starts, since it must start somewhere, at the Battle of Hastings, in which the seeds of an eventual British Army were sown; and it ends with the supersession of the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield rifle, which served the British Army through half a century and two World Wars.

If one takes the battle of Hastings as a starting-point in a history of weapons, one must logically start with the bill; for this was the principal weapon of the armies of the Saxon kings. It consisted of a heavy axe-type blade, sometimes hooked or curved, set at the end of a long staff or handle. It was wielded with both hands as an axe, and a trained man became remark-7 ably skilled in its use. Few troops could face the steel wall of
FIG. I. SAXON BILLS.
the English household infantry with its line of flashing and cleaving bills. Even the Normans failed to break them by direct shock attack; and to the last they remained formidable as they died in compact groups round their fallen King.
William the Conqueror was too able a soldier to contemplate changing the infantry weapon of his new subjects, and the bill remained as one of the principal arms of the English foot soldier for many centuries after the Conquest. In any riot or tumult in mediaeval times the cry would be heard of, ‘Bills and Bows I Bills and Bows V
FIG. 2. TnE BOAR SPEAR. From ajourtrenth-centuiy MS.
It was not until the introduction of the pike in the fifteenth century that the bill began to lose its pre-eminent place as the infantry shock weapon. Even then it was by no means
0
Ij
FIG. 3. THE SPEAR IN BOAR HUNTING.
From the Cotton MS., ninth century.
replaced, for the Italian Daniel Barbaro, writing in ISS 1, notes the billmen as one of the elements of the’ English infantry. He says that their weapon was ‘a short thick staff, with an iron, like a peasant’s hedging bill…. With this, they strike so violently as to unhorse the cavalry; and it is made short because they like close quarters.’
As late as 1584 there were still a substantial number of billmen in the English forces; for a muster of the troops oil the Scottish border showed that out of about 7400 infantry, 2500 were armed with bills.
From the Bayeux Tapestry it will be seen that both sides at the battle of Hastings were armed with shafted weapons which
FiG. 4. Baas.
Left to right -. Henry IV, Edward IV, Henry VII, Elizabeth I,
Seventeenth century.
appear to be of identical design and something of a cross between lance and javelin; for they are depicted as used by both horse and foot for either throwing or overhand thrusting, and by the mounted knights in the ordinary fashion of a lance.
The spear had been used from very early times in these islands, and it had always formed part of the equipment of the Anglo-Saxon forces. At the time of the Norman invasion it was carried by the English household troops, probably as a secondary weapon, for use either in close combat or to be hurled as a javelin. In defence the latter method was the more likely, in order to break up the ranks of the attackers before they came to close contact with the steel wall and its formidable bills
The early Norman lance was of light construction and very similar to the Saxon spear. It underwent little change during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, though it may have been lengthened and -was probably eventually about thirteen or fourteen feet. The shaft was originally of ash, but in Chaucer’s day it seems to have been more commonly made of cypress wood. In the fourteenth century some protection was given

FIG. 5. SPEAR & LANCE HEADS.

1-3, British, 4-8, Anglo-Saxon, Norman; 9 & io, Fifteenth century;
i i & 12, Sixteenth century.
to the hand by fixing a small round plate (the ‘vam-plate’) to the shaft. In the fifteenth century the shaft of the lance was tapered. Instead of being comparatively narrow and of the same thickness throughout, it was increased in diameter from the point downward and a grip was made for the hand. Towards the end of the century, in the time of Edward IV, the shaft was fluted and the butt ends were shaped to various designs. The fourteenth-century tilting lance was extremely thick and was frequently painted spirally with the distinctive colours of its bearer.

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