Shooting the War

THE BREECH-LOADING RIFLE
From 1857 breech-loading rifles began to appear experimentally in the British Army. These, the first military breechloaders since the Ferguson rifle, were in fact all carbines and were issued for trial to certain cavalry regiments. There were four different patterns: the Terry and the Westley Richards, which were of British design, and the Sharps And the Greene, which were American.
The Terry carbine was made by the firm of Callisher & Terry of Birmingham and 28 Norfolk Street, London. It was a new firm, for it was only established in 1855, and the mechanism invented by the junior partner was patented in 1856. It is of particular interest in that it introduced into the British Army the bolt action, which was later to become almost universal for non-automatic military rifles. The Terry bolt had a coned head which fitted into the correspondingly shaped rear end of the chamber. The bolt was opened by a hinged handle, fitted at its rear end, which was pulled, outwards to withdraw it. When the bolt was closed part of the handle filled up the loading aperture. The bolt was held in position by rear locking lugs (foreshadowing later British practice) which bore against shoulders on the standing breech.
The Terry was of the type known as a ‘capping breechloader’. That is to say, the cartridge used with it contained only the charge of powder and the bullet, the detonating mixture being contained in a separate percussion cap. The Terry cartridge was made of nitrated paper and had a wad of greased felt behind the powder charge and attached to the base. After the discharge of the cartridge this wad remained in the breech and the following round was loaded behind it. After the next shot it was thrust forward in front of the bullet, cleaning and greasing the barrel.
The Terry carbine was a very successful weapon. It was purchased extensively by the Confederacy during the American Civil war and was known as the ‘door bolt’ breech-loader. The famous Confederate cavalry leader General Jeb Stuart had one.
The American Sharps carbine was a much earlier design, having been invented by Christian Sharps in 1848. Its most noteworthy .feature was a ‘falling’ breech block. This opened vertically when actuated by a trigger guard, hinged to move forwards and downwards; but it also fell open when the carbine was held muzzle down. The cartridge case was made of treated linen; and the breech block had a sharp forward edge which, as the block was closed, sliced off the end of this case to expose the powder. The linen was consumed on the explosion of the charge. The first models had separate percussion caps, but the later ones, including those supplied to the British Government, were fitted with the Maynard tape primer, which was rather similar to the strip of caps made for toy pistols, and which  was invented by an American dentist. (It almost seems as if Maynard was more interested in ammunition than he was in teeth, for in 1856 he patented a metallic cartridge with an expanding case.)
The Sharps carbine had an interesting, if somewhat disreputable, history in the years before the outbreak of the American Civil war. The admission of Kansas as a State of the Union was the occasion of a bitter struggle between those who wished to see slave labour introduced and those who were opposed to it. In Massachusetts the New England Emigrant Aid Company was formed to send settlers to Kansas who were opposed to slavery. Many of these were established in the Kansas town of Lawrence, and here armed clashes occurred with slave-state supporters from Missouri. Considerable damage was done in Lawrence both to the homes of the settlers and the public buildings. In revenge the famous, or infamous, John Brown (depending on one’s point of view), in company with a small body of settlers and four of his own sons, seized five of the principal advocates of the slavery movement and killed them. The New England Emigrant Aid Company had supplied the settlers with Sharps carbines-, and a further twenty-five were presented on behalf of the Congregational Church of Plymouth, Massachusetts, by its minister, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher. From this latter source of supply the Sharps carbines acquired the colloquial name of `Beecher’s Bibles’.
In 1859 John Brown, in command of a motley detachment of eighteen men, including his sons, his brother-in-law and six negroes, seized the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia. Armed with Beecher’s Bibles they then held off attacks by the local militia, until finally forced to surrender by Colonel Robert E. Lee in command of a small force of Marines. John Brown was hanged, but his name has been immortalized in a great Union song which has become one of the most rousing military marches of all time. The far greater man who captured him was to become the brilliant leader in the field of the forces which John Brown had opposed. In the meantime, amongst the relics of this episode is a Sharps ‘Beecher’s Bible’ carbine on which is engraved the name ‘John Brown Jr. .
The Greene, the other American carbine, had an entirely fixed breech and a barrel which rotated and moved forward for loading. The breech and the barrel’were locked’ together by lugs. The principle was not a new one, and the Greene does not seem to have been favourably received; for although 2000 were bought it appears that many were never issued.
The Westley Richards carbine was made by the famous-firm, the early history of which has already been given. As stated in Chapter X111, Westley Richards succeeded his father in 1855, and the name of the firm became Westley Richards & Company. Three years later he patented his capping breech-loader carbine. The mechanism of this, though rather complicated, was the most efficient of the four carbines. The breech was opened and closed by means of a long arm, the forward part of which was hinged to the rear of the barrel. When the breech was closed the rear end of the arm rested in a recess cut along the top of the small of the butt. Raising the arm vertically opened the breech. Attached to the under part of this arm was an elongated plunger, at the forward end of which was a brass breech plug. When closed, the rear end of the plunger butted against an iron shoe, which held it in position against the breech pressure. The plunger had a little free movement ‘fore and aft’ on the arm to ease the action of opening and closing. From its distinctive arm the Westley Richards acquire the nickname of ‘Monkey-Tail’. The cartridge was the same as that used with-the Terry carbine.
The Westley Richards was far the most successful of the four carbines under trial, and in 1861 it was approved as the firearm for the cavalry of the Army. Even when n the Snider was approved for all arms of the Regular Army, it was not entirely displaced; for it was issued to the Yeomanry and was the ‘Standard carbine of the second-line cavalry for many’ years. Abroad the Portuguese Government took a fancy to it and adopted it for use in the army.
Although the cavalry now had a breech-loading rifled firearm, the rest of the Army was equipped with the muzzle-loading Enfield, or (in the case of the Royal Engineers) Lancaster. Breech-loaders were, however, already a commonplace amongst sporting weapons, and it was clear that the muzzle-loader was obsolescent. Several foreign armies were now equipped or partially equipped with breech-loading rifles. Although the American Civil war had been mostly fought with muzzle-loaders, many units in the Union armies had been equipped with Sharps rifles, and several other makes were in use on both sides. On the continent of Europe the Prussian Army had adopted the bolt-action needle gun in 1848, and its superiority over the weapons of opposing armies was evident. in the wars against Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866.
In 1864, therefore, a Select Committee was appointed to consider the equipment of the whole Army with breech-loaders, and to study designs for this purpose. The Committee decided that the only practicable method of doing this quickly was to select a mechanism which would permit the conversion of the Army’s large stock of comparatively new muzzle-loading Enfields. Conversion could only be regarded as an interim measure, but it was considered that the selection of the best type of breech-loading rifle for the Army was of less urgency than the provision of some form of breech-loader.
The breech-loading mechanism which was chosen by the Committee was designed by Jacob Snider of New York. The breech was closed by a block which was hinged laterally on the right, and fitted into a recess behind the barrel. To open the breech a thumb piece was pressed which caused the block to swing over to the right. At first it was intended that the Enfield cartridge with its separate cap should be used, and the cap holder and ignition hole formed part of the block.
This was not, however, a very satisfactory answer, for it introduced certain weaknesses. It was decided, therefore, to use a cartridge which incorporated its own detonator. The original Enfield lock and hammer were still retained, but in. place of the nipple the block was pierced obliquely for a striker, the head of which protruded in the part of the block which had been occupied by the nipple. A centre-fire cartridge was adopted, and a claw extractor was fitted to the breech mechanism. This pulled the cartridge case partially out when the breech was opened, and it was then thrown clear by turning the .rifle upside down.
The first cartridge used had a cartridge paper body and a brass base. This was disappointing, and finally the brass-bodied cartridge devised by Colonel Boxer was adopted. This final development took place in 1.867; but in the meantime issue to the troops of the Snider-Enfield, already modified to take a centre-fire cartridge, had started in 1865.
The story of the self-contained cartridge is interesting. The first one seems to have been produced by the inventive Genevan gunsmith of Paris, Jean Samuel Pauly, whose invention of a pellet detonator in 1812 was mentioned in Chapter X. Some time between 1812 and 1815 Pauly produced a centre-fire paper cartridge, affixed to the base of which was a metal rosette containing the detonating mixture. The paper cartridge cannot have been very satisfactory, for shortly afterwards he tried a brass cartridge. The brass, however, was too thick and heavy for the casing t6 expand sufficiently to make a gas-tight seal.
It seems likely that little was required to make a success of Pauly’s invention; and yet, surprisingly, nothing further was apparently attempted for another fifteen years. In 1831 Moser, a foreign engineer, took out a British patent for a muzzle-loader which had a needle-fire cartridge. In 1836 rem Dreyse, a Prussian gunsmith. who had worked under Pauly, produced a breech-loading needle gun; and this was the bolt-action weapon which was adopted by the Prussian Army in 1848. The cartridge was made of combustible paper, and a pellet of fulminate was inserted between the powder charge and the bullet. Fitted to the bolt was a long needle-like striker which penetrated the base of the cartridge and went forward through the powder to pierce the doonator. Though successful in action, the needle gun was a dirty weapon. The needle got badly corroded and the breech became blocked with fouling.
The next major development was the invention by a Frenchman named Houillier, in 1846, of the pin-fire cartridge. The casing was made of thick coiled paper with a base of copper or brass. - Protruding at right angles from the side of the cartridge case, and at the base end where the wall was of metal, Was a pin. This pin was struck by a hammer, which drove it into a detonator inside the cartridge. The following year another Frenchman, Flobert, produced the first rim-fire cartridge. The principle of this has been explained in Chapter XIV, and it differs little from the rim-fire cartridges which are used to-day; chiefly for -22 calibre weapons.
In 185z Lancaster, who, it will be remembered, designed the muzzle-loading rifle which had been adopted for the Royal Engineers, brought out a breech-loading rifle which took a centre-fire cartridge of his own design. Inside the cartridge case, and a short distance from the base, was a perforated metal disc. Between this disc and the base was the detonating mixture: base, disc and detonator forming a sandwich. When the striker hit the base, it was indented, compressing the detonator and causing an explosion. The flash from the detonator passed through the perforations of the disc to the powder charge. The success of the Lancaster cartridge led to the adoption of a centre-fire cartridge for the Snider,
Some years previously, probably about 1839, another Frenchman, Pottet, invented a tapered expanding cartridge made of rolled paper with a metal base. In the centre of the base there was an aperture, and on the inner side of this was fixed a chamber containing a detonator, and having a small hole communicating with the powder charge. In 1857 Pottet patented his invention, but there was apparently no machinery available to manufacture it and hand manufacture would have been too expensive.
Yet another Frenchman, F. E. Schneider of Paris, patented an improved version of the Pottet cartridge, and this was introduced into England by the gunmaking firm of Witton and Daw (the successors to George H. Daw). This was the centre-fire cartridge which was selected for the Snider-Enfield. As has already-been said, it was not a complete success. The problem was then tackled by Colonel Boxer, Superintendent of the Royal Laboratory at Woolwich, with the result that he produced his very successful modification of 1867-
The Boxer cartridge hadacase made of thin sheet brass, coiled and covered with paper, and mounted on a separate base which was a disc, first of brass and later of iron. The hollow rivet which secured the cylinder to the base was the cap chamber. Oddly enough the Boxer principle was subsequently adopted by the United States of America, whilst the present bottlenecked type of cartridge now used in the British Army originated in the 187o design of Colonel Hiram Berdan of the United States Ordnance. Department.
The immediate requirements of the Army having been provided for, consideration was now given to the type of breech-loading rifle which should replace the Snider-Enfield. Eventually,.in 1871, the Martini-Henry was selected. This rifle combined the falling breech mechanism invented by an Austrian, von Martini, and the rifled barrel with seven grooves which had been designed by an Edinburgh gunsmith named Alexander Henry.
The Martini breech mechanism consisted of a block which was hinged at its rear end, and in which was a coiled spring to actuate the striker. Behind the trigger guard was a lever, which, when it was pulled down, lowered the front end of the block to uncover the breech, extracted and ejected the cartridge case, and cocked the striker. The loaded cartridge was then inserted by hand into the chamber. In its simplicity and efficiency the Martini action is one of the best that has ever been designed, and it is still the most popular for small-bore competition shooting. From a military point of view, however, it suffered from two very serious defects. Firstly, sand was liable to jam the mechanism, and this gave great trouble in the Egyptian campaign of 1882. Secondly, it was a single-shot weapon, and it was therefore doomed once the demand for magazine rifles arose.
Another defect in the Martini-Henry was Henry’s barrel. The grooves of the rifling were deep and square cut, with the result that fouling lodged in them very readily. The bore was smaller than that of the Snider-Enfield, being only -450 instead of -577.- In spite of this the Snider-Enfield was the pleasanter weapon to fire, for the Martini-Henry had a vicious kick of a recoil.
After some experimental models had been tested in 1972, the Martini-Henry Mark I was issued to the troops in 1874. The Mark II of 1876 and the Mark III of 1879 embodied minor modifications. In 1886 a Committee, convened as a result of the troubles experienced in the Egyptian campaign, recommended certain. improvements in the rifle, including a bore of ‘402- Some experimental models were made, known as the Enfield Martini; but as magazine rifles were already under investigation nothing came of them, and they were converted to Martini-Henrys of the normal pattern and designated Mark IV.
A great student of the science of rifling, William Ellis Metford, was born in Taunton in 1824. He became a civil engineer, and at an early age worked under the famous Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the construction of the Great Western Railway. Later he went to India as a railway engineer, but returned to England when his never very robust health broke down.
Metford had been interested in shooting both in practice and theory from his youth, and after he had been forced to give up his Indian career he had more time to devote to this hobby. From notes which he has left it is apparent that he was carrying out experimental work on rifles at least as early as i85o; and in 1852 he was firing rifles at i2oo yards’ range in pursuance of his experiments. By 1854 he was satisfied that, contrary to the general belief, the expansion of a bullet into the rifling -occurred immediately after the explosion of the charge and before it started to move forward. He also discovered that the explosion caused a rifle barrel to bend, so that when the bullet left the muzzle the barrel was pointing in a slightly different direction to the original point of aim.
Metford evolved a most ingenious method of testing his theories. He fired bullets into a long box filled with sawdust, and was thus able to recover them in the condition in which they had left the barrel of the rifle. From subsequent examination it was possible to tell whether there had been any leakage of explosion gases past a bullet, and the manner in which it had taken the rifling. From such experiments Met-ford found that the common practice of constructing very deep grooving in a rifled barrel was unnecessary, and that a longitudinal bullet with a good bearing surface would not strip, or ride over, the lands even when the grooves were very shallow. He also found that the generally held theory that a bullet must be made of pure .lead to be soft enough to be expanded by the explosion into the grooves was incorrect; and that, on the contrary, a much harder bullet of lead and an alloy would do.
Metford next constructed a rifle and bullets in accordance with his ideas. The grooves were only a few thousands of an inch deep, and the lead and alloy bullet had a shallow hollow ire the base and was protected from friction by a thin paper wrapping. A great friend of Metford’s, Colonel Halford, had his own private range at Wistow in Leicestershire. Here experiments were carried out with the new rifle. They were sufficiently successful for Metford to have a special rifle made in 1865 for match shooting. This had seven grooves of a depth of four-thousandths of an inch. Armed with this weapon, a muzzle-loader, Halford, entered the-competition held by the Cambridge University Long Range Club, which included practices at i 000 and i i oo yards. To the astonishment of the many critics-of the design, Halford won the cup presented for the best score on the two days’ shoot.
Metford’s ideas had come to stay, and they were soon being copied by all gunsmiths. For military rifles, unfortunately, Henry’s barrel had been adopted before the implications of Metford’s success had been really appreciated. In due course his rifling replaced Henry’s in the weapon of the British soldier, but before this happened there was a new development in bullet design. The bore of the Martini-Henry rifle, even though considerably smaller than that of the Snider-Enfield, was still very large. A reduction in the size of the bore would allow a smaller cartridge, and this in turn would result in the soldier being able to carry a greater quantity of ammunition in his personal equipment: an important consideration in view of the increased rate of fire which would be possible with the advent of the magazine rifle. With the existing muzzle velocity of the bullet, however, its size, which was dictated by the military requirement for stopping power, could not be reduced any further. If the velocity could be increased the same stopping.power could be obtained with a smaller bullet, but the lead bullets then used were too soft to be propelled at a faster rate down the barrel. The difficulty was solved by a Swiss, Colonel Rubin, who found that if the lead bullet was encased in a covering of a harder metal it would stand up to much greater velocities.
As a result of Colonel Rubin’s discovery the calibre of British Army rifles was reduced to -303 inch in 1888, and this is still the standard for all full-bore bolt-action rifles. The increased velocity was at first obtained by using a charge of compressed black powder. In the meantime a Committee was established under the presidency of Frederick Abel, an expert in the manufacture of explosives, to devise a smokeless propellent. A solution was found in a preparation based on the discoveries of the great Swiss engineer, Alfred Nobel. It was hardened into a long cord and given the name ‘cordite’. From 1892 it was used in all Service small arms ammunition. Cordite increased the velocity of the bullet from the i 800 feet per second of the compressed black powder charge, to 2000 feet per second. This was further increased to 2440 feet per second in 1911 when a still lighter pointed bullet was adopted.
The new rifle which was introduced into the British Army in 1888 was the Lee-Metford. It had Metford’s design of rifled barrel with the ‘303-inch calibre, and a bolt-action breech and magazine, both invented by a Scottish watchmaker named James Paris Lee. Lee’s bolt is a development of the breech mechanism which had’ first appeared in the Prussian needle gun of 1848 and subsequently in the French Chassepot of 18 66. The Lee action is still in use in the British Army, and is only now, some seventy years after its first introduction, being replaced by a semi-automatic mechanism.
The function of the bolt, briefly, is to push the cartridge into the breech, close the breech, fire the cartridge, and extract and eject the empty case. The cartridge is fired by a pin which is held back by a spring inside the bolt, and which projects through a hole in the bolt-head when the pressure of the trigger releases the spring. The Lee bolt was strongly criticized by leading British gunsmiths because it is held in position when closed by lugs at the rear of the bolt. Whereas, theoretically, in order that the minimum amount of metal should be under stress at the time of firing, front locking lugs should be used, as in the German Mauser and the. American Garand. However, the Lee rear locking lugs permit the use of a separate bolt-head, which facilitates cleaning and adjustment. Moreover, the Lee action is the fastest bolt-action ever to have been devised, and its retention in the Army after the Boer war and the two World Wars is a testament to its efficiency in action.
The Lee magazine is a separate box which is inserted under the breech mechanism and held in place by a spring clip. Inside is a platform which is pushed upwards from below by a spring in the base of the box. The cartridges are inserted on top of the platform and press it downwards, so compressing the spring. As one cartridge ‘is pushed forward by the bolt from the magazine, so the spring pushes another one upwards into place. The first magazine held eight rounds of the black powder ammunition. This was increased to ten rounds when the cordite ammunition was introduced.
From 18 go a number of the Martini action rifles were given the Metford barrel instead of the Henry. These conversions were known as Martini-Metfords. Between 1891 and 1892 a large number of the Martini-Henry Cavalry carbines and. Artillery carbines were similarly converted.
In x895 the Metford barrel was modified at Enfield by reducing the number of grooves in the rifling from seven to five. The new rifle was called the Lee-Enfield. Further rifle and carbine conversions from the Martini-Henrys received this barrel and became Martin i-En fields.
No bolt-action carbines were made until 1896, when a magazine Lee-Enfield Cavalry carbine was produced. All Artillery carbines, however, continued to have the single-shot Martini action. In addition, Colonial troops at the start of the Boer war were armed with the Martini-Enfield, and the Indian Army was equipped with it until i goS.
At the time the retention of single-shot weapons did not appear as such a disadvantage  as it would now; for the magazine was regarded as a reserve, and the rifle was fitted with a cut-out which slid across the magazine so that it could be cut off from the chamber. This was the normal position for firing, the rifle being reloaded by hand with a single round after each . shot. It was probably considered that ammunition supply in the field would present difficulties if the high rate of fire, which the magazine made possible, were used too freely. The comparative effectiveness of the new magazine rifles was demonstrated, however, at the battle of Omdurman. The British troops opened fire on -the charging dervishes at a range of 2000 yards and stopped them Soo yards from their position. The Egyptian and Sudanese troops, who had Martini-Henrys, opened fire at moo yards and stopped them 300 yards away.
The limited use of the magazine was found to be a handicap in the. Boer war. Once the reserve of rapid fire had been used there was no means of re-charging the magazines quickly. Lee had, indeed, invented a charger in 1892 by means of which five rounds could be loaded simultaneously. This was not considered necessary at the time but was eventually adopted as a result of the lessons of the Boer war.
The Boer war showed that fire power by mounted troops was at least as important as shock action, and the Martini carbine, with which most of the cavalry were armed, was a very ineffective weapon compared with the magazine Lee-Enfield of the mounted infantry. After the war it was therefore decided that carbines should be abolished and that there should be one pattern of rifle for the whole Army. In order to make it suitable for use by mounted troops the Lee-Enfield was reduced in length and entitled the Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (known to generations of soldiers as the S.M.L.E.). In compensation the bayonet was slightly lengthened.

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SWORDS—WATERLOO TO
THE PRESENT DAY
There was no, change in the pattern of swords used by the British Army during the long second period of the Napoleonic wars, which lasted from the reopening of hostilities, after the abortive Peace of Amibns, until the final departure of Napoleon to St. Helena. When the threat from imperial France had been finally removed, however, there was more time for those who meddle with these things to consider the minutiae of military uniform and equipment.
Round about i82o sundry new regulations were published relating to swords. Even the superb light cavalry sword, which had proved its value in action, was not left alone. The old argument was revived as to whether cutting or thrusting was the more important function of a cavalrysword; and because it was not yet appreciated that no sword can be designed which is really satisfactory for both, the weapon which eventually appeared was a compromise which was good at neither.
The new sword was issued to regiments of Hussars and Light Dragoons in 1826. It had the same type of stirrup hilt as the old sword, but the blade was increased in length to thirty-four inches, and was both narrower and considerably less curved. The balance of the sword was quite altered as compared with its predecessor, and this, together with the straighter blade, resulted in a weapon which was far inferior for cutting. For thrusting it was more effective, though by no means satisfactory.
Units seem to have been in no hurry to acquire this new sword, for the 13th Hussars, at any rate, managed to retain the old one until 1829. In 1829 the hilt was changed from the stirrup pattern to a three-bar steel guard, which gave more protection to the hand.
In 1822 the sword of the heavy cavalry received some much needed attention. In contrast, however, to the ill-advised replacement of the efficient light cavalry sword, the only improvement made to the ineffective weapon of the heavy cavalry was the substitution of a sharp point for the original hatchet termination of the blade.
Also in or about :1822 a new sword was introduced for infantry officers. The hilt was a half-basket type of Gothic design, incorporating the Royal cypher, and the half of the guard worn next to the body was hinged to fall downwards, to avoid rubbing the clothing. The inside of the hilt was lined with black patent,leather, and there was a fishskin grip bound with brass wire. The hilts were made of brass, except those of the Rifle regiments, which were steel. The blade was the same length of thirty-two inches as the previous pattern, but it was slightly curved instead of being straight. In addition it was unfullered and had piping down .the back to strengthen it. In spite of the strengthening, however, the blade was weak; and the piping, in fact, prevented it cutting deep.
In 1834 the Highland regiments, which hitherto had worn the same infantry sword as the rest of the Army, were issued with a sword of their own. This had the traditional ‘Highland Basket’ hilt. The blade was the heavy broadsword type similar to that popular in the heavy cavalry in about 1750, (A sword with this type of.hilt is often wrongly called a claymore. The true claymore is a two-handed sword with no other protection than a pair of straight quillons.) The Highland Basket is, not, in point of fact, a very convenient hilt, in spite of the protection it gives. The hand is too confined for the sword to be used very effectively. for thrusting. On the other hand, it was originally designed for cutting;; the body being protected by either the dirk or the targe. Used thus it was a very fine weapon. In addition it was very decorative, and during the reign of the ‘First Gentleman in Europe’ this was frequently of greater importance than efficiency for battle. The hilt was lined with white buckskin and scarlet cloth edged with blue silk, and a crimson silk tassel was suspended from the pommel. Lowland regiments were still armed with the ordinary pattern of infantry sword.
In about 1848 a new sword was at last brought out for the heavy cavalry. It was a vast improvement on the old one. The blade was thirty-six inches long, slightly curved, and tapered to a sharp point. The hilt was steel, and the guard was the first example of the bowl-shell which is fitted to the latest pattern of cavalry sword. On the inside it was lined with leather, and there was a leather covering to the grip.
The new heavy cavalry sword had a very short life, for in 1853 a sword was approved for issue to all cavalry regiments, whether heavy- or light. This signalized official recognition that there was now no difference in the function of the two branches of the cavalry. It i6 unlikely, however, that many regiments, if any, received this sword before leaving for the Crimea; and the great cavalry actions of that war were probably fought with the older pattern swords.
It had at last been realized that all the qualities required for cutting - and thrusting could not be combined in one weapon. The 1853 pattern was primarily a thrusting weapon, and it was so stated in the regulations. At the same time the design allowed for cutting as a secondary function. The blade was straight and thirty-six inches in length. The guard consisted of three bars, of cast iron, and on the opposite side of the sword was a short quillon. ‘The slit for the sword knot was on top of the guard.
The ordinary infantry officer’s sword was improved in 1845. The hilt was unchanged, but the blade was heavier, fallered and without the piping on the back. It was . still slightly curved. Some ten years later there was another change. The blade became a little straighter, and the inner part of the guard was no longer hinged. The design on the guard incorporated the Royal cypher and, in Light Infantry and Rifle regiments, a bugle as well.
A peculiar type of ornamental sword was introduced into the Band and Drums of the infantry in about 1830- It had a short and very curved blade of the type known as Mameluke. The hilts varied in shape and design in accordance with regimental taste. The pommel nearly always figured an animal’s head. The lion was the most often seen, but sometimes a badge of the regiment was chosen. The 17th Regiment, for instance, had the Royal Tiger which had been granted to them as a badge in 1825. The 56th Regiment, which. had been associated with West Kent for many years, bore the Kentish horse. There was no guard other than quillons, and these were straight, curved or counter-curved; and sometimes with brass chains connecting the quillons and the pommel.
In 1854 a new and completely different sword was introduced for the Band and Drums. It had a blade which was longer but less curved than its predecessor and a brass half-basket hilt, incorporating the Royal cypher. Three years later the sword was changed again. Curved blade and half-basket hilt were alike discarded. The new weapon was short and straight in the blade; and the hilt had no guard other than trefoil-shaped quillons. There was a black leather scabbard with brass mounts. For Rifle regiments the hilt was steel, and for other regiments brass. A similar sword, but slightly lighter, was issued to buglers. The only other difference was the absence of a knob on top of the pommel. In 1895 the hilt was simplified and the bugler’s sword was made slightly the heavier weapon. In i goS these swords were abolished.
In 18 56 the sword replaced the musket as the weapon of the infantry Pioneers. The. blade was 22z inches in length, and the back edge was cut as a double-toothed saw. The hilt had a simple knuckle-bow guard. This was probably not the first time that Pioneers had used saw-backed swords, as some seem to have been armed with them in the I 840’s; but this earlier type was not, apparently, official, and may have been made under regimental arrangements.
In 1864 the bowl-shell guard, which had been fitted to the heavy cavalry sword of 1848, replaced the guard with cast-iron bars of the universal cavalry sword of 1853. It had been found that these bars often broke in action, and in any case gave little protection to the hand. The new guard was made of sheet steel and was pierced by four triangular apertures arranged in the shape of a cross. At the same time the blade was shortened by an inch to thirty-five inches, and was curved slightly, presumably to improve it for cutting.
In 1863 an improved pattern of Highland Basket hilt was approved for Scottish infantry regiments. It made no appreciable. difference, however, to the regimental broadsword as a fighting weapon. In fact, later swords of English manufacture were far inferior weapons. Eventually, in 18 7 8, it was decided that basket hilts would have to be removed on active service. The hilt which was consequently approved for wear with Service dress certainly allows the hand full freedom of movement, but the only protection provided is a pair of straight quillons. The basket and cross hilts are made readily interchangeable. The original scabbards had been of black leather with brass or copper-gilt mounts and a chape with trailer. The 1863 scabbard was steel, but the pattern approved later for wear with Service dress and Sam Browne belt was leather. In 1881 the Lowland regiments adopted the Highland pattern broadsword.
A peculiarity in the swords of Scottish regiments is the use of a separate type of hilt for mounted field officers. This is interchangeable with either the cross or basket hilts for dismounted duties, and is lined with buckskin and crimson cloth. The pattern varies with different regiments. In’ The Royal Scots, The Royal Scots Fusiliers, The King’s Own Scottish Borderers and The Gordon, Highlanders the hilt is covered with a design of thistles, and there is a space for the display of the regimental badge. The field officers of The Black Watch, The Seaforth Highlanders, *The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders and The Highland Light Infantry have a differently shaped guard with a scroll design. This hilt was also worn by officers of the heavy cavalry from 1857 to 1896, and by officers of the Royal Engineers from -T-8$7 to -1902- Field officers of The Cameron Highlanders have a separate sword with a three-barred and unlined hilt, which is also worn by officers of the Royal Artillery. The Cameronians have the same sword as other Rifle regiments, though for some years the regimental badge was worn in place of the bugle.
In 188o a new sword was introduced for officers of infantry regiments nts; (other than Scottish). It had a straight blade and a half-basket brass hilt. In 1895 a new hilt was introduced, though the blade remained  the same. The hilt was again the half-basket type, but of steel instead of brass. It incorporated a foliated design and the crowned Royal cypher. The following year there was a slight modification: the inside edge of the guard was turned down to safeguard the uniform from damage. The 1896 sword is the pattern worn by officers to-day, not only in the infantry, but in the Royal Engineers, the Royal Signals and other corps.
In 1882 another cavalry sword was produced which had only slight alterations as compared with its predecessor of 1864. The guard was a little smaller and the inner edge was turned down. The sword knot slit was moved from the front to the top of the guard, and the upper part of the guard was raised a little: above the pommel. There was no alteration in the shape and design of the blade, but there were two different lengths: 35-j and 33 inches.
The Egyptian war, which was in progress at this time, brought to light some unsuspected and unfortunate deficiencies in the swords and bayonets of the British Army. There were many reports of blades being broken or bent in action. The fault -was obviously in the quality of the steel; and there was legitimate criticism of the method of testing and inspection. Eventually a Committee was appointed to investigate the matter. Nothing very positive seems to have resulted from its deliberations; but the very fact of the investigation and the evidence which was called must have caused manufacturers to. improve their standards; for no further failure was apparently reported’. In the meantime Enfield was unable to meet the whole of the demand for swords and bayonets, and part of the order, therefore, was placed with German firms at the famous sword-manufacturing centre of Solingen.
The cavalry sword was again modified in 18 8 5. The curve of the blade was slightly increased and made an inch shorter than the 1882 pattern.. In addition, the top of the guard was made level with the pommel. In 18 go a heavier blade was introduced which, except for being thicker, was of the same shape and pattern.
However, in spite of these numerous minor modifications, the old argument as to the type of sword which should be used by cavalry broke out once more: stimulated probably by criticisms resulting from the recent campaigns. The argument was sufficiently intense for the matter to be brought to the notice of Parliament; and, as a result, a .number of experimental swords were made. The arguments were again reflected in the final solution. As in the case of the light cavalry sword of 182o, the cavalry sword of 1899 was suitable for neither cutting nor thrusting; though optimistically intended for both. The blade was reduced in length to 33 inches. The hilt was of the same design as previously, but a slightly enlarged and more bowl’shaped guard gave better protection to the hand. The cavalry regiments which went out to South Africa at the start of the Boer war were armed with either the 1885 or the 1890 pattern of sword; but the unfortunate units in the later reinforcements were issued with the heartily disliked 1899 model.
The obvious failure of the 1899 sword led, in 1903, to the appointment of a Committee to re-examine the problem and to make recommendations for a suitable type of sword for the cavalry. The Committee early decided that the sword must be primarily a thrusting weapon on the grounds that little injury was inflicted by a cut, and that a thrust was always far the more effective. Whereas experience with the light cavalry sword in the Peninsular campaign certainly did not support this conclusion, it was something that the Committee had made up its mind on the purpose which the sword was to serve. However, although numerous experimental swords .were made, all were rejected as unsuitable, and the proceedings of the Committee apparently came to an end.
In 1906 another Committee was appointed; and with such energy did it act that some months later a new sword was ready for trial. In the design of this new model the Committee drew on a wide field of experience. Swords to meet certain specifications were ordered from private firms, and trials were carried out with numerous existing types, both British and foreign.
The firms who were requested to make swords for experi- , ment were Messrs. Wilkinson and Messrs. Mole. It was stipulated that the blade must be 35 inches in length, and have a narrow chisel edge; that the weight should be 2 pounds 6 ounces; that the balance should be between 21 and 21 inches below the hilt; and that the grip should be shaped to ensure that the sword could only be held in the correct fashion.
The existing swords submitted for test were the pre-Boer war cavalry sword of the 18 go pattern; the unpopular model of 1899; a sword which had been adopted for the Household cavalry in x892, with a slightly curved blade 341 inches long and a guard of sheet steel; the French cavalry sword of 1854, which had a straight 381-inch blade and a four-bar brass guard; the French light cavalry sword of 1822, which was a cutting weapon with a curved blade and a three-bar brass guard; the existing sword of the Dutch cavalry; and the light thrusting sword of a Spanish bull-fighter. Apart from these, experimental blades were tried with existing hilts, and to existing blades were fitted grips of various shapes and materials.
The sword which was the outcome of these trials and experiments was the ‘Pattern i 906 Experimental’. This was issued to several units and proved very popular. It had a straight thrusting blade and the so-called ‘pistol’ grip. As a result of the success of this weapon a slightly modified version was approved by the King in igoS for general issue to the cavalry; and this was the last cavalry sword to be designed for the British Army. It was a worthy finish, for it is one of the finest swords ever to have been designed, and it was outstandingly successful in the field in the “First World War. With its straight narrow 35-inch blade it is essentially a thrusting weapon. The guard is of sheet steel, unpierced, and is shaped into a very large and rather ugly-looking bowl, which gives excellent protection to the hand. The pistol grip has been retained, and is so shaped that the hand naturally grasps it in the correct position. The sword is a delight to handle and is beautifully balanced.

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When the revolver, or pistol with a revolving chamber, was first adopted in the British Army, the principle was by no means a new one ash gateleg extenstion table. As far back as the middle of the seventeenth century John Dafte of London had made a revolver-carbine with a cylinder, turned by hand, containing six chambers johnson “antique card table”. Powder and ball were inserted into the front of each chamber, and a spring catch on the barrel engaged in slots to hold chambers in turn in the firing position bookcase islamic style.dwg. Each chamber had a 17th century dutch small cupboard value. separate flash-pan, with a sliding pan cover which was opened by a link attached to the cock, as the latter struck the steel 18th century chambersticks. The lock was of the snaphaunce variety with a separate steel 19th century dressers.
Nevertheless) after a certain initial popularity in the seventeenth century, little more was heard of revolver-pistols or carbines until the appearance on the gunmaking stage of Elisha Hayden Collier edwardian c19th construction buildings. Collier was an American gunsmith of Boston, Massachusetts antique english knights dining tables. In about 1810 he succeeded in making a practical pistol with a revolving cylinder, which was turned by hand china made in czechoslovakia. He was not, of course, the first to do this, but the Collier mechanism was infinitely superior to anything which had preceded it coop dresser. The priming mechanism was ingeniou§ meissen harlequin kandler. There was only one flash-pan, instead of one to each chamber, and this was recharged automatically from a magazine after each shot walnut versus maghony drop leaf table. The magazine was fitted on the flash-pan cover and incorporated a ratchet and pawl mechanism which was actuated by the closing of the pan art deco furniture  antique shop california. Collier used a novel and ingenious system to align the chambers with the bore of the barrel antique furniture 1800. The front of each chamber was countersunk and fitted over a cone on the rear of the barrel pictures of antique spider leg tables. A spring held the cylinder in position, and to move the cylinder round, it was pressed back against the spring to free the chamber which had been in the firing position from its cone seating century hepplewhite walnut card table. During the actual moment of firing the pressure of the spring was augmented by a steel wedge operated by the movement of the cock antique small oval drop leaf table. This mechanism produced a very close and firm union between barrel and cylinder antique tudor furniture. All Collier revolver weapons operated on the same principle carved top gateleg coffee table.
The Collier revolvers were extremely good, but, unfortunately, very expensive to manufacture czechoslovakian lusterware. Collier was unable to interest either American private capital or the United States Government, and, accordingly, he left for England in 1811 robert jupe table. There he established a shop at 45 The Strand, London, and was granted a Royal Patent,
In England Collier seems to have made a number of revolving arms for the forces of the East India Company, including both pistols and carbines “english cabinet”  dining  antique  amsterdam. The pistol was 14 inches long, with octagonal smooth-bore barrel, 61 inches in length and with a calibre of ‘47 inch trestle table lyre base. In 1852 he returned to the United States and reopened his old gunshop in Boston francois linke.
During the first decade of the nineteenth century Samuel Colt was born in Hartford, Connecticut, in the United States finest candelabras. The son of a merchant, he was destined to become the most famous maker of revolving pistols: so much so that the terms revolver and Colt were at one time almost synonymous art deco antique dresser. Samuel Colt, however, does not seem to have had any ambitions to become a gunsmith in his earlier days anantique pembroke tables with two drawers. Indeed, at a comparatively youthful age he announced his intention of becoming a lecturer revolving bookcase drum table. Even in the United States lecturing cannot have offered a promising career, and one does not imagine that Colt’s parents greeted the idea with any enthusiasm regency ironstone marks blue. Nevertheless, he chose the somewhat original subject of laughing gas, and whilst still below the age of twenty gave platform demonstrations of his subject art deco furniture dining table  copy of the duke. He travelled under the name of Dr painted antique wine cooler. Coult of New York, London and Calcutta, and his lectures really did take him to these places antique oval dutch table. Whilst in Calcutta, in fact, he took notes on a Collier arm wooden arm chair pedestal castor antique oak. This was probably one of the revolvers which had been made by Collier for the East India Company pine “coaching table”.
It may have been this Collier weapon which first really aroused Colt’s interest in firearms stone china george jones stoke on trent. At any rate he took careful note of its construction and complex mechanism indian interior low seating drawing room. During the voyage back to America Colt whittled away at a piece of wood, shaping the design of a model of a revolver which should be based on Collier’s system but have a much simpler mechanism antique table top wooden book stand.
After his return to the United States, Colt took his wooden model to a pattern-maker of Hartford named Anton Chase, From this Chase made Colt’s first revolver english antique consoles. Whilst in many respects a great advance on the Collier arms, the first Colts suffered from a faulty cylinder design which could result in the explosion of one charge igniting all the others antique dutch rococo serpentine pine chest. In front of the cylinder was a plate which was intended to prevent the balls rolling out of the chambers scandinavian aesthetic. This plate, however, had the disadvantage that a lateral flame leak from the firing chamber was liable to be deflected by it to another chamber, resulting in a chain of explosions in all the remaining chambers in the cylinder french gesso painted 18th century console. Apart from the damage to the weapon, the random discharge of bullets was, at the least, disconcerting antique carved trestle table.
Colt’s laughing-gas show was apparently still a very profitable source of income; for he used it now to finance his revolver experiments german buffet furniture. Indirectly, too, the laughing gas was responsible for Colt revolvers being ultimately adopted by the United States Army fake ironstone pottery. Colt was booked to give his lectures at the Baltimore Museum, and there he met and interested Joseph Walker the director tilt top bird cage table 1740’s. Walker had a relation of the same name who was a captain in the Army; and some time later it was his influence which led the military authorities to accept Colt’s invention art deco sideboard legs.
Colt’s first essay at production seems to have been in conjunction with a gunsmith named Pearson, who was to receive a fixed salary in return for paying the rental of a shop and forge antique ceramic wine coolers. The combination resulted in a small number of revolving pistols and rifles 12 arts and crafts dining chairs. Colt’s income, however, was not yet on a very sound basis, and the partnership broke up somewhat abruptly owing to Pearson’s salary being chronically some months in arrears arts and crafts furniture, antique collectors.
The flame leak trouble in Colt’s arms was finally remedied by removing the frontal plate, and providing a loading lever which drove a slightly oversize ball into the chamber reproduction quality 19th century louis xv fauteuil (armchair) with a rococo hand-carved, floral-scrolled, giltwood frame,. This both prevented the nuisance of the bullet rolling out accidentally and sealed the charge biedermeier gothic commode.
Colt obtained patents in Great Britain, France and the United States in 1835, and his fortunes began to improve hepplewhite revival foldover dining table. The Patent Arms Manufacturing Company of Paterson, New Jersey, set up a plant for the production of Colt rifles and revolvers barker brothers furniture. The revolvers were turned out in a number of different models vienna-style trembleuse. There were three different sizes of frame, and a variety of different barrel lengths and calibres antique french ormulu furniture. In the smallest category the barrels ranged from 21 inches to 4J inches in length, and there were calibres of -28, -31 and ‘34 inches drop leaf table stable base. The next size frame was intended to be carried on a belt, and embraced barrels of from 4 to 6 inches and calibres Of -31 and ‘34 parts of chambersticks. The largest size was a holster weapon with barrels ranging from 4 to 12 inches, all with a calibre of ‘36 etling france 110 “opalescent glass”.
In 1840 the Patent Arms Company failed financially, and five years later the Colt plant was forced to close antique oak drop leaf table with casters. Samuel Colt art deco ceramics. was now back on the rocks with no establishment, no machinery and precious antique pottery matt green tea decanter. little money opalescent etched glass. At this juncture, however, fortune presented Samuel Colt with a war; for in 1846 hostilities broke out between the United States and Mexico sedish design daybed. Ten years previously Captain Walker had used Colt revolving rifles in one of the Indian campaigns, and had been very favourably impressed with them czechoslovakian antique porcelain. He now obtained authority from the Secretary of War to order i000 Colt revolvers hankerchief table mahogany. To meet this order Colt persuaded Eli Whitney, Junior; to undertake the manufacture, and embodied some improvements suggested by Walker as a result of practical experience kent extending antique table.
These first military Colts were of -44 calibre with a barrel length of nine inches table octagon marquetry drawer. Their immediate success resulted in an order for a further i000 antique 17th century drop leaf tables. By this time Colt had established a factory of his own at Hartford, and was consequently able to manufacture the revolvers for the new order himself european antique lectern pedestal table. They differed from the 18th century austrian porcelain. earlier batch in having shorter barrels of 71 inches, and the length of the cylinders was reduced by a quarter of an inch “french trestle tables”. They were subsequently known as ‘Hartford Dragoons’ antique desk makers collector.
In 1848 Colt produced the best known and most successful of all his muzzle-loading revolvers antique draw table trestle. This was the so-called `Navy Colt’ oriental writing bureau cabinet. It had the same barrel length as the ‘Dragoon’ but was a much lighter weapon, with a calibre of only -36 inch josef hoffmann chair. It had a rifling of seven grooves and a six-chamber cylinder secretaire art deco. The mechanism was single action, and cocked by the thumb antique rosewood dining table lion feet. On the earlier models, at any rate, the cylinder was engraved with the picture of a fight at sea, and this is supposed to have been the reason for the popular name of the weapon pictures of early to mid 1800 dressing tables.
The Navy Colt was not without its faults “lit en bateau”. Certain of the components were very liable to break, but Colt overcame this drawback by supplying an enormous quantity of spares for the weak parts, and distributing them to all the establishments of contemporary American civilization where they were likely to be requested art nouveau sideboard.
The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace was opened in 1851, and Samuel Colt, now a Colonel, seized the opportunity to assault the English market serving sideboards. Subsequent events have been most entertainingly described by Mr antique dresser with turned leg. R silver forks. Scurfield in his outstanding article, ‘Early British Regulation Revolvers’, published in the Journal of the Society for ,Yrmy Historical Research porcelain butterfly: french symbolist poets, verlaine. He says:
`It is notable that (except in America) all revolvers were regarded with suspicion before 1851—the year of the Great Exhibition—although they had been in fairly wide circulation from the x82o’s, when the first hand-rotated “pepperpots”, built on the bodies of centre-hammer percussion pocket pistols, appeared end table ivory inlaid india wwii. The reason for this distrust was a two-fold one: in the first place, all the pre-1852 English types (with perhaps one exception) had radial nipples (i antique desk when thay were made.e rectangular oak gateleg table., nipples at right-angles to the bore), and the result was that in the small calibres generally used fouling accumulated in the chambers under the nipples and caused miss-fires; in the second place, the actions were so defective in design (and often in workmanship as well) that they could not be relied upon to work properly; result, more miss-fires, especially in the very numerous self-cocking pistols double roll antique desk. Thus, so far as the armed forces were concerned, the authorities found their inevitable reluctance to introduce a new weapon for the rank and file supported for once by well-founded practical and technical considerations, while officers (although a few did experiment with larger calibre “pepperpots” and “transition” revolvers, the latter mostly thumb-cocking) hesitated for the most part to discard their powerful and trustworthy single or double-barrelled pistols telescoping dining table. The net result was that the revolver was ignored, or condemned as a new-fangled toy, in the Army and Navy indian vernacular furniture. `But the Great Exhibition changed all that pennsylvania dutch antique china cabinet hand painted pictures. Not only was the Colt revolving pistol on show, in several calibres and barrel lengths, but the great Colonel Sam Colt himself came to London, equipped with a large number of presentation revolvers (engraved, silver-plated, and ivory-butted) for distribution in interested and influential quarters, and exercising his undoubted talent for commercial publicity (of which dubious art he can be regarded as the father); and to everyone’s surprise the English gun trade produced, and exhibited, a rival to the Colt—a rival at least as good, if not better art deco inlay dresser. This was the Adams revolver, the invention of Robert Adams, a partner in the firm of Deane, Adams & Deane, of King William Street in the City birmingham silver finial designs. Adams, too, had a very good idea of the value of publicity and surprise, for he appears to have kept his new arm perfectly and completely in the dark until the Exhibition opened; it was not even patented until February, 18 5 1 17th century japanese imari porcelain.
`But there was to be no more indifference to the revolver in those circles interested in firearms decoart. The value of the Adams and the Colt was plain to all, and the old objections no longer held good; but a prolonged and most entertaining controversy, based essentially (apart from personalities, especially the personality of Sam Colt, who seems to have made as many enemies as friends) on the relative excellence of self-cocking (Adams) and thumb-cocking (Colt) actions went on intermittently until it was eventually decided (for Englishmen, at any rate) in favour of the Adams antique hanging corner display cabinet. The most amusing event in the squabble seems to have been a public lecture on his revolver by Colonel Colt, which was interrupted by a partisan of the Adams (some say Robert Adams himself) leaping to his feet brandishing a specimen of that make of pistol, and shouting to make himself heard in its praise-, after which the proceedings degenerated into a wrangle which soon became a free-for-all german cabinet-makers of the 18th century.’
Robert Adams, who had produced such a dramatic challenge to Colt, was associated with his brother John and John Deane in the firm of Deane, Adams and Deane 3 tiered dessert table mahogany antique rectangular. The partnership was only formed in 1851, presumably to manufacture the Adams revolvers, and was dissolved again five years later victorian tripod small table pillar and claw. In this short period, however, both the original revolver and all the various modifications to it appeared imatation marble antique bedromm suit.
At this stage, before describing Robert Adams’ designs, it would be well to consider the terms single-action and double-action as used in connection with revolvers; for their meanings seem to have altered during the course of the years antique victorian wood stool chamber pot. Originally `thumb-cocking’ was applied to an action in which the hammer was cocked by hand, and the movement at the same time actuated the pawl which rotated the cylinder to the next chamber and locked it in position while the shot was fired 1970s ashtray “art deco” style. `Self-cocking’, on the other hand, was used of an action where the pull on the trigger first cocked the hammer, at the same time performing the other actions mentioned above, and then released the hammer to fire the shot new deco furniture. Both these types were called single-action ebonized aesthetic movement credenza. A double-action revolver implied one which could be either self-cocked or thumb-cocked george ii burr walnut tallboy. But now, in the Fighting Services at any rate, thumb-cocking is described as single-action, and self-cocking as double-action antique bed acanthus paw feet. The future use of these terms in this work will refer to their modern meaning candelabra made in england.
Samuel Colt used single-action, whilst Robert Adams’ revolvers were double-action delatte nancy. Single-action was popular since only a light pull was required to release the hammer: a great help to accurate shooting antique coffee tables carved with romans playing instruments under oval glass. In addition it permitted very rapid fire, by ‘fanning’ the hammer 18th century chest antique. This method of shooting consisted of tying back the trigger, or holding it in the fire position, and flicking the hammer back with the palm of the free hand wedgewood porcelain swan base for pots de creme. An expert could fire six aimed shots in under three seconds, which made this method of using a Colt very popular in those parts where the American way of life was still somewhat uninhibited antique mahogany satin wood inlay and metal tray antique mahogany satin wood inlay and metal tray.
Double-action, on the other hand, had many advantages in the heat of battle when targets might present themselves quickly and from unexpected* directions doucai ming. It was then simpler and safer to pull the trigger only, rather than to co-ordinate the actions of finger and thumb cabriole iron legs table. Further, if slower than `fanning’, double-action could produce a much faster rate of fire than single-action antique dressing table with mirror for women ( designs).
Adams’ revolvers differed most-strongly from Colt’s in being double-action oval lacquer tea table. In addition, however, they were far more strongly made, since the barrel and body were forged in one piece english ironstone pottery. The cylinder, on the other hand, only had five chambers as compared with six in the case of the Colt bentwood rocking chair 1880 uk.
There were five models of the first Adams revolvers english hepplewhite revolving rent table. The largest had a 71-inch barrel of -50-inch calibre antique furniture 1800. The next size was much smaller with a 543-inch barrel and a calibre of ‘45 inch louis xv dining tables 8. Following this, a slightly longer barrel of 6 inches was combined with a smaller calibre of ‘38 inches antique commode on legs. Then came-a 41-inch barrel with -32 calibre; and a very small weapon with 3-11 lions paw on antique furniture.- inches of barrel and only -24-inch calibre royal vienna porcelain signed meyer.
In 1854 the ‘Government set up a Select Committee on Small Arms, and this body arranged for tests at Woolwich Arsenal to assess the relative merits of the Colt and Adams revolvers checkoslovakian glass decanter. The tests do not seem to have established a marked superiority by, either weapon gate leg drop leaf tables. The Select Committee preferred the Adams, but their report presumably showed that the margin value for antique china made in austria.of preference was very narrow, for the War Office purchased a large number of Colts in the following year cylinder bureau german. Most of these were issued to the Navy how to repair veneer table on couch.
In 1855 a great improvement was made in the Adams revolver by the incorporation of an invention by Captain F 19th century english cabinet makers. B staffordshire pearlware figures french revolution. E english george iii hepplewhite satinwood bedside cabinet. Beaumont, R paul de lamerie reproduction.E louis sue furniture dressing table 1933., by which the weapon could be used for either single- or double-action antiqu. This pattern of revolver was accepted for the Army, since it obviously embodied the advantages of both the Colt and the original Adams gateleg table imperial furniture. The following year it was succeeded by a similar but slightly improved model, and the last revolver which Robert Adams designed mid centru drum side table.
The Beaumont invention ruined Colt’s English market, and in 1857 the new Pimlico factory and the shop and show-room at No “brass drum tables”. i Spring Gardens, Cockspur Street, London, were closed down, and the American technicians recrossed antique rococo figurines. the Atlantic antique gate legged drop leaf table. The Colt connection was retained by a sales and show room which was established at 14 Pall Mall, where Colt arms made in America could be purchased rosewood chaise lounge 19c. Nevertheless, in spite of the short life of Colt’s English establishment, his revolvers lasted for a long time in the Navy art nouveau france origins. They remained as standard arms until 1862, and some may have remained in use until after 1880 can decorative moulding be antique bookcase.
The Adams revolvers were purchased by the Government, rather oddly, in two different calibres: -So and ‘45 inches; and were apparently issued quite indiscriminately; though there were far more of the smaller calibre serving tables.
In 1856 the Deane and Adams partnership split up antique tambour dining table -clock -desk. Robert and John Adams formed with the assistance of John Kerr (of Kerr & Co arita imari mark., gunmakers, in which he was in partnership with his brother James) the London Armoury Co arita kraak. This new firm took over all the Adams patents antique double pedestal dining room table. In 1858 Kerr & Co antigue oak mid century dining table with draw out leaves. produced a single-action revolver with a 51-inch barrel and made in two made in czechoslovakia initials. different calibres of ‘44 and ‘38 inches fire screen table. A year later they made a double-action revolver late pembroke breakfast table value. The Kerr patents were taken over in turn by the London Armoury Co antique spiral leg oak dropleaf table., and the revolvers were adopted officially by the Portuguese Army and purchased by the Confederate States of America berkey and gay.
In the meantime John Deane had opened his own establish-ment in London Bridge Stfeet, in London; and in 1858 had taken over the percussion revolver patents of William Harding 1930s drop leaf sofa tables. The weapon which was subsequently manufactured was known as the ‘Deane-Harding’ revolver antique 6 ft. st. louis credenza values. It was a double-action piece made in two calibres of ‘44 and -32 inches collapsible antique wardrobe. It had a very complicated lock, and for this reason was rejected as a Service weapon 16th century trestle refectory table. It was, however, much purchased privately by officers of both the British and ‘John Company’s’ Armies what types of materials were used in george hepplewhite furniture. In addition, the Confederate Government purchased a number of Deane-Hardings antique 19th mahogany hepplewhite card table.
Closely associated with the Adams brother’s was a relation or connection named William Tranter; a Birmingham gunsmith who later opened an establishment in London antique talavera for sale. There he manufactured many of the Adams revolvers grand furniture russia. In 1853 he patented a revolver of his own antique trestle refectory table. This had the peculiar feature of two triggers vilas furniture antique. One was for cocking the hammer and the other for firing rookwood nursery tiles. Three years later he brought out an improved type which had only, one trigger and double-action leopold stickly table 1959. There were three classes of this model: the ‘Dragoon’, of -So calibre and a barrel length Of 71 or 8 inches; the ‘Navy, ‘44 calibre and barrel 51 or 6J inches; and the small ‘Pocket’, ‘32 calibre and barrel 4 inches pattern for making victorian wash stands. Of these, the ‘Dragoon’ could be supplied with a detachable carbine stock 18th century antique gate leg table.
In 1858 Tranter secured a Government contract for his `Dragoon’ and ‘Navy’ models italian,furniture,maker,address.

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The British Army finished the war against Napoleon with a somewhat mixed collection of smooth-bore firearms walnut armchair josef urban art noveau. There were three types of musket: the Pattern i8o2, the India Pattern and Brown Bess myott.son antique. It is probable that, with the rapid reduction of the Army which followed the peace, the two last mentioned disappeared fairly rapidly, and that the Pattern i 8o2 musket became the standard infantry weapon octagonal brass & silver table. The heavy cavalry were still armed with the Nock-type musket-bore carbine and ‘pistol which had been approved in 1796 old english pattern forks with four tines. The light cavalry carried the Paget carbine and pistol 1770 chippendale round salon table.
After every great war there is a tendency to cut down expenditure on the Fighting Services; and this affects both the size of the establishment and the provision of new equipment charles neo classism boulle. The result after Waterloo was that the small British Army had to wait about twenty-five years before the issue of percussion arms started, and even then it nearly received new flintlocks instead signed english art deco antique glass cabinets.
In 1834 comparative trials were at last carried out at Woolwich between flint and percussion locks, under the direction of Mr furniture copies. Lovell, the last person to hold the post of Inspector of Small Arms to the Board of Ordnance east indian antique silver. It may be that the Reverend Alexander Forsyth was responsible for these trials taking place ” american card table”. Colonel Hanger certainly thought so; for he wrote:
`In 1834, the Rev 16th century trestle refectory table. Mr 17th century boston silversmiths. Forsyth (the inventor of the percussion system) induced the Government to try a number of experiments, in order to test the value of his invention as compared with the old flint lock, and the result of these experiments was as follows:—Six thousand rounds were fired from a flint lock artdeco lamp. musket and’ a percussion musket, and the experiments were conducted in all weathers, six of each kind of arm being used telescoping console table. The results proved exceedingly favourable to the percussion principle, for out of 6,000 rounds from the flint lock there were 922 miss-fires, being i in 6-1, whereas in the percussion musket there were only 36 misses in 6,000 rounds, or i in x66 gustav klimt porcelain. The flint musket scored 3,68o hits; the percussion, 4,047 depression wood tea table. To fire ioo rounds the flint required 32 min examples of antique dressers. 31 sec robert adam pier table., and the percussion, 3o min identifying authentic yixing. myott and son hanley. 24 sec antique french saxon china flowers with gold.’
These results must have impressed the Board of Ordnance antique spiral legged small tables. At maryland antique sideboard.about this time a new series of flintlocks were designed for the Army thonet bentwood rocking chair. It does not seem, however, that they ever reached the troops, for the decision was suddenly taken to re-equip the Army throughout with percussion arms what is the greek word for furnitures.
The apparently surprising decision to replace the not very old Pattern i 802 by a new flintlock was taken, Mr american empire design antiques. Scurfield believes, through a desire to get rid of the 42-inch barrel antique metal double candelabra. The standard barrel length of the new weapon was the old Light Infantry thirty-nine inches voysey chalford table.
Serjeants carried a lighter version with a 33-inch barrel, and there was a still shorter one with a 3o-inch barrel for the Royal Artillery and the Royal Corps of Sappers and Miners value of a william and mary chest of drawers. This last weapon was termed a light carbine and had a 25-inch sword bayonet with a saw-toothed back edge victorian campaign bed. There was also a new, flintlock pistol, but this was issued as such and never converted duncan phyfe sofa c 1840.
In addition to the above weapons, a new light cavalry carbine appeared in: the rn art deco woman figure porcelain.id~dle I830’s- It does not seem, however, ever to have become a general issue reproduction ming porcelain. It was somewhat longer than the Paget carbine, having a 2o-inch barrel instead of one of sixteen inches antique gateleg table. The stirrup ramrod was retained warm entree dish. The lock was peculiar, since the steel was pivoted inside the lock plate, instead of on the outside antique silver plate vegetable warmer with lid. Owing to what was probably a sudden decision portuguese potters. to change to percussion arms, it is likely that production of this carbine was stopped prematurely antique “trestle table” kent.
The equipping of the whole Army with percussion arms was -a lengthy process 18c chair lion head. Although the manufacture of new firearms with the percussion lock was taken in hand immediately, it was intended that re-equipment should be carried out as far as possible by converting the new belgium porcelain dining tables. flintlocks antique hexagon ladles. Such a conversion was not a very difficult operation george ii burr walnut tallboy. The cock was replaced by a hammer mounted in the same position and striking on a nipple fixed to the top right side of the barrel duncan phyfe table and buffet. The nipple, of course, replaced the flash-pan and steel of the flintlock sette sofas chippendale 18th century.
The first new smooth-bore percussion musket was the so-called Pattern 1838 chippendale cutlery urns. Only comparatively few were made and its issue was confined to the Regiments of Foot Guards making cabriole legs with padded feet. As might be expected, in general form and appearance it was very similar to the earlier Pattern i 80 musket antique english column candlesticks. Together with the Brunswick rifle and the Victoria carbine for the cavalry, it formed a series for which Mr paw feet dining rooms table. Lovell was responsible; though whether he had an actual hand in design is not clear myott son & co. hanley. The 33-inch barrel was the shortest that had yet been issued to heavy infantry 19th century cutlery pennsylvania dutch. Serjeants of the Foot Guards were not issued with this musket, but with a 33-inch barrel version of its contemporary, the Brunswick rifle antique fluted legs.
Although the Brunswick rifle does not properly belong to a chapter on smooth-bore firearms, this may be an appropriate place to deal with it, since its issue was so closely allied with the other weapons for which Mr antique extending round dining table. Lovell was responsible art deco glass. It was intended to be the percussion replacement for the Baker rifle, and was officially designated ‘Lovell’s Improved Brunswick Pattern’ were exports scenes common in the chenghua period.
The new rifle was designed by Captain Berners, an officer in a Jaeger regiment of the Brunswick Army, and was adopted by the Board of Ordnance after trials at Woolwich in 1836 betty joel miroir antique. The rifling of the Brunswick was peculiar most valuable antique silverware. There were only two grooves, and they made one complete turn, in the length of the barrel antique oak dropleaf gateleg table. This was not a new idea by any means, for at the time of its adoption for the Army it was already the most popular form of rifling for sporting weapons can antique dressers pair with modern furniture. A special bullet was used with this two-groove rifling: spherical in shape, but having a•raised belt round the middle antique european sideboard, etagere, cabinet,. The belt fitted into the grooves, which were fairly deep, and the bullet of the sporting weapons fitted the bore sufficiently easily to be rammed home without difficulty 19th century side tables. In practice the results ob1 tained with this type of rifle were not as good as they would seem to be in theory what is antique library table worth. There was a good deal of friction in the barrel through the bullet magnificent table 18 century marble. not being able to move freely, there was a heavy recoil, and the shape of the bullet did not lend itself to accurate flight contemporary british cabinetry best examples.
The calibre of the Brunswick rifle was ‘704 and the barrel length (except as mentioned above) was thirty inches duncan phyfe buffet. It was sighted to 300 yards, was fitted with a cross-handled sword bayonet and measured three feet ten inches overall french restoration table. It was a thoroughly bad weapon; perhaps the worst ever issued to British troops antique dining fold over tables with leaves. One of the troubles seems to have been that the ball was made too tight-fitting, and another that there was insufficient power behind the bullet to keep it spinning sufficiently rapidly for straight flight deco airplane stand.
The unfortunate Rifle regiments were inflicted with the Brunswick up till the Crimean war officers campaign bed. Their opinion of it is reflected in a report submitted in 18 52 by a Select Committee on Small Arms:
`At all distances double scroll legs desk art deco. above four hundred yards the shooting was so wild as to be unrecorded rose emblem. The Brunswick rifle has shown itself to be much inferior in point of range to every other arm hitherto noticed d-form dining table. The loading of this rifle is so difficult that it is a wonder how the Rifle regiments have continued to use it so long—the force required to ram down the ball being so great as to render any man’s hand unsteady for accurate shooting empire sofas. Comment is unnecessary pierced silver hot plate made in italy.’
Lovell’s other firearm was the ‘Victoria’ carbine drop leaf carved leg table. Like the heavy cavalry carbine of 1796, it had a 26-inch barrel of musket bore chinese mother of pearl chair rosewood antique. It was issued, apparently, to the Household Cavalry only vintage chinese black lacquer card table.
At the same time as the Lovell weapons were appearing the conversion of all three types of the new flintlock musket was taken in hand george 11 antique lacquered furniture. The percussion version was known as Pattern 1839, and except for the altered lock was identical with its flintlock predecessor early nineteenth century german desk.
It is probable that there were sufficient of the flintlock muskets to equip the whole Army with converted arms seek jingdezhen plum blossom porcelain vases. However, in 1841 there was a disastrous fire in the Tower of London which destroyed many thousands of firearms awaiting conversion 1940’s mahogany dining chairs. As a result a new series of arms had to be manufactured antigue table cloths 1920. The musket was called Pattern 1842 rectangular dropleaf tables. It was similar to, and was produced in the same three barrel lengths as, Pattern 1839 federal style 18th century dresser. The only major difference was that the bayonet of the short musket was no longer saw-backed julius mihalik.
There were two percussion carbines for the cavalry: musket bore for the heavy cavalry and carbine bore for the light cavalry rectangular oak gateleg table. The carbine for the heavy cavalry retained the 26-inch barrel silver candlesticks flower. That for the light cavalry had a slightly longer barrel than the last flintlock weapon of twenty-one inches how to value lowboy queen anne.
Mr stone china george jones stoke on trent. Scurfield hag made some interesting comments on the final changeover from flint to percussion arms jockey cap caddy spoons. He says: `A tradition persists that some regiments going from India to the Crimean War were still armed with flintlocks, but I have never found any confirmation, and to me it seems rather improbable davenport cabinet desk. All the same, I do not know when the Regular Army handed in its last flintlocks, and can only suggest that it was between x 84 and i850—perhaps not long before 1851, the year of the Great Exhibition antique neoclassic furniture. The Militia went straight from the India Pattern flintlock to the Enfield rifle in the very late 18 -So’s or early 186o’s antique white chamber pot.
`In 1846 the 27th Foot (Inniskilling Fusiliers) in South Africa were still armed with a mixture of flint and percussion muskets, but two battalions of the gxst were completely equipped with percussion; it would be interesting to know whether they were Pattern 1839 or Pattern 1,842—or some of each antique tea cabinet.’
In the years following the Napoleonic wars most of the cavalry’s pistols had been withdrawn walnut baluster leg table. Lancers -carried them in place of carbines, which got in the way of the lance; and in other regiments they were retained by serjeant-majors and trumpeters, who also did not carry carbines furniture makers of the 16th century. To meet this limited need a percussion pistol was made with a musket bore and a 9-inch barrel antiques pottery made in coimbra.
The fulminating compound which was used in these first military percussion arms was made up of three parts of chlorate of potash, two parts of fulminate of mercury and single gate leg tables.one part of powdered glass antique italian rococo bedroom set marble and wood.

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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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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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