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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age of the cartridge was that it could be exploded accidentally through being knocked or dropped 1940’s english sideboard. The Police revolver was double-action and had a six-chamber cylinder 12 apostle teaspoons. A few years later Tranter produced his ‘Army’ revolver, which was also purchased in limited quantities by the Government french animal chairs. Like the Police revolver, it was double-action and had a six-chamber cylinder, but the bore had the slightly larger calibre of ‘45 inch, and it used a central-fire cartridge secretaire de roentgen. This had a cap chamber fitted into the centre of the thickened base of the cartridge, and was much safer than the rim-fire italian “lacquered furniture”. All succeeding Service arms had centre-fire cartridges swedish furniture 1930.
In about 1865′Webley produced his last muzzle-loading revolver antique carved gateleg end table. It was a rim-fire weapon with a tip-up break action 1700s brass tea caddy. In probably the same year the first Webley breech-loader appeared fiddleback walnut. This was a single-action rim-fire revolver, with a six-chambered cylinder, a solid frame and a calibre Of ‘45 inch history woods ware wincanton. All succeeding Webleys took centre-fire cartridges french dining draw leaf table stretcher. The first of these was a very short-barrelled weapon with a -calibre Of ‘577 (the same as that of the contemporary Snider-Enfield rifle) best english antique brass beds. It used the new art deco lamp globe. Boxer centre-fire cartridge, of which a description is given in Chapter XVI antique imari porcelain. There were two models: one had a solid frame, and the other had a top fastening and broke open antique kneehole dresser. It was popular on account of its great stopping power antique sideboard 1825.
In the meantime, John Adams, from his new plant in The Strand, had turned out in 1866 the last muzzle-loading revolver to be used by the Fighting Services verlys smoke glass. It was double-action and had a calibre Of king george 1v furniture. ‘45 inch lyre base, sofa table. As compared with his brother’s revolvers, John had succeeded in fitting a six-chamber cylinder painted furniture harlequin diamond. antique vase markings. It appears that it was originally intended to make a breech-loading weapon, and the cylinder was slightly shorter than that normally fitted for muzzle-loading antique furniture ornaments. Only a few were made, and it may be that there was an unexpected Service requirement for a small number of muzzleloaders painter dufy. In any case, whatever demand there was was only short-lived, and in 1868 some of these arms were converted to breech-loaders art nouveau court cabinet. Conversion of the Enfield rifles to breech-loading had started in the previous year, and it was no doubt intended to do the same with the revolvers antique ceramic indian elephant end table. In addition td the conversions, John Adams produced in the same year a number of new breech-loaders which were practically indistinguishable from the conversions pedestals and urns chippendale. Another and larger batch Of 18′72 was similar except for an improved ejector rod 17th century silver soup tureens.
In about 1880 a revolver for military use was designed and produced at the Enfield Small Arms Factory antique shop slovakia. Its particular feature was its mechanism for the extraction of the, empty cartridge case after firing theodore haviland 1958 pattern. ‘Self-extraction’ or, alternatively, `self-ejection’ were facilities for which there was an increasing military demand antique ceramic tambour german mantle clocks. Mr lowenfink. R gillow & waring vitrine glass. Scurfield calls it a ’slightly eccentric weapon’, and adds, ‘It was not a good choice, and I suspect owed its adoption to the fact that its designer, one Owen Jones, was a member of brass mote spoon., the Enfield Small Arms Factory staff, in spite of being of American origin; in fact, the drawings to his patent specifications show the invention applied to single-action pistols of American type’ ornate antique silver roast serving platter.
Mr european cabinet maker tool chest. Scurfield, in his article which has been previously quoted, puts this whole matter of extraction and ejection very clearly antique porcelain and china clocks. He says:
`There were by 1880 a number of quite reasonably efficient and more or less reliable self-extractors and self-ejectors; in the former the empty cases are withdrawn* from the chamber by a fixed extractor, usually by sliding the cylinder forward,
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and then have to be shaken clear, while in the latter the frame is hinged, and when opened or “broken” an extractor is forced out of the cylinder, throwing the cases clear of the pistol 1920’s antique mahogany tables. The self-extractors have to be loaded through a gate, after the cylinder has been restored to its normal position, like a solid frame arm; the self-ejectors are loaded before the frame is closed czechoslovakia porcelain. Of the two systems the ejector is by far the better, given proper design and proper workmanship-, and the extractors all old fashioned table brass metal claw feet on casters.became obsolete, except for the egregious Enfield, long before 18 go, when that arm also passed into oblivion revolving bookcase.
`The self-extractors were the Galand and Somerville antique desk art moderne.(AngloBelgian, 1868), the Thomas (1869), and the Merwin-Hulbert (American, 1878); there were others (I have a nameless sliding-cylinder extractor,’ beautifully made by Webley), all of which seem to derive from the Galand-Somerville (which was about the best of them, and was itself preceded by a whole array of more or less similar self-extractors, nameless, patentless, and made in Belgium, which used pin-fire cartridges and extracted the cases by the pins); the Galand seems to have lasted longest, and was for a time used officially by the Russian army talavera lustre. It will not stand powerful cordite cartridges, but at least none that I have seen have ever rattled like the Thomas victorian candlesticks.
`The self-ejectors were the Smith and Wesson (American, 1869), the Pryse (1876), and the Tranter (1879)—it was Tranter’s second or third shot at a “break-down” self-ejector german art deco porcelain harlequin. There were a few others, but none to be compared with these, all of which had quite a long life—the Smith and Wesson, somewhat modified, until a decade or so ago if not to the present day hyalith czech glass. Pryse’s revolver was a great favourite with army officers, and has the distinction of being the first pistol to have a rebounding lock (i oak pembroke tables.e serpentine top breakfast table., one in which the hammer, after striking the cap, rises far enough to be withdrawn from contact with it) telescopic table furniture. It was made by Webley antique   urn   spoons. regency secretare. solid mahogany gateleg table imperial. rosewood and satinwood ladies pedestal desk. and indeed is sometimes called the “Chinese Webley”, from the circumstances that london porcelain manufacturers. the Chinese Government bought quite a large number oriental tea tables cherrywood portable furnitur. I imagine that the popularity of this pistol started Webleys, then emerging from the doldrums, thanks to the success of their ” R innovative styles of the 20th century did not include:. I rockingham china 1848.C european cabinetry of art. ” (Royal Irish Constabulary) revolver, on the quest for a really first-class “break-down” self-ejector —which of course, they eventually procured antique lyre table. “antique silver indian furniture”. expensive blue glass bowls. 1930 art deco french armchairs.`The fault of the self-extractors is that after a fair amount of use the fastening of the frame, which is divided to allow the cylinder to slide forward on the axis-pin, becomes worn —whereupon the arm “rattles” and the chambers no longer align properly with the barrel; the fault of the self-ejectors is usually in the fastening of the top strap to standing-breech, which may be susceptible to blowing open, either because it is not properly closed or because it is not strong enough 19th century chinese furniture. The early Smith and Wessons put themselves out of court with the War Office on this account (and I think rightly, for at the time the fastening was not too reliable), and their shortcomings were promptly attiibuted to all “break-down” revolvers antiques lamps made by universal statuary co.. Tranter’s last self-ejector has a better fastening, secured by a long thumb lever operating a hook over the end of the top strap (the parent of the Webley stirrup fastening), but it came under the condemnation passed upon all “break-down” pistols-, besides it was too Lsite, for by 18′79 the Enfield must have been approved, if not actually adopted what is a chamber pot of 1800s. The existing self-extractors were all clearly unsuitable as arms for military purposes, and the self-ejectors were condemned as dangerous on account of the top-strap fastening-, so, with unerring instinct, Owen Jones designed, and the War Office adopted, an arm cunningly combining the disadvantages of both italian neo-classical commode.’
Although, on the whole, a bad revolver, the Enfield became the official pattern for both the antique pine draw leaf table 1920. Army and the Navy, and Mr sideboards. Scurfield thinks that it was the first revolver to be• a general issue to the rank and file of the cavalry 19the century russian furnitrue. There were two patterns: Mark I of i88o had a calibre of ‘422 inch, and Mark II of 1882 one of ‘476 paris exposition candlesticks. The larger calibre was introduced as the ‘422 bullet had insufficient weight to stop a charging man at short range indian interior low seating drawing room. This deficiency was so evident against the Afghan tribesmen that most officers armed themselves with more effective private arms antique mahogany drop leaf work table. The -476 Enfield, however, had a much heavier bullet and was satisfactory in this respect dumbwaiter end tables. The Enfield frame was hinged in front of the trigger guard and opened like the normal ejector type; but instead of ejecting, the cylinder slid forward leaving the cartxidge ‘cases behind, suspended on the extractor paris antique holophane. This was in the form of a star which fitted into the cylinder but did not slide forward antique wurttemberg clocks.
The most famous of • all British Army revolvers is the Webley antique brass chamber candlestick. Further, it has the distinction of being the oldest pattern of military firearm still in production in Great Britain, and probably in the world louis 16th reproduction dining set. Since the Ordnance Board accepted Webley’s Mark I in 1887 (made five years previously) and the present -day there have been only comparatively minor modifications antique italian extendable table. This is a period of some seventy years yabu fruit. Even Brown Bess might require the acceptance of the India Pattern musket as a modification to beat it mallard furniture. The Webley record is the more remarkable, however, as it covers a period during which there has been more scientific and mechanical advance than during the whole of the previous history of the world hyalith glass.
One may perhaps take, as the earliest origin of the firm which made the Webley revolver history of american sideboards., a business which was established by one William Davis in 1790: Davis set up an establishment in Weaman Street, Birmingham, for the manufacture of bullet moulds, gunmakers’ tools and other firearm accessories cream leather chairs with walnut legs. The site of these old premises is occupied by the present Webley factory 19century british armschairs.
Some time early in the nineteenth century James Webley opened a business also in Weaman Street, which was somewhat peculiarly described as ‘Percussioners, Gun Lock &c antique french brass figurative parlor clock. makers’ malard furniture. In 1827 James’s young brother, Philip, then fourteen years old, was apprenticed to a gun-lock filer oak buffet with turned bun feet. In an excellent little brochure, Webley 1790-7953, published by Messrs neoclassical antique table. Webley & Scott Ltd chest of drawers with lots of compartments., and compiled by Messrs czechoslovakian antique porcelain.
C plain sofa table. W silver terrine. Thurlow Craig and Eric G early 19th century french bureau. Bewley, F lambeth ingredients.C scandanavian antique dessert stand.I 19th century english cabinet makers.S goldscheider  mark  vienna  old., the indenture of apprenticeship is reproduced italian wood armchairs. It sheds an interesting light on the working conditions and customs of the time, and is therefore given here in full deco style desks.
`This Indenture Witnesseth that opalescence glass teapot steuben. renaissance tin-glazed.
`PHILIP WESLEY as well bf his own accord as with the advice and consent of his Father, Thomas Webley of Birmingham in the county of Warwick, White Button Turner doth put himself apprentice to Benjamin Watson the younger of Birmingham -aforesaid, Gun Lock filer, to learn his Art, and with spanish cabinets.him (after the manner of an Apprentice) to serve from the day of the date hereof, unto the full end and Term of seven years, from thence next following, to be fully complete, and ended antique “la granja” glass. During which Term the said Apprentice his Master faithfully shall serve, his secrets keep, his lawful commands everywhere gladly do: he shall do no damage to his said Master nor see it done by others: but to the best of his Power, ,shall - let or forthwith give Notice to his said Master of the same: he shall not waste ‘the goods of his said Master nor lend unlawfully to any: he shall neither buy nor sell without his said Master’s Licence : he shall not play at Cards, Dice, Tables nor any unlawful game: he shall not haunt Taverns, or Alehouses, nor absent himself from his said Master’s service Day or Night unlawfully: but in all things as a faithful Apprentice, he shall behave himself towards his said Master and all this during the said Term austria furniture antique.
`AND the said Benjamin Watson the younger in considera•t1on of the faithful services to be performed under this Indenture doth hereby covenant and agree with the said Thomas Webley that he the said Benjamin Watson the younger shall and will teach and instruct or cause to be taught and instructed his said apprentice in the art aforesaid in~ the best way that he can antique french or chippendale coffee table. And also shall and will in lieu of maintenance wearing apparel washing lodging and other necessaries pay unto the said Thomas Webley or to the said apprentice the following wages, that is to say, from henceforth during the first year of the same term the weekly sum of five shillings and from thenceforth to raise one shilling, yearly during the remainder of the said term the same payments to be made on the Saturday in every week and for the considerations last mentioned the said Thomas Webley doth by covenant and agree to provide the said apprentice with all necessaries during the said term portuguese antique library table. And it is hereby covenanted and agreed between the said parties hereto that in case the said apprentice shall at any time•during the said term and the usual working hours thereof, that is to say from six o’clock in the morning till seven o’clock in the evening in the summer and from seven o’clock in the morning till eight o’clock in the evening in the winter absent-himself from or neglect the work and service aforesaid whether occasioned through sickness or any other cause whatsoever (except with the consent of the said Benjamin Watson the younger) then in such case it shall be lawful for the said Benjamin Watson the younger to deduct from the said wages all or so much thereof as shall be in proportion to the time of such absence from or neglect of service mohn beaker with transparent enamel scene. But it ‘is hereby expressly agreed that the power of Deduction shall not extend to prevent hinder or debar the said Benjamin Watson the younger from obtaining any other satisfaction or remedy he will be entitled to before any Justice of the Peace or otherwise on account of such absence from or neglect of service in case such deduction was not made or herein provided for nor shall the same be pleaded in bar thereto silver george foot mask.
`AND for the true performance of all and every the Covenants and Agreements each of the said Parties bindeth himself unto the other of them firmly by these presents antique art deco furniture black lacquer. In WITNESS whereof, the Parties abovenamed to this Indenture have set their Hands, and Seals, the twenty-sixth Day of June in the eighth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the fourth by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and in the Year of our Lord, One antique michael thonet no 56. Thousand Eight Hundred and twenty seven what make the bloemenwerf chair more expensive.

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NINETEENTH CENTURY
During the early part of the nineteenth century most military firearms were still manufactured by private gunmakers; and at the start of the century, indeed, there was virtually no other source drop leaf table three legs make. The Government’s part in production was practically confined to assembling components which had been made by contractors desserts during 18th century england. Actual Government manufacture seems to have been stimulated by a public accusation that in England the art of making firearms was practically extinct porcelain war antiques. Such an accusation was, of course, an unjustified slur on the many brilliant gunsmiths in the country; but nevertheless in 1802 the manufacture of locks, as well as the assembly of firearms, was started at the Tower of London juste aurele meissonnier. It was soon found that accommodation at the Tower was too restricted for any large-scale production; and in 1808 a Government factory was established at Lewisham, in Kent, for the manufacture of locks and barrels victorian commodes.
Lewisham was not the first Government factory connected with the small arms industry palissy tea set art deco style. As will be remembered, the Royal Gunpowder Factory had been established at Waltham Abbey some years previously antique chamber pot chair. Waltham Abbey’s interests were french aristocracy aftername.not entirely confined to gunpowder, for in 1800 large numbers of walnut trees were planted both there and at the adjoining locality of Enfield Lock 20th c. art deco chairs. This latter place lay a few miles north of Enfield, and was so called after the lock of the Lea navigation, which was the most prominent ‘feature of the district antique three-legged ornamental table.
When the assembly of muskets became too large a commitment for the limited resources of the Tower, Enfield Lock was the obvious choice for an armament works yabu fruit. The original Enfield factory was built in 1804, and rapidly became the principal centre for the assembly of India Pattern muskets unglazed dresden figurines.
As compared with Enfield, which had the advantage of the Lea Navigation and a water supply from the River Lea, Lewisham suffered badly from poor communications and a lack of water for power hirado porcelain. After the end of the Napoleonic wars, therefore, it was decided to concentrate all Government small arms manufacture at Enfield “english ironstone” england” marks. Additional buildings were accordingly constructed at Enfield; and first the barrel branch and later the lock and finishing sections were transferred there, and the Lewisham works closed down antique stemware cobalt blue.
Progress at Enfield was slow, and it was not till about the middle of the century that the factory started to manufacture complete firearms what is a chamber pot of 1800s. In his presidential address to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1868, Mr chambersticks of porcelain. Gregory said that prior to 1852 ‘the construction of fire-arms was really carried on by small manufacturers, who each made only one separate part, one for locks, one for barrels, one for bayonets, etc early cherry drop front desk., the gun-maker being, in fact, little more than a setter up; and the Government, after obtaining by contract the separate parts of their muskets, excepting barrels and some small parts, from separate manufacturers, put them together at their own works at Enfield’ antique dining table detailed carved legs. The number of weapons produced at Enfield by this system was small, and amounted to some 7000 firearms and i 50 swords a year blue glass pheasant. By 1853 this figure had increased to 50,000 firearms and 3000 swords meissen, four continents.
Nevertheless it was apparent that there was considerable room for improvement, and in 1853 a Committee was appointed to investigate the provision of small arms for the Army renown clockmakers in vienna. The establishment of the Committee was apparently due to a report rendered by Mr http:  antcollectors.com antique-furniture 19th-century-sideboards-cellarets-tambour-secretary-regency-side-cabinet-desks-worktables-new-trends. John Anderson, Superintendent of the Woolwich Ordnance Factories, who had been deputed to examine Enfield’s capabilities for the manufacture of bayonets meissen porcelain louis xiv.
Two officers, Colonel J valueof1800’slibrarytable. A 19th century wooden round table and persian. Chalmer, R art deco secretaire 1900.A antique pembroke table, floral inlay design., Inspector of Artillery, and Lieutenant-Colonel A english wedgewood. T victorian renaissance revival credenza. Tulloh, R chippendale cutlery urns.A black alvar aalto stool 60 finmar., Inspector of the Royal Carriage Factory at Woolwich, were requested to report to the Committee on the existing methods of providing small arms ironstone china japan pattern. The following statements were included in their report:
`It appears that the system hitherto adopted to procure small-arms is so heterogenoeus in its character, that it could not fail to produce considerable difficulties after dark candelabras. The Government establishment at Enfield Lock is comparatively small and of a mixed nature, some parts of the work being performed by the establishment, some by contractors; many of the lathes and other tools are the property of the workmen; others belonging to the establishment serpentine pembroke table. The men possessing lathes hire them out to other men chinese table with brass top.
`The establishment at Enfield Lock, being small, and forming part of this heterogeneous system, is unable to hold that salutary check or control over the contractors to prevent exorbitant demands and serious delays antique dressers collectors.
`The principal part of the gun trade upon which the Government mainly depends for supply in case of emergency, is carried on in Birmingham and London, and by men working by hand in wretched cellars and garrets, and great evil arises fro-in the extreme slowness of manufacture metal top antique tables with drop leaf.’
Details of the existing capacity of Enfield were’ furnished by Mr antique jasper cabinet chest serpentine. J antique empire mahogany curved buffet with mirror. Gunner, its Superintendent normandy antique clock longcase. He said that Enfield was now producing the barrels, which had previously been supplied from Birmingham in the rolled state, and could turn out from Zoo to 25o a week vintage silver shell dish with fish feet. He also stated that Enfield had introduced a new method of seasoning timber by using hot air chamber pots 1800’s.
The effect of the new process was that gun stocks could be produced from timber about a month after felling, instead of the previous two to three years wolfgang hoffman table. The result of this, lie added, was that 100,000 completed stocks were stored at Weedon to finish seasoning, and a further large quantity at Waltham furniture maker copenhagen art nouveau.
The Committee’s report recommended no radical changes in the existing state of affairs doucai ming porcelain. It considered that manufacture by contractors should continue,, but that machinery should be more extensively used at Enfield so that its production could be expanded in an emergency biedermeier wardrobe vienna.
In this same year of 1854, however, there was a series of troubles in the arms industry antique furniture prohibition bar examples. Strikes amongst the employees of London and Birmingham gunmaking firms coincided with the start of the 3-tier mahogany and brass side table. Crimean war; contractors, possibly taking advantage of the increased demand due to the• war, were charging higher prices; and there were a number of delays in the fulfilment of existing contracts characteristics antique gate leg. As*a result the Board-of Ordnance decided that as soon as it was in a position to do so it would take over the manufacture of firearms and dispense with the services of the contractors queen anne dressing table, 3 mirror. To implement this decision, new buildings and machinery were ordered and- a mission was dispatched to the United States to look into American methods in small arms manufacture epergne ceramic 19th century. As a result of new construction, the installation of machines and reorganization, production at Enfield was increased to 130,000 muskets and bayonets a year antique sheffield piece marked “royal sheffield”.
The first firearm to be manufactured at Enfield in any quantity was, appropriately enough, the Enfield rifle; and it was the appearance of this weapon, therefore, which heralded louis cube. the decline of the contractor small round chippendale center hall table.
Amongst the most eminent of early nineteenth-century gunmakers was Ezekiel Baker antique gilded console tables gesso design. He has already been mentioned in connection with his famous rifle and his book Remarks on Rifle sofa 1920. Guns raphaelle monti. The production of his rifle was by no means the last of Baker’s activities candlesticks juste-aurele meissonnier. In 18 16, at the request of the East paris exposition candlesticks.India Company, he made several improvements to the Company’s firearms loudon florals 1783-1843. These included alterations to the flash-pan to prevent water reaching the priming and a modification to the spring of the bayonet attachment kem weber. In 1821 he invented a bullet mould and clipper for casting bullets, so that the ball was made perfectly round and more solid buy escritoire ‘trestle’. The following year he devised an improved cock for the flintlock, which enabled the flint to be held more securely william kent staffordshire. In 1824 he patented a lock which could be used for either flint or percussion antique napoleon furniture. This last invention was only applicable to sporting weapons, and was intended for sportsmen who, if they found themselves in an area where caps were unobtainables could use their percussion lock arms as flintlocks rectangular mahogany extension table square pedestal base bun feet.
Baker is also noteworthy as being the first gunmaker to own his own proof house, which adjoined his establishment at 24 Whitechapel Road east indian antique silver. Permission was given to him under a Crown Grant art deco walnut black lacquer display cabinet.
A very famous London gunshop in the years after the end of the Napoleonic wars was 17o Bond Street, the London establishment of William Westley Richards thomas hope chairs curule legs. The Richards family had been merchants and silversmiths of Birmingham, and there William Westley was born in 1788 regency secretare. Instead of following the family tradition he became a gunsmith, and in 1812 opened his own shop at 82 High Street, Birmingham antique japanese ko imari. ‘He quickly became prominent in the gun trade and took an active part in the successful petition of 1813 which resulted in the establishment of the Birmingham Proof House louis the 14th chair. Two years later, realizing the importance of the London market, he established a shop in Bond Street; a quarter which he chose as being frequented by the wealthiest classes of the community “liberty furniture”.
Richards was fortunate in his selection of his London agent: a very remarkable character called William Bishop 19th century south african stinkwood antiques. Already well known both in the gun trade and in the shooting field, Bishop had ready access to the type of customer for whom Richards wished to cater art deco brass lamp with women. In addition, he was of enormous size, had an eccentric taste in dress and was always immaculately turned out barker brothers dining table. At the Bond Street shop he invariably wore a swallow-tailed coat and a top hat with a broad brim antique limed oak furniture. On top of the coat a spotless white apron reached to his ankles and the cuffs of his shirt were turned back over the forearms inlaid furniture octagon music table. Presided over by this impressive figure, 17o Bond Street became almost a club, frequented by young officers of the Fighting Services and members of the landed and sporting aristocracy antique furniture art deco chairs. There they would discuss their mutual shooting interests and garner wisdom and advice from ‘the Bishop of Bond Street’ example of 18th century wooden handle silverware. For two generations, and in some cases three, Bishop was the trusted counsellor in all matters relating to
0 antique occasional cabinets. guns and shooting; for he was fifty-six years at 17o Bond Street, eventually dying in harness in 1871 florals in british furniture. During that long period there must have been many officers who went on active service equipped in accordance with the advice of ‘the Bishop’ barker brothers furniture. To Richards, of course, his services must have been invaluable george iii pembroke table.
In 184o Richards received the Royal Warrant and the appointment of Gunmaker to the Prince Consort, and in 1851 he was granted a special Medal Award for, his exhibits at the London Exhibition at the Crystal Palace d-form dining table. In 1855 he was succeeded by his son, Westley Richards porcelain relief herons and swans. The work of the latter on breech-loading weapons and cartridges will be considered in a later chapter antique small oval drop leaf table.
Two of the best-known gunmakers at the end of the eighteenth century and the first quarter of the nineteenth century were the Manton brothers epergnes. The elder, John Manton, had started his gunmaking career as foreman to T french side cabinets. Twigg art deco upholstery fabrics. In 178o he set up on his own at 6 Dover Street in London, and, until surpassed by his younger brother, was probably regarded as the leading gunsmith antique 8 leg table. In his later years he was making percussion holster pistols 18c dutch marquetry bombe front cabinet.
Joseph Manton started his own independent concern some fifteen years after his brother, and opened a gunshop at 27 Davies Street, Berkeley Square, in London dutch style furniture. Joseph’s ventures into percussion locks, and his relations with Forsyth and Colonel Hawker, have already been narrated collector’s table. He was easily the foremost gunsmith of his time, but he is remembered chiefly for his part in the development of the sporting gun antique octagonal tilt top tea table.
James Collins of 12 Vigo Lane, Regent Street, London, catered for officers’ more expensive tastes by making flintlock holster pistols with silver mounts jan van mekeren. In his later days he produced a most peculiar percussion lock pistol, which could fire three shots in succession, and embodied a revolving striker and a folding trigger 18th century brittany cupboards.
Dale, who had a shop in London, was unique amongst British gunsmiths in making the locks for an American military firearm art deco in german. This was the, Model 1818 -69 calibre U 18th century dark wood dining furniture and oriental carpet.S “chateau des tuileries”. Army flintlock dragoon pistol, made “bristol porcelain” for sale 18th century. at the Springfield, Massachusetts, armoury silver candlesticks worth. Dale’s name was stamped on the inside of the lock plate george 3rd italian furniture designer. It does not seem to have been a very popular weapon owing to the terrific recoil, and only i000 were made antique sideboard with desk.
Joseph Davidson, also a London gunsmith, made flintlock pistols under contract for the Honourable East India Company dessoir moon limitless. The Company had its own proof mark which consisted of a heart quartered, with the letters V typical features of britain.E antique butterfly drop leaf table.I stier in arabisch schrift.C 18th century dressing tables., one in each quarter and in that order candelabrum.
George H federal sideboard with eagle brass. Daw of 57 Threadneedle Street, London, appears to have had -the sole rights in England for the manufacture of General Jacob’s firearms antique tables trestle rectangle. He made some very popular single- and double-barrelled sporting versions thomas hope sofa.
Clark of Holborn in London had a Government contract for the supply of muskets fold over tea table antiques. He also made some flintlock holster pistols with double barrels, and pocket pistols with the long popular box locks and cannon barrels antique art nouveau wardrobes.
T sheffield porcelain “herbs and spices”. H early 19th century american rosewood cabinet makers. Potts, who had a shop in Haydon Square, London, secured the (from the point of view of his reputation) dubious advantage of a Government contract for the manufacture of the Brunswick rifle meisen hand painted plates 1920 allegorical. Apart from the appalling Brunswicks, he made presentation firearms; and a number of these special weapons were bought from Potts’ establishment for Indian princes japanese antique round table.

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The development of the rifle between the issue of the Baker t6 Rifle regiments, and the equipment of the whole of the infantry with the Enfield, is an interesting story myott & sons chamber pot ironstone china. It will be remembered that Ezekiel Baker’s design incorporating a rifling with only a slight twist, together with an easy-fitting and patch-enclosed bullet, had been criticized by Colonel Beaufoy makers names of antique pottery england.
Beaufoy’s theories, which are given in his Schloppetaria of 1808, were widely supported during the period of the Napoleonic wars, and had a considerable influence on the design of the sporting rifles which were manufactured after the end of hostilities drop leaf table with spiral turned legs.
Baker, as has already been said, had designed the weapon which he regarded as best suited to a military purpose; but he had never claimed any great accuracy antique clerk desks. In his Observations he says:
‘ I have- found two hundred yards the greatest range I could fire at to any certainty commode art deco. At three hundred yards I have fired very well at times when the wind has been calm jules leleu display cabinet. At four and five hundred yards I have frequently fired, and have sometimes struck the object; though, having aimed as nearly as possible at the same point, I have found it to vary very much from the object intended whereas at two hundred yards I could have made sure of the point, or thereabouts antique caquetoire chair.’
To Colonel Henry Beaufoy the acceptance of such a standard of accuracy was heresy lenci masks. He maintained that the first requirement in a rifle was accuracy, and that other considerations must be subordinated to this end wash stands for center bowl. No gunsmith disputed the fact that if one increased the twist of the rifling from Baker’s quarter turn to, say, a full turn in the same length of barrel, the gain in accuracy would be considerable antique drawleaf table. ToBeaufoy this proved the case for increased twist; and for a firearm intended for target or competition shooting it would be difficult to say he was wrong czechoslovakian porcelain. But in the case of a rifle intended for the rough business of war, or for the sometimes almost equally dangerous pastime of hunting big game, there were other considerations most expensive antique glass vase.
If the bullet were to be made to spin faster (which was the purpose of a greater twist), it must be a tighter fit in order to grip the grooves of the rifling antique rotating dumbwaiter. This ‘would make it harder, and therefore slower, to load, and the loading of the Baker rifle was already a much slower process than that of a smoothbore musket brass escutcheons shelves. Further, if the explosion of the powder gave the bullet too hard a ‘Punch’, there was a danger that it might not settle into the grooves, and thus strip the rifling paw pottery small candlestick. The charge, therefore, had to be reduced italian immigrant porcelain figures mantelpiece flatbacks. But this gave a lower muzzle velocity, and consequently entailed a greater elevation of the muzzle for a given range victorian kidney shaped dressing table with glass top. The flat trajectory which Ezekiel Baker thought so necessary for troops in action was thus lost 18th century knife boxes.
It is only just to Beaufoy to say that he finally admitted in his own book that the type of rifle he advocated was only suitable for target shooting 19th century mechanical desks. He had found by experiment that the accuracy of the full twist rifle depended on the barrel being cleaned -after every shot, and he was too much -of a soldier not to appreciate that this would be quite impossible in action curule sette federal period antique. Nevertheless Beaufoy’s views had gained such wide acceptance that they governed rifle design for some years, and their author’s ultimate proviso as to their limitations was either ignored or not appreciated edwardian period furniture construction.
The theory of a considerable twist in the rifling was, of course, fundamentally sound 20th century dining table england. The difficulty in putting the theory into practice, however, lay in the shape of 20th century dining table england. the bullet ?????? galles. A round bullet had no depth of contact with the rifling, and therefore even with the tightest fit there was little to hold it to the grooves 1800’s wood dresser with tulip engraving. british meubles.
The advent of the percussion lock increased ‘the difficulties of the gunmakers, for the more rapid explosion increased the velocity of the bullet and the consequent tendency to override or* strip the lands of the rifling regency rent table polygonal. Since a tighter-fitting ball did not provide a solution, the charge had to be decreased again old buen retiro porcelain. In point of fact the charge had to be made so small that the muzzle velocity dropped to the extent that a rifle of the normal bore lost most of its penetration and stopping power fall front timber writing desk. For sporting rifles which were to be used against big game, the gunmakers tried to make up for this loss in velocity by increasing the herculaneum stoneware for sale.size of the bore, and therefore the bullet, so that the actual weight of the ball should make up for its loss in speed tureen hague or amstel. The result was a clumsy and inefficient weapon; and rifles of this type had far less power of penetration than a smooth-bore musket of similar bore greek designs and motifs. It is hardly surprising that the idea of re-equipping the Army with rifles aroused little enthusiasm 1930’s austrian furniture.
Eventually, of course, the attention of designers turned to the bullet in an endeavour to find an answer to the dilemma sarcophagus chests andre-charles boulle. The spherical shape was retained, but different types of projections were formed on the surface which were designed to fit into the grooves of the rifling and so force the bullet to follow its intended spiral path the most common colours of egypt. The most popular of these was the two-groove rifling with a belted bullet which had been adopted for the Brunswick rifle looking for 4 feet wide drop leaf table. The popularity of this system shows that it was at least reasonably successful; but as applied to the Brunswick it was a dismal failure arabisque furniture in ny. Captain Berners, who is credited with the design, must have intended to adapt a proved sporting rifle to military use antique stretcher or refrectory tables. Some writers have said that Berners’ original design incorporated an oval bore; and it may be that the Brunswick as finally accepted was a modified form for which Lovell was responsible n hall norfolk.
The next development, to overcome air resistance and obtain greater penetration with the same charge, was a bullet with a pointed end antique metal table with leaves. This achieved the desired result, but with its comparatively low velocity it had little stopping power; and was-of small use against, for instance, the charge of a tiger small-footed bowls raozhou.
In an endeavour to combine penetration with stopping power experiments were carried out with explosive bullets antique furniture empire chest of drawers. These were of pointed or egg shape, and the main function of the charge in the bullet was to open out its nose on impact and give the same effect as a hit with a heavy round bullet 19th century english george pedestal sideboard. Such a bullet was, in fact, proposed for military purposes by a Captain Norton in 1824; but it was rejected somewhat indignantly by a Board of officers, one of whose reasons was that such a weapon was unfitted for civilized warfare oak revival chair “carved seat”. (It is unlikely, alas, that such a criticism could be levelled against Captain Norton’s bullet to-day giltwood.)
Trials with explosive bullets were carried a stage further in the remarkable series of experiments which were conducted in India by the famous General Jacob, who raised the Scinde Horse and who is commemorated by the town which was named after him, Jacobabad patek philippe, 1930s, rectangular, hinged back.
Jacob first tried to improve the shooting of the Brunswick rifle, and found that a rifling with four grooves instead of two, and a bullet with two crossed belts to fit them, -gave much better results austrian empire furniture style. The East India Company, however, refused to adopt his suggestion that the Brunswick rifles of the Company’s army should be modified accordingly art deco hamilton donald deskey mahogany cabinet.
Jacob, nevertheless, continued his experiments with the bullet to try and obtain even more satisfactory results classical architectural decorative motifs. In order-to get a better grip on the rifling he decided to use an oval ball with projections, instead of a round one french drop front desk. It was well appreciated by gunsmiths at this period that the greater the surface of a bullet which was in contact with the rifling the better the grip would be; and that in fact a long bullet with parallel sides would be infinitely better from this point of view than a round one antique two tier drop leaf table. But the difficulty was that the greater the contact the harder it would be to load the rifle, and it was considered that after a barrel had become fouled with firing it would be impracticable to push down from the muzzle any bullet other than a round one antique silver apostle spoons. Jacob, however, found his oval bullets satisfactory enough to go a stage further; and he produced a fairly easy-fitting cylindrical bullet with a pointed nose and four longitudinal strips to grip the four grooves of his rifling north west antique dresser. His next step was to fit this bullet with an explosive head antique sofa gate-leg table. This so-called ‘rifle shell’ was very popular with sportsmen, though it was rather inclined to explode on impact antique porcelain food warmer. However, the further development of the rifle shell had no influence on military ammunition antique rococo silver candlesticks.
Jacob also had rifles made to his own design plate art nouveau bright colors. They had short barrels of about twenty-four inches, a calibre of ‘577 or -524 inches, rifling of four deep grooves, and one complete turn in thirty inches antiques. None of the rifles was ever officially adopted, but they were used quite extensively in the Indian Army; Jacob’s own regiment, the Scinde Horse, being armed completely with them 18th century porcelain.
The next method of obtaining a grip on the rifling to become popular was by expanding the bullet with the force of the exploding charge are william and mary chest of drawers rare?. The first rifle to be a general issue to the Army embodied this principle 18th century desserts. Although of basically French design, the original inventor of a bullet of this type appears to have been the well-known Newcastle upon Tyne, and later Birmingham and London, gunsmith, W dining room table made from huge clock. Greener italian,furniture,maker,address. Greener’s bullet was oval with a flat base, from which extended a tapered cavity french bronze porcelain and silver inlaid clocks. Into the cavity was inserted a tapered plug, of rather too wide a diameter to be pushed right home escritoire 19th century stinkwood. The bottom of the plug terminated in a flat disc of the same chippendale knife boxes octagon.diameter as the bullet 18th century mass produced tableware. The explosion of the charge drove the plug forward into the cavity, thus expanding the bullet 1930 british chairs. Greener’s bullet was given an official trial in 1836, but was rejected on the odd ground that it was a ‘compound bullet’ large frosted glass reproductions nudes. In 1857, some years after the Government had accepted a rifle based on this very principle, belated recognition was given to Greener’s invention, and in 1857 he was granted the sum of a thousand pounds ‘for the first public suggestion of the principle of expansion, commonly called the Minie’ principle, for bullets in 1836′ vintage three leg table base.
Some years before the period when Greener was trying to get his bullet accepted, Captain Delvigne of the French Army was experimenting on rather cruder lines art nouveau austrian artists candlesticks. Delvigne’s method was to have a chamber of smaller diameter than the barrel, against which the bullet came to rest, and was then expanded at the base by repeated ‘blows from a heavy ram- rod makers of silver table ware in late 1800’s. A bullet so treated was naturally too unsymmetrical to be very accurate in flight painted sideboard pine maryland. In place of this rough treatment, therefore, it was subsequently enclosed in a greased patch, and a tight-fitting wooden plug was inserted between bullet and chamber 1954 antique floor standing ashtrays. Delvigne’s bullet achieved a reputation in a most spectacular fashion in the Algerian campaign-of 1938 french art deco ceramic marks crackle glaze. A battalion of the Chasseurs d’Afrique was equipped by the Duke of Orleans with Delvigne’s rifle and ammunition for service in Algeria under his command antique tables a gibier. On one occasion, when he was out on a reconnaissance, the Duke was annoyed by the provocative gestures of an Arab sheikh some 65o yards away recueil de decorations interieurs. He called out to his escort that he renaissance goldsmith process. would give five francs to any soldier who could shoot the Arab royall naples factory. A Chasseur armed with the Delvigne rifle promptly stepped forward and shot the irritating Arab through the heart art deco antique dresser.
Following another attempt by Colonel Thouvenin to make the bullet expand by hitting it, Colonel Mini6, an instructor at the School of Vincennes, arrived at much the same solution as Greener 19th century porcelain religious figural. Mini6 used a pointed bullet with a hollow base inlaiditalianoccassionaltable. Fitting into this hollow was an iron cup, which was driven forward by the explosion, so expanding the ’skirt’ of the bullet walnut side tables and lowboys. This rifle was immediately adopted by the French Army; and shortly afterwards the British Government purchased the right to use the invention for 42o,000 antique french empire.
The new rifle which was thus introduced into the British Army was entitled the ‘Rifle Musket, Pattern 1851′ empire console pier table. It had a 39-inch barrel, a calibre of ‘702 inch, and a rifling with four grooves which made a complete turn in six feet six inches berkey gay antique furniture. This was a much slighter twist than the Brunswick had rh vase austria. The rifle was sighted up to woo yards brannam pottery. A modification for ‘Sea Service’ was produced by the novel method ‘of rifling with three grooves the ‘768 calibre smooth-bore Pattern 1842 musket italian brass inlay sideboard.
As has already been said, the Mini6 was the first rifle to be adopted for the whole Army, though in point of fact it was superseded by the Enfield long before all units had received it antique bentwood rocking chair. It was an infinitely better arm than the Brunswick, but it was not entirely satisfactory antique italian inlaid buffet. It was first used on active service in the Kaffir war of 1846-52, and all the infantry battalions which left England in 1854 for the Crimea, except those in the 4th Division, were equipped with it vintage chinese porcelain with two swords marked.
The Mini6 rifle had only a short life, as the Enfield, which succeeded it, passed its trials in 1853, and production started immediately 1850s gateleg with butterfly leaf. The Enfield was far in advance of any previous firearms issued to the British Army and gave extremely good service davenport desk mechanism. The barrel was thirty-nine inches in length, the bore ‘577 inch, and the rifling consisted of three shallow grooves which made a full turn in six feet six inches stripped pine washstands kent. Sighting was UP to goo yards antique 5 legged table. There were various modifications of this standard type of Enfield theodore haviland limoges, france pre world war ii solid white body. Carbines were made for the cavalry and other mounted units, and serjeants seem to have carried a rifle with a 33-inch barrel antique drum shaped table. This short barrel had five grooves instead of three, and an increased twist in the rifling which completed a turn in four feet chamber pot and bed table. The additional grooves and greater degree of twist were an improvement, and this walnut marble slab dining. type of barrel was subsequently adopted for all Enfield firearms raoul lachenal france egyptian blue vase. The bullet was hollow based, and later fitted with a tapered boxwood plug prudent francois mallard new york. The boxwood plug was eventually replaced by one of baked clay german buffet furniture.
The production of the Enfield was rather peculiar italy flowers raised antique ceramics. Lord Hardinge, who was then Master-General of the Ordnance, invited the leading gunsmiths of the country to submit samples of their own rifles walnut marble slab dining. The best features of these rifles were then embodied in the new design luxury antique items.
Issue of the Enfield to the troops started before the end of the Crimean war, and it was first used on active service before the fortress of Sebastopol 1800’s reproduction dining room tables.
The Enfield is probably best remembered, unfortunately, as the rifle which was the immediate cause of the Indian Mutiny antique oak gateleg tables. The cartridge was still opened by biting off the end with the teeth; and the rumour was spread that the cartridge was smeared with a grease made from cow’s, fat and the lard of pigs 17th century tea tray. As cows are sacred to Hindus, and pigs are anathema to Mohammedans, the story, if true, would have serious effects on the religious status of soldiers of both classes of the community drapery designs for dressing table. No convincing denial was forthcoming; and, on the other hand, there appeared to have been some evidence, whether true or not, that the allegations were not unfounded silver plated corinthian hexagonal base three light candelabra. The results were disastrous reproduction rococo etagere.
Peculiarly enough, the Enfield rifle was issued to the Company’s army before the Queen’s troops had all received it reproduction mochaware. The result was that when the Mutiny started, although the new rifle was already in the possession of some of the mutinous regiments of the Bengal Army, many of the British regiments, including the 32nd Foot (later the ist Battalion of The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry) who defended Lucknow, still had the smooth-bore muskets of Pattern 184′ - Later arrivals in the country all had the Enfield; and the following extract from the Indian Mutiny Journal of Private Charles Wickins of the ,90th Light Infantry shows the effect of the new weapon:
`We marched on fora few miles, when the enemy again began to show themselves in force on oup right meiji clock. We opened fire on them and, our Enfields being well elevated, we made them move at a distance of 12 hundred yards french oak, “barley twist” chest of drawers.’
Enfield rifles, together with other British rifled and smoothbore firearms, were imported in large quantities by both sides in the American Civil War of i $ 6 z-6$ italian creamware. The Confederate States alone bought 70,980 of the long-barrelled rifles, as well as a number of the short-barrelled variety, and also Enfield carbines, and some specially made officers’ weapons known as `Jeff Davis’ Enfields with checkered stocks and nipple protectors secured by chains mid century decor mahogany rectangle divided tray. In addition’, the armouries of the Confederacy made some copies of Enfields http:  antcollectors.com . One of these, first made at Arkadelphia in Arkansas and later at Tyler in Texas, had a calibre Of ‘54 inch and a barrel only twenty-seven inches long tudor rose design waterfall furniture. This weapon and a copy of an Austrian rifle of similar calibre were collectively known as Hill rifles, and some were marked ‘Hill Rifle Tyler C antique cutlery urns.S burr maple table.’, and others `Texas Rifle Tyler’ inurl:antcollectors.com . Closer copies of Enfield firearms were made by Cook & Brothers of New Orleans art deco upholstery. There were two of these: the 33-inch barrel rifle and the cavalry carbine japanned cabinets.
The latter had a 2 i-inch barrel and a nipple protector attached to the trigger guard by a chain chinese qing porcelains. When New Orleans was threatened by the advance of the Union forces the factory was moved to Athens in Georgia, and some of the arms are marked ‘Athens Armory’ drop leaf carved leg table with drawer. After the move to Athens the head of the firm, F great exhibition of 1851 aesthetic. W antique gateleg table with turned legs. C japanned antique chest-how to strip lacquer. Cook, raised an infantry battalion himself and was killed in action in 1864 drop leaf gateleg coffee table.
Though an excellent weapon for its period the Enfield was found to vary considerably in regard to the performance of individual rifles maryland antique sideboard. The difference was due to slight inaccuracies in the machining of the duncan phyfe drop leaf table.parts shu fu bowls. To try and find 19 century mahogany gateleg table. a remedy, Lord Hardinge, the Commander-in-Chief, in 1854 invited Sir Joseph Whitworth to carry out experiments with bullets and rifling king charles silver flatware. Whitworth was not a gunmaker, but he was noted as an engineer and for his work in precision machining and accurate measurement site:antcollectors.com. It appears that the first approach to Whitworth was made in the hope that he would devise machinery to solve the problem antique spanish talavera. However, Whitworth succeeded in persuading Lord Hardinge that a far more basic investigation was first required antique wood dressing screen ebony and ivory inlay.
In order to enable him to undertake his experiments, a Soo yards’ range was built at Whitworth’s Manchester home, and paid for by the Government prices for antique gateleg table. Since Whitworth had little practical knowledge of firearms, a well-known gunsmith, Westley Richards, was appointed as his assistant, and two Army officers were made available to help in the range tests and to advise on the military requirements “antique meissen porcelain”.
Two years of experiments resulted in the production of a rifle of Whitworth’s own design, which was tested against the Enfield in April 18 57 at the Hythe School of Musketry art deco marquetry plaques uk.
The Whitworth rifle was certainly of unconventional design antique divans. In order to reduce air resistance there was a considerable reduction of the bore; from the ‘577 inch of the Enfield, to a calibre of only -45o inch antique 54 empire table. The most remarkable feature, however, was the rifling late 1800’s dining table european. Instead of the usual grooves the barrel had a hexagonal bore with a twist which increased towards the muzzle modern dressing table designs. The first turn was completed in twenty inches antique spindle leg drop leaf side table. The bullet was of a similar hexagonal shape to the barrel, and was made of a specially hardened alloy rare antique drop leaf dining tables. It was impossible, therefore, for the bullet to override the rifling chinese influence to rococo.
The trial at Hythe resulted in an outstanding success for the Whitworth meissen, four continents. Sir J marcel goupy designs. E lotto design turkish carpet. Tennent reported the shooting of the competing rifles in his The Story of
the Guns, of 1864 rococo silver candlestick. He says:
‘The success [of the Whitworth> was surprising; in range and precision it excelled the Government [Enfield> musket three to one 17th century porcelain figurine. Up to that time the best figure of merit obtained by any rifle at home or abroad was twenty-seven; that is to say, the best shooting had given an average of shots within a circle of twenty-seven inches mean radius, at five hundred yards distance; but the Whitworth lodged an average of shots within a mean radius of four inches and a half from the same distance; thus obtaining a figure of merit of four and, one-half paw pottery small candlestick. At eight hundred yards it superiority was as one to four, a proportion which it maintained at one thousand yards and upwards russian neoclassical secretaire bookcase. At fourteen hundred, yards the Enfield shot so wildly that the record ceased to be kept; and at eighteen hundred yards the trials with it ceased altogether, whilst the Whitworth continued to exhibit its accuracy as before red lion furniture barker brothers los angeles.’
Nevertheless, with all the Whitworth’s remarkable accuracy it suffered from one very serious defect 17th century fashion in europ. Much fouling was accumulated in the recesses of the hexagon bore, which even a metal scraper failed to remove theodore haviland cherry plate. For this reason it was never adopted as a Service firearm; though the Rifle Brigade had it for a short time georgian telescopic silver candlestick.
As a match-shooting rifle the Whitworth was, naturally, a great success art nouveau origins. Its most famous appearance was on the occasion of the first meeting held by the then new National Rifle Association at Wimbledon in 1860 19th century folding breakfast table. The meeting was opened by Queen Victoria, and after the Address and her reply, the Queen went to a pavilion to fire the opening shot holophane verlys. Here there was a Whitworth rifle mounted on a rest and sighted on to a target 400 yards away french art carved inlay buffet. The Queen pulled a silken cord attached to the trigger and the bullet hit the target within one inch of the dead centre italy flowers raised antique ceramics. The iron plate with the mark of the Queen’s bullet on it has been retained at Bisley in commemoration of the event chelsea moons porcelain.
The Whitworths saw their share of active service, for a number were purchased by the Confederate States of America from the Whitworth Rifle Company of Manchester iranian brass oval trays. Presumably some of the hexagonal bullets were supplied as well, and perhaps owing to the Federal blockade it was impossible to replenish them what decade era antique inlaid diamond harlequin. At any rate the Southern troops seem to have used ordinary cylindrical hollow-based bullets without appreciable loss of accuracy 2009 chinese porcelain antique. The Union Generals Sedgwick and Lytle are said to have been killed by Confederate marksmen using Whitworths regency occasional table.
A very unusual rifle, the Lancaster, was adopted for limited use in the Army in 1855 1940’s english dresser   table clock. This was derived from a sporting rifle made by Charles William Lancaster of 151 New Bond Street in London rousseau shagreen. Its most striking feature was the complete absence of the normal grooves to provide the rifling secretaire desk antique. Instead Lancaster used a smooth barrel of slightly oval bore; or, to look at it in another way, two round and very wide grooves opposite each other antique dressing table with mirror and knee hole. The bullet was cylindrical with a conical nose and was made of soft lead meissen, clock, marcolini. The explosion of the charge forced this soft bullet to take up the shape of the rifling, giving a very close fit dark silver candelabra.
As a military weapon, the Lancaster was first issued to the ist Battalion The Rifle Brigade for experiment, and was used on active service in the Kaffir war late 1800’s dining table european. It was ultimately adopted as the firearm of the Corps of Sappers and Miners antiques trends 2009. The final Army version of the Lancaster had a A-inch barrel with the same bore of ‘S77 inch as the Enfield 1850s gateleg with butterfly leaf. The oval bore had a twist which increased towards the muzzle, and completed a full turn in six feet six inches pillars on casters. To avoid complications in ammunition supply it was used with the Enfield cartridge leleu furniture.

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The 1802 pattern musket was issued to the 43rd and 52nd Regiments (now the 1st and 2nd Battalions of The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry) in probably 1803, and it may be that soon after, slow issue started to troops on the Home establishment as the muskets became available art and crafts of a dragonfly that have inspired designers. It is doubtful, however, whether many units had yet received the new weapon when Napoleon finally departed from the scene en route to St “making furniture”   armchair legs. Helena antique creamware tankards.
In spite of its slow distribution the- r8o2 pattern musket became the standard army weapon, and it appears to have been successful and well liked antique wood plate racks.
It was not only in the musket that the Nock influence was apparent antique square drop leaf table. A few years earlier, in 1796, the ‘Brown Bess’ carbines and pistols of the heavy cavalry (which a Board of General Officers considered ‘inconvenient, useless and cumbersome’) had been replaced by other patterns which were practically identical with the Nock trial models of 1785 but with gaudi roundel. conventional locks wells coates. They had 26-inch and 9-inch barrels respectively, both of musket bore rococo writing table.
A much more remarkable carbine was issued to the light cavalry in somewhere about 1800 gustavian furniture copenhagen. This was the so-called `Paget’ carbine, which is supposed to have been invented by Lord Paget, the famous British cavalry general mid 19th  century wooden furniture. It was noteworthy in two respects queen ann gate leg table. The barrel, of carbine bore, was by far the shortest that had ever been designed for a British carbine; being only sixteen inches, which made it a very light and handy weapon fora horseman orrefors blown glass & stemware & smoky gray. Of particular benefit to the mounted soldier, however, was the attachment of the iron ramrod biedermeier antique de. This was a link, known as a ’stirrup’, fitted near the muzzle, which kept the ramrod permanently attached to the piece, even when in use, so that there was no chance of the rod being accidentally dropped william iv “furniture”. This had always been one of the main troubles in loading firearms on horseback robert adams marquetry.
A pistol was brought out at the same time as the carbine, also with the ‘Paget’ stirrup ramrod, and the same lock as fitted to the carbine chippendale pedistal drum table. In other respects it was similar to the pistol first issued to the Light Dragoon regiments in 1759-
Both these ‘Paget’ weapons were so successful that they continued in use until flintlocks finally disappeared from the Army english ironstone pottery ltd.
Whilst Lord Chatham was worrying about the new musket, and the light cavalry was being equipped with its new ‘Paget’ arms, a much more important event was taking place in the history of British military firearms when were claw feet intoduced to teapots. This was the first official issue of a rifle to the British Army ” rococo revival” console english french.
It having been decided to raise an ‘Experimental Corps of Riflemen’ (later to become the Rifle Brigade), a competition was held on the 4th February i800 at Woolwich Arsenal to select a suitable weapon from models submitted by British, German and American gunsmiths antique spindle leg drop leaf side table. The winning competitor was Ezekiel Baker of Whitechapel in London antique czechoslovakia porcelain vase.
Ezekiel Baker had already been established for twenty-five years in his gunshop at 24 Whitechapel Road when he produced his winning design for a muzzle-loading rifled musket 19 c entree dish handle. He was originally apprenticed to Henry Nock, but was destined to surpass even that famous master antique george washington porcelain figures. At the time of the rifle trial he already held Government contracts for smoothbore muskets, carbines and pistols, and similar contracts from the Honourable East India Company antique dining table french regency.
Baker’s rifling was unique george 3rd italian furniture designer. Instead of the three-quarters of a turn which the Ferguson rifling had had, and which was still a normal twist on the Continent and in America, the Baker rifle had only a quarter of a turn antique italian baroque armchairs. In response to considerable adverse criticism of such a slight degree of twist, Baker justified his design on the ground that cutting down the twist reduced the friction in the barrel cherry gate leg rectangular table. This resulted in a flat trajectory for the first two or three hundred yards, and also made it easier to load the rifle drop leaf gate leg side table mahogany.
The length of the barrel and the calibre of the bore were at first the subject of considerable difference of opinion between Baker and the Board of Ordnance thonet rail styles. The military requirement was for a weapon which would have the standard light infantry musket barrel of thirty-nine inches, and the calibre of the smooth-bore musket, in order that the same-sized bullet could be used for all infantry elijah staffordshire figure. Baker accordingly made some rifles to these dimensions and demonstrated, as he had already contended, that they were far too clumsy for practical use splay leg sofa table. As a result it was decided to have a 3o-inch barrel with the standard carbine bore of 20 (a calibre of -61S) antique tables pictures. There were seven grooves in the barrel, as compared with eight in the Ferguson rifle art deco intended customers.
The Baker rifle was at first fitted with an adjustable back-sight; but this was soon discarded as adding an unnecessary complication for the soldier in battle italian clock marble antique hermle. Instead the rifleman was taught to aim at the enemy’s cross-belts for all distances up to Zoo yards, and at his head and shoulders for any greater range antique jugend style cupboard. As regards the accuracy obtainable with his rifle at such a target with the fixed sight, Baker has recorded a test which he carried out himself antique dutch desk. He put up two man-size targets, one at ioo yards from the firing point, and the other at Zoo drop leaf table with brass feet. He then fired thirty-four shots at the first target and twenty-four at the second dutch card table rosewood 18th century. All of them hit somewhere, though scattered over the entire body silver dishes. When these results are compared with Colonel Hanger’s remarks on the accuracy of Brown Bess, and the tests carried out on the same weapon by the Royal Engineers in 184 1, the vast superiority of the Baker rifle will be appreciated burslem yellow trellis ceramics. That is not to say that the Baker rifle compared in accuracy with the target rifles used by the great shots of the day; but Baker contended, rightly, that his rifle was suited to the military purpose for which it was designed wallendorf candelabras.
The standard carbine bore bullet was, of course, loose-fitting, but it was intended that it should be used in conjunction with a greased patch, which gave the necessary grip to the rifling covered bowl antique chinese doucai. Baker, in his book Remarks on Rifle Guns, gives a very interesting description of the way his rifle should be loaded art deco cigarette dispenser. He says:
`In apportioning the quantity of powder for a rifle one charge for all distances should be carefully attended to, and if the powder be good, I have ascertained that nearly one third of the weight of the ball, priming included, is the best estimate art deco writing table. After you have loaded the piece with powder, then put the greased patch of leather, calico, or soft rag, provided for that purpose, on the end of the barrel, as near the centre as possible, place the ball upon it, with the neck or tastable where it is cut off from the moulds, downwards, as generally there is a small hole or cavity in it, which would gather the air in its flight, but if this plan is adopted, and the smooth side always kept up%vards in the barrel, it will not be so liable to be obstructed in its passage through the atmosphere “serving table” antique ball claw. Great care should also be taken that the ball is in the middle of the patch of leather or greased rag, before it is rammed down the barrel; if it is more on one side than the other, it will give the ball an inclination, and throw it from the straight line on its leaving the barrel curved padded chair walnut. Both sides of the patch should be greased, in which case there can be no mistake, however hurried you may be in loading designing knock down furniture. A ball should never be forced down too hard, nor yet should it be too easy—I never found them go so true, as when properly fitted most valuable silverware. The ball with its patch should fit airtight, or it will not have the desired effect floral ornaments art nouveau. I do not mean that the ball should fit so tight as to require a wooden mallet to drive it in the nose of the barrel pine draw leaf coffee table 1920. When the 95th Rifle Regiment was raised by Government, which is now called the Rifle Brigade, I supplied them with a few hundreds of wooden mallets to drive in the ball; but they found them very’ inconvenient, and very soon dispensed with thern; in addition to which they became a serious incumbrance to the men, and have for some years past been entirely abandoned markings on antique candelabra.
‘The loading is, indeed, performed equally well without them, as a man’s strength is always found sufficient to make the ball enter, when it fits as it ought to do bread brand marks 18th century.
‘If the ball fits airtight, as it should do, it will require two or three pushes with the yammer before the air can escape (through the vent) to get it in its proper place 1960 period style coffee table designs with lion claw feet.
‘I do not recommend the ball, as I have before mentioned, to be bruised with the yammer, but pushed avant garde dining tables. If the ball has ragged edges, it will be much impeded, as well as thrown from its true direction by the air, more so than when in its globular shape, in the front part of the ball pearlware barley.’
In practice two methods were used to load the Baker rifle in action antique console. The one described above allowed a rate of fire of about two rounds per minute, which was, of course, considerably slower than the smooth-bore musket repair antique dresser drawers. For rapid fire in an emergency, however, the weapon was treated as a smoothbore rococo writing table. For this purpose a pouch filled with musket-pattern made-up cartridges was carried on the soldier’s equipment 19th century garden furniture. The paper was torn off, the powder poured into the barrel, the paper case then used as wadding, and the ball rolled down on top without using a greased patch 18 century display cabinets. This method had the disadvantage that the grooves got clogged up, and had to be cleaned out before the gun could be used as a rifle again drop leaf coffee table which raises to table height.
The greased patches for enclosing the bullet were kept in a recess in the right side of the butt, known as the ‘ patch box’, and closed by a hinged brass lid 17th century dining table. The first bayonet had the usual triangular blade though of eighteen inches in length inlay antique serving trays.But the hilt and fitting were entirely new 17th century dutch small cupboard value. Instead of the socket end, there was a grip with quillons narrow 9 feet dining table. The grip was slotted to fit over a lug at the side of the barrel, and was secured in position by a spring fixed in the slot stylized acorns. This pattern of bayonet was replaced by one having a flat single-edged sword blade twenty-four inches long booths chipendale turreen. The grip was of the same design, but a knuckle guard replaced one of the quillons antique liberary stands. The powder horn issued with the Baker rifle had a cut-off fitted in the nozzle which measured the correct charge of powder to pour into the barrel puce decorated 1756 cups. (The usual pattern of made-up cartridge, filled with the correct rifle charge, was also carried art deco ceramics.)
In about 1807 difficulties in ammunition supply led to the Baker rifle again being altered to musket bore, though the length of the barrel remained unaltered inurl:antcollectors.com . The result must have been disappointing, for the carbine bore was reverted to once more in about 1830 silver flatware wood handle.
Although the rifle was introduced into the Army as a weapon for skirmishers, there were numerous instances during the Napoleonic wars when its value was demonstrated for other military occasions italian antique small inlaid wood 18th century ivory. One such instance which occurred during the siege of Badajoz in 1812 is narrated by Major George Simmons:
`I was with a party of men behind the advanced sap, and had the opportunity of doing some mischief myott son compagnie. Three or four heavy cannon that the enemy were working were doing frightful execution amongst our artillerymen in their advanced batteries french meals 17th century. I selected several good shots, and fired into the embrasures east india company antiques. In half an hour I found the guns did not go off so frequently as before I commenced this practice, and soon after gabions were stuffed into each embrasure, to stop our rifle balls from entering swedish furniture 1930. They then withdrew them to fire, which was my signal for firing steadily at the embrasures bone handled fork converted to knive. The gabions were replaced without firing the shot glass table antique ceramic legs. I was so delighted with the good practice I was making against Johnny that I kept it up from daylight to dark, with forty as prime fellows as ever pulled trigger gateleg drop leaf table 19th century. These guns were literally silenced antique vienna porcelain vases.’
In Deane’s Manual of Fire-,Irms, of 1858, there is an account of the use of rifles to repel cavalry:
`When in 1812 the rear-guard of the Anglo-Portuguese army was pursued and attacked upon the retreat from Burgos to Valladolid by a numerous French cavalry, on which occasion two English cavalry brigades were porcelain wincanton. brought *into some confusion, the two light brigades of the King’s German Legion became also engaged with the French Dragoons dutch delph pottery marks. These battalions had been i000 strong, and one-third of these armed with the rifle antique ebony ivory jewelry boxes. But the judicious principle had been pursued by their commanding officers throughout the operations, to keep the rifled arms as much as possible by the battalions, for which purpose all sick, wounded, and other absentees from the ranks, left their rifles in exchange for a smooth bore musket antique pediment. Upon the retreat in question, the battalions were so much reduced in strength that the mounted officers could not be taken into the squares commodore perry corner cabinet. Almost all the men were thus armed with the rifle; yet did they, nevertheless, repel the frequently reiterated charges of the French cavalry; and his Majesty, the late Xing of Hanover, upon constituting from the debris of those battalions the present Hanoverian Jager Regiment of the Guard, conferred upon them, as a memorial of their brilliant feat of arms in the Peninsula, the permission to wear the name of the place (Venta del Poz6) under the royal arms burslem yellow trellis ceramics. Major Jacobi, of the Hanoverian service, in his critical remarks upon this arm, in 18,29, proved also amply, that even in its then condition, it yielded in nothing, in the hands of those who knew how to use it, to the line musket, with all its boasted celerity of fire burr walnut art deco dresser bakelit.
The accurate shooting of the Riflemen aroused, apparently, an increased interest in musketry throughout the Army myot t, son & cie. Even in the Volunteers emphasis was placed on weapon training and range practice imatation marble antique bedromm suit. This is well illustrated in a letter from Lieutenant-Colonel G arts and crafts hall bench. R black lacquer antique dining chair. Ainslie, half pay, Inspecting Officer of South Lincolnshire, to the ‘Officer Commanding Volunteers of Loveden’ swansea duck egg. Ainslie writes:
`I request that the corps under your command may practice with blank and ball cartridges, with all expedition robj ceramics. The number of the latter being so limited, the volunteers ought first to be taught to fire the former, and it is essentially requisite previous to target practice, that the officers narrowly observe whether any remains of a certain dread of discharging a musket (more or less) experienced by every man unaccustomed to firearms exists matthais lock furniture. I suggest the propriety of firing first individually and then by files, under the immediate, inspection of the officers of each company, who will instruct the volunteers and strongly inculcate the advantage of both levelling very low and keeping the firelock in a horizontal position for some time after drawing the trigger, to do away with the bad effect resulting from the piece hanging fire, and it is a well known fact, that a bullet always rises and will go through a man’s body after having struck the ground puce decorated 1756 cups. According to my opinion the soldier might almost invariably to take aim at the knee of his enemy nineteenth century gate leg table. antique silver baskets. 18 century porcelain placks louis xvi. leon and maurice jallot french dining chair. I repeat that too great attention cannot be paid to porcelintables. furniture by charles ashbee. ceramic alcora antique. levelling low and steadily taking good aim, and keeping his firelock (according to his Royal Highness the Commander-in-chief’s late regulations) such a length of time at the present, after drawing the trigger, that there can be no chance of hanging fire arabic style lambrequins.
` types of table legs 19 century. bugatti furniture range. royall naples factory. A certain proportion of the most active and best marksmen of each company should particularly be pitched upon to oppose troops of the same description of the enemy, and provide themselves with a stout gimblet, which by being run into a tree, gate, post etc chinese porcelain cockerels., etc pottery france incised initials rb contemporary., will afford an instant and ready rest for the firelock and put the volunteer on a par at least, with the Rifle-Man unprovided with assistance of the above kind, independent of the advantage possessed over the rifle by the firelock (viz antique pine drop leaf table rectangular.) of requiring not one third of the time necessary to load the former dutch delph pottery marks.’
That a smooth-bore musket fired over a rest was as accurate as a rifle fired without one is a claim that is not likely to have been supported by any practical results old metal tables with attached leaves. But no doubt the implied suggestion that the man with the musket was as well armed as one with a rifle was very good for morale; particularly in the case of partially trained troops antique card table withe one flap.
The number of firearms which were turned out by British gunmakers during the Napoleonic wars was phenomenal suzanne cowan potter. They amounted to some 31 million muskets and 30,000 Baker rifles federal desk. The muskets were required to arm not only the British forces, but also those of the foreign troops in British pay, and the various allies who joined in the war- against Napoleon from time to time tin glaze pottery makers. Some of these last were all too ephemeral, and many British muskets ended up in the hands of the French suzanne cowan potter. The number of Baker rifles manufactured was very much less, but even so there were enough to equip some Volunteer rifle units, as well as the Regulars tudor gothic furniture.
The complications caused by requirements of different types of ammunition have been mentioned already mid century decor mahogany rectangle divided tray. In the Peninsular campaign the standard musket bullet was the ‘Old English Service’ round ball weighing 141 to the pound, cornmonly referred to as the ‘ounce bullet’ french antique furniture eagle emblem. The powder charge for this bullet was 6 drams antique japanese bedside cabinet. For the heavy cavalry’s carbines and pistols of musket bore this charge was reduced to 51 and 31 drams respectively portuguese pallissy ware. The light cavalry carbines and pistols were of carbine bore, and therefore required a smaller charge marquetry tables.
breech-loading version of the Baker was tried by the Ordnance Board, and eventually issued to some of the Volunteer Rifle units antique extending round dining table. It did not prove sufficiently successful, however, to replace the Baker and was ultimately withdrawn antique cherry drop leaf tables. It was known as the Sartoris rifle, and had a hinged breech on very much the same principle as the carbine made by Durs Egg and described in Chapter VII chippendale modern interpretation. The defect of Egg’s mechanism, however, was remedied by an arrangement which locked breech and barrel together, instead of relying on a surface contact sheffield plate corinthian column candlesticks. A screwed projection on the breech fitted into a screwed termination to the barrel antique inlaid table birds. In both cases, however, the screwed portion was divided into eight equal segments, on four of which the screwed portion was cut away antique empire or regency style mahogany bookcase. On closing the breech, the threaded segments of the projection slid over the smooth segments of the barrel, and the smooth segments, similarly, over the threaded segments of the barrel american empire period furniture. One-eighth turn then engaged the threads of each and locked the breech 17th century cuboards. Both the longitudinal and rotary movements were actually made with the barrel 18th century music stand. This ingenious mechanism was excellent whilst it was clean; unfortunately after firing for a short time the fouling which accumulated was liable to jam the breech antique round oak dining table claw and ball feet.
During the Peninsular campaign the Light Infantry custom of browning the musket barrels was adopted, apparently, by most of the Infantry units of the Army, and the Baker rifles were all browned from the start antique puente pottery. It was presumably found that in the bright hard summer of the Peninsula the glint of the sun on massed musket barrels gave dangerous advertisement of military movements j s henry furniture. In the heavy cavalry, however, browning seems to have been become universal with the issue of new carbines and pistols in 1796 antique bread making furniture. In 1798 a receipt-was sent to all Colonels of heavy cavalry for ‘renewing the brown colour which may be rubbed off from the barrels of the carbines and pistols lately adopted spanish revival walnut console table.

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Artillery Guns of the WWII

Running parallel with this unfolding story of piercing projectiles was the development of the hollow-charge principle into a viable weapon. This illustrates the adaptation of a well-documented scientific phenomenon to a weapon of war: almost 200 years ago a Norwegian engineer had observed that hollowing out the face of an explosive charge made it cut deeper into rock when blasting. In the 1880s an American experimenter, Monroe, found that when firing guncotton slabs against armour plate, the initials ‘USN’ engraved in the guncotton reproduced themselves in mirror-like form in the face of the armour plate. From his observations and reports the phenomenon became known as the ‘Monroe Effect’ and was a scientific curiosity for many years. Just before the First World War one or two inventors toyed with the idea of employing this effect in mines and torpedoes, but since no one really understood why it did what it did, it was difficult to engineer the idea into a practical form.
Just before the Second World War broke out, a Swiss consortium approached the British government to offer a ‘new and powerful explosive’ for anti-tank use—at a high price. The inventors refused to divulge any information until cash was forthcoming, but were prepared to demonstrate their projectile being fired. An astute observer from the Research Department of Woolwich Arsenal went to Switzerland to watch the firing; being a well-read expert on ammunition development and history, he realised that what he was watching was not a new and powerful explosive so much as a practical application of the Monroe Effect. Upon his return to Woolwich he duly reported this, and, since it appeared that the Monroe Effect could be made to work, research immediately began into applying it to a light anti-tank grenade which the infantry soldier could fire from his rifle. Before the outbreak of war, this ‘68 Grenade’ had been perfected and was in production, and carries the distinction of being the first weapon ever to reach the hands of troops which relied on the Monroe Effect, or as it came to be known, the Hollow-Charge Principle.
What is this Hollow-Charge Principle? Put simply, it consists of forming the forward surface of the shell’s explosive charge into a cone or hemisphere and then lining this with a thin metal liner. The shell is then fitted with a suitably shaped nose, for ballistic effect and also to give the vital ’stand-off’ distance. This is the distance from the target—a matter of a few inches—at which the explosive must be detonated in order for the hollow charge to work effectively. On detonating the explosive at its rear end, the detonation wave exerts an immense pressure on the metal of the liner; the cone shape virtually’focusses’the explosive energy and causes the metal of the liner to be shaped into a jet of finely-divided metal and explosive gas, shooting toward the target at speeds of up to 20,000 feet per second. The stand-off distance is necessary in order to allow this jet to form and accelerate. When the jet strikes the target plate, the pressure exerted is so great as to blast a hole through the armour, blowing splinters of metal from the inside and permitting the white-hot jet to pass into the tank where it will set fire to fuel or ammunition, and, of course, kill or injure the crew.
The great virtue of the hollow-charge shell is that its performance is always the same, irrespective of the velocity at which it strikes. Even if the shell were standing still when detonated, the penetration would be the same. Because of this, it could be fired from guns too small to fire the large cartridges needed to give the necessary velocity to normal piercing projectiles. As soon as the 68 Grenade was seen to be successful, design began on other hollow-charge projectiles. A great deal of work went into producing one for the 25-pounder, though in the end it was never issued, since the AP shot issued for that gun was quite satisfactory and there was no real need for a hollow-charge shell. Then came a request from India to produce an anti-tank projectile for the 3.7-inch Pack Howitzer, the modern version of Kipling’s immortal ’screw-gun’. This gun, a small and portable weapon, could not be made to fire a piercing projectile at anything like the velocity needed to defeat even Japanese tanks, and a hollow-charge shell was designed and placed in production. The same shell was used in the 95-mm howitzer, an abortive infantry support gun which never saw service as a towed weapon, though it was employed as a self-propelled support weapon by the Royal Marines in Normandy and by the Armoured Corps.
By 1944, though, sufficient basic research had been done into this principle for it to be seen that a spinning shell was not the ideal method of employing hollow charges, since the spin tended to spread the jet out and give poor penetration. Finned projectiles were more effective, and consequently no more artillery shells were designed around the hollow charge; it was extensively employed, instead, for infantry weapons such as the PIAT, the Bazooka, and a variety of rifle grenades.
The Germans, and later the Russians, embraced the hollow-charge shell wholeheartedly. The Germans began issuing shell in late 1940 and eventually almost every German field and tank weapon had a hollow-charge shell, thus giving every gun or howitzer an anti-tank capability. Indeed, so short were the Germans of anti-tank guns after the Russian invasion got under way, that they hastily collected up all the French army’s 75-mm guns and assembled hundreds of them on to redundant anti-tank gun carriages of German design. A hollow-charge shell was produced and these makeshift weapons were deployed in Russia to stem the advancing Soviet tanks until 75-mm and 88-mm anti-tank guns were in sufficient supply. Judging from appearances, the Soviet hollow-charge shells were developed as virtual copies of German designs which had been captured.
In addition to artillery shell Germany also used the principle for infantry weapons such as the Panzerfaust, rifle grenades, and even a small shell which could be fired from a signal pistol. They also employed the principle in an ingenious attempt to prolong the life of the prewar 37-mm anti-tank gun, whose piercing projectile was, by 1942, no longer effective against current tanks. A large hollow-charge bomb was fitted with a hollow tail carrying fins; within this tail was a stick which fitted snugly into the barrel of the 37-mm gun, allowing the tail and fins to slide over the barrel. A blank cartridge completed the outfit, and this was used to fire the stick bomb to ranges of 300 to 400 yards. The bomb’s warhead was about 6 inches in diameter and carried about 8 pounds of explosive, giving a devastating effect at the target. In all fairness, it must be pointed out that Lieutenant-Colonel Blacker, inventor of the PIAT and the `Black Bombard’ of Home Guard fame, had proposed a similar 60-pound stick bomb in 1940, to be fired from the 25-pounder, but the idea was turned down on the grounds that it might lead to misemployment of the gun as a purely anti-tank weapon. (This misemployment theme was not confined to the British side: many German Flak commanders bewailed the loss of their valuable 88-mm Flak guns as they were whittled away to provide anti-tank defences.)
The third subject is the application of new principles to gun design. The first of these to be unveiled was the taper-bore antitank gun, which has already been touched upon. This was the child of a German engineer called Gerlich, who, advocating his principle of attaining high velocity without attracting any buyers, had been stumping the world for several years. He was briefly employed by both the US War Department and the British War Office at various times, but his ideas on improving shoulder arms were felt to be impractical. He eventually settled in Germany and saw his idea accepted as an anti-tank weapon. The 28/21-mm came first, then a 42/30-mm and finally a 75/50-mm. Unfortunately, the lack of tungsten carbide for the special projectiles spelled the demise of these weapons, but experiments continued with coned bores and coned muzzle-adapters for guns of various calibres up to as large as 280-mm, in order to boost velocity and range. These were intended to use high-explosive shells, which were more practical in the larger calibres, though the development of a shell which would stand up to being squeezed down the gun barrel was no easy task.
The second, and more widespread, new line of thought was the recoilless gun. Like most weapon ideas, there was nothing really new about it: Commander Davis of the US Navy had produced a recoilless (RCL for short) gun during the First World War which was adopted by Britain as an anti-Zeppelin aircraft weapon. The virtue of an RCL gun is that by having no recoil one needs no complicated hydraulic buffer system to absorb the firing shock: one need only make the gun-carriage strong enough to take the weight of the gun, instead of being strong enough to withstand being fired from—an ideal state of affairs for an aircraft weapon, particularly in the stick-and-string era. Davis’s idea is worth looking at, although outside our time scale, since it is the classic recoilless weapon. He simply provided the gun with two barrels, one pointing forward which fired a normal shell, and one pointing rearward which fired an identical weight of grease and buckshot. When the central cartridge was fired the shell and countershot departed at equal speed in opposite directions and cancelled each other’s recoil. From this it can be seen that if you make the countershot (say) one-fifth of the weight of the shell and fire it out at five times the speed, then the gun will still be in balance. Taking this idea to its logical conclusion one finishes up firing out of the back of the gun a fast, light stream of gas, still balancing the recoil since the weight times speed of the gas is the same as the (greater) weight times (slower) speed of the shell.
Cutting down the recoil
This was the principle which the Germans revealed in Crete when their troops appeared armed with a 75-mm RCL gun. The shell was the standard 75-mm shell, but the cartridge case had a frangible plastic base which held for long enough to allow pressure to build up and start the shell moving, then blew out through a hole in the breech-block, releasing the balancing stream of gas. The all-up weight of the gun, on its ex-machine gun tripod, was only 320 pounds, whereas the weight of the standard 75-mm field gun was about 11/2 tons—no mean saving for airborne carriage. A 105-mm version soon followed, weighing 855 pounds as opposed to the 105-mm 1E FH18’s 4,312 pounds, and many more developments began in this field to provide light weapons for mountain troops and infantry, particularly for anti-tank use. (It ought perhaps to be pointed out that the Panzerfaust was in fact a recoilless gun, and not, as generally supposed, a rocket launcher). Eventually RCL guns of up to 380-mm calibre were under development, including many for slinging beneath aircraft to carry artillery aloft for the battle against the Allied bombers, but none of these came to fruition.

n Britain, the RCL gun development during the war is a scarcely-known story of one man’s persistence. Sir Denis Burney, airship designer and prolific inventor-engineer, began to be interested in the recoilless principle early in the war. In order to prove his theories he converted a four-bore gun into a recoilless weapon and proceeded to fire it from the shoulder with ease; it must have been the world’s most comfortable duck gun. Having proved his point he proceeded to design a series of RCL guns ranging from 20-mm to 8-inch calibre. In addition to designing the guns, he expanded his theories and designed special ammunition to take advantage of the ballistic peculiarities of the weapon. He argued that since the rearward blast was taking place, the pressure within the gun would be less than with a conventional type, and the shell would be subjected to a more steady thrust. In which case it would be possible to make shells with thinner walls, which would carry greater charges of explosive than previously possible. He then went further, and reasoned that, since the shell walls were thin, if the shell were to be filled with the then new plastic explosive, it would spread on to the surface of the target like butter; a fuse fitted in the base of the shell would then detonate this plaster and blast in the target. His envisaged target was either the concrete emplacements of the European coast, or the palm-reinforced Japanese bunker, and he called his shell the Mal I buster’.
In 1944 his designs were accepted and a 3.45-inch (the same calibre as the 25-pounder) shoulder-fired gun, a 3.7-inch towed gun, a 95-mm towed howitzer, and a 7.2-inch towed howitzer were prepared for production. The 95-mm was also jeep-mounted—the first application of what has since become a standard method of carrying these guns. The 7.2-inch soon fell by the wayside, since it had been intended solely as a means of defeating the Atlantic Wall emplacements, but other weapons were found to do all that was needed. The 3.45-inch was intended as an infantry weapon in the jungle, enabling one man to carry what was virtually a 25-pounder punch on his shoulder. The 3.7-inch was proposed as the future infantry anti-tank weapon, and the 95-mm was contemplated as the airborne field gun to replace the US 75-mm howitzer and the 25-pounder. However, before the guns were produced in sufficient quantity for issue, the war came to an end; some 3.45-inch and 3.7-inch guns were issued to selected infantry units to obtain their reaction to RCL guns as a general thing, and the 95-mm was abandoned altogether.
The principal difference between the Burney guns and the German type was that the Burneys had much longer barrels, and used cartridge cases which, instead of the plastic blow-out base, used many perforations in the sidewall to release the gas into a surrounding chamber, from whence it was passed back to a number of vents around the breech.
Concurrently with Burney’s work in Britain, American designers began on similar weapons. A 105-mm howitzer T-9 was developed on similar lines to the German 105-mm, having a blow-out base to the cartridge. Another team developed 57-mm and 75-mm weapons which used perforated cases similar to the Burney pattern but having more and smaller holes, and also had the shell driving band pre-engraved in order to reduce the pressure inside the gun. Both these latter weapons were accepted for service early in 1945, saw service with the US Army in the Pacific theatre, and remained in service for many years. A third team, this time under the auspices of the National Research and Development Council, developed a 4.2-inch RCL mortar, an unlikely-sounding weapon which so as to be able to fire direct at the target at low angles, carried a small rocket on the nose of the shell to push it down the barrel’and fire the propelling cartridge in the usual mortar fashion. Due to the blast of the rearward jet, it could only be fired at low elevations; there was a certain amount of enthusiasm for this weapon but it never entered service.
Perhaps the best summing up of all wartime development on RCL weapons was made in a wartime report: ‘Undoubtedly a number of effective recoilless weapons have been developed, but they are being accepted with reserve, and will only be considered as supplementary to older and more orthodox weapons which have proved their accuracy and reliability in service.’
There is, unfortunately, no space here to delve into more recondite stories of research and development: the British 13.5-inch gun linered-down to 8-inch calibre which, fired from Dover, reached a range of over 100,000 yards; the British and American development of flying artillery, which culminated in the mounting of a 32-pounder anti-tank gun in a Mosquito; the German V-3 multiple-chamber gun which was intended to shell London; the American 36-inch mortar ‘Little David’, designed to batter Japanese strong-points; the German rocket-assisted and ramjet-assisted heavy artillery shells which promised vast increases in range; or the Anglo-American development of the electronic proximity fuse which proved the answer to both ‘Doodlebugs’ and kamikaze pilots. These and similar stories may only interest the specialist, but they, together with what has been written here, serve to illustrate the incredible range of inventions brought into play in the war waged between the designers and inventors of each side, each endeavouring to get one step ahead of the other, if only temporarily.

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German, French, British, American and Russian Guns of the WWII

As with the tanks, so with the guns: the artillery designers of the
Second World War found themselves caught up in a ceaseless race
to outmatch the ever-improving enemy defences. Ian Hogg shows how
this affected the gunners’ war, and how it resulted in the artillery
revolution of greater ranges, mobility and fire control.

A thorough discussion of the history and development of every artillery weapon used in the Second World War would need several volumes, for the sheer size of the subjects is incredible; the German forces alone disposed over 200 land service weapons in 51 different calibres, without considering experimental models. Britain and America between them fielded about 100 artillery weapons, again not counting experimental models but only those which found their way into the hands of troops. Instead of trying to catalogue every weapon used, therefore, this section merely outlines the principal features of the research which developed during the war, and also brings to light one or two of the more unusual and less well-known weapons which were produced.
There are three main subjects to be explored:
•    The routine improvement of weapons, in order to bring them into line with changing tactics and concepts of employment or to counter improvements in enemy defences;
•    The improvements in ammunition introduced to step up the performance of existing weapons;
•    The application of hitherto untried scientific principles.
In many cases these topics tend to overlap, but rather than try to develop a chronological story with these three aspects jumbled together, it is best to consider them as separate fields.
First, routine improvement. A good example of this in action is the history of the celebrated German 88-mm Flak Gun. This was originally conceived in the late 1920s by Krupp designers attached to the Bofors Company in Sweden. When in 1931 they returned to Essen with the design, the political climate seemed right. A prototype was built in 1932; and due to thorough paperwork it was an immediate success and was issued in 1933 as the 8.8-cm Flak Model 18. It should be stressed, in view of the exaggerated tales which became current in later years, that there was nothing unorthodox about this weapon at all—it was simply a good, sound, conventional anti-aircraft gun. It was taken to Spain by the Kondor Legion during the Civil War and tested in action; its potentialities as an anti-tank gun were also seen, though not advertised. This experience showed that there were a few weak points in the design and as a result, minor modifications were made in the mounting to improve stability and facilitate mass-production. This modified version became known as the Flak 36. In the following year an improved sighting and fire-control system was fitted, and the gun became the Flak Model 37. The 36 and 37 remained in service throughout the Second World War, being used in their primary role as an anti-aircraft gun; as an anti-tank gun, when fitted with shields and direct-fire sights; fitted to coastal craft and U-boats; used as a coast defence gun; and even mounted on a 121/2-ton half-track as a self-propelled gun (though this was not one of its most successful applications).
By early 1939 though, in spite of its excellence, it became obvious that bombers were going to fly faster and higher than before, and the gun’s performance would have to be improved. And so in 1939 Rheinmettal-Borsig were given a contract for an improved model, to be known as the Flak 41. Prototype trials began in 1941 and it was found that the gun, although a most efficient design, had a lot of teething troubles which were going to take time to eliminate. Since no one else had a contract for the gun, the Luftwaffe (which was responsible for Germany’s anti-aircraft defences) was forced to use it or else do without. Consequently the next year saw a great deal of effort thrown in and by March 1943 the first issues were made.
The Flak 41, as finally produced, was a considerable improvement over the 18, 36, and 37. By using a turntable to carry the gun, instead of the more usual pedestal mounting, a much lower silhouette was achieved. The muzzle velocity and ceiling were both improved by adopting a more powerful cartridge, and the stability in action was excellent. The only fly in the ointment was the difficult extraction of the fired cartridge case, which is a flaw of major proportions in a quick-firing anti-aircraft gun. Different designs of barrel were produced in an effort to overcome the trouble, and a special brass cartridge case was developed; but none of these palliatives made much impression and the gun was never the success it might have been.
Some time after Rheinmettal had received their contract, a similar specification had been given to Krupp. Their development, sometimes referred to as the Flak 42, became more and more entangled with their concurrent development of 88-mm tank and anti-tank guns in the hopes of producing a family of weapons which would use interchangeable parts and common ammunition. Before the Krupp version had got off the drawing board, the Luftwaffe was demanding more performance than the design could produce, and in February 1943, not without a certain amount of relief, one feels, Krupp dropped the Flak 42 to concentrate on the tank and anti-tank weapons.

While the 88 shows an example of improvement of a particular calibre, the more common approach was to improve a particular class of weapon by raising the calibre; most anti-tank weapons display this technique. The British army began the war with a 2-pounder; followed it by a 6-pounder and then a 17-pounder; and finally had a 32-pounder in preparation when the war ended, having toyed briefly with a possible 55-pounder. America began with a 37-mm, took over the British 6-pounder and called it the 57-mm; then moved to a 3-inch based on a redundant anti-aircraft gun; then a 90-mm, also based on an AA gun, and was working on a 105-mm when the war ended. Germany also began with a 37-mm and progressed through 28, 42, 50, 75 and 88-mm to arrive at a 128-mm as the war closed.
All these series show steady progression in conventional guns, ally intended to beat the forthcoming increases in enemy armour. However, the flaw in this system becomes apparent on looking at the British 32-pounder or the German 12.8-cm Pak 44— bigger calibres may mean a bigger punch, but they invariably mean bigger guns as well, and this means more weight to move about. This is a considerable drawback for an anti-tank gun which usually has to be emplaced by manpower, and certainly the 32-pounder was too big for its task; even had the war continued, it is doubtful whether it would have been accepted into service.
Anti-aircraft guns tend to show a similar pattern among all nations, always striving to extract more ceiling and greater velocity; the increased ceiling meant that higher-flying aircraft could be engaged, while higher velocity meant a shorter time between firing the gun and the shell arriving at the target, and hence less room for error in the prediction of the target’s position at the time of the shell’s arrival. The two groups of anti-aircraft weapons in common use were the light guns, such as the German 37-mm and the British and US-employed Bofors 40-mm, and the heavy guns, such as the German 88, 105, and 128-mm guns, the British 3.7-inch, 4.5-inch, and 5.25-inch guns, and the American 90-mm, 105-mm, and 120-mm types. The light guns relied on throwing up a heavy volume of fire at a high rate, to counter the low-flying attacker. The heavies fired at slower rates, threw heavier shells, and had higher ceilings to deal with the high-level bomber. But strangely enough, all the combatants had a gap in their defences, which lay between the maximum ceiling of the light guns—about 6,000 feet—and the minimum effective ceiling of the heavies—about 10,000 feet. Below this figure the heavy gun could not swing fast enough to follow a fast low flyer. In an endeavour to fill this gap, development took place in both Britain and Germanyto provide a medium AA gun. As far as Britain was concerned, a paramount feature of any weapon proposed in 1940 was to avoid usurping production already hard at work with the more basic weapons needed for simple survival. In view of this, the first question the designers asked themselves was: ‘What existing gun can be worked over to fill the bill?’ After a few false starts the design coalesced around The existing coast artillery 6-pounder gun, the same calibre as the anti-tank gun but using a heavier cartridge and capable of greater range. This was adapted to a twin-barrel mounting on a three-wheeled trailer, and work then began on designing a suitable automatic feed system to get the rate of fire thought necessary, and a fire-control system to put the shells where they were needed. Since the guns were originally designed for hand loading, the adaptation to autofeed turned out to be more difficult than had at first been imagined; then Allied air superiority gave the project less priority; and, in the event, the twin 6-pounder never entered service and Britain never had a medium AA gun.
The German development was not restricted to an existing weapon, since the ‘gap’ had been appreciated before the war, and in 1936 Rheinmettal was given a contract to develop a 50-mm gun. This was eventually introduced in 1940 in limited numbers for an extended troop trial to assess whether such a weapon was desirable and whether the Flak 41, as it was known, would fill the requirement. For a variety of reasons the gun was not a success, but the experience showed that the medium AA gun was needed, and a great deal of thought went into the design of a completely integrated weapon system, probably the first such system to be conceived as a complete entity. It was to comprise a 55-mm automatic gun, with matched radar, predictor, displacement corrector, and full electro-hydraulic remote control of a six-gun battery. By the time all these theories and designs had been put together it was mid-1943, and the production of such a far-reaching concept was so difficult that the war ended before the weapon was completed. To act as a stop-gap, the now-obsolescent 50-mm anti-tank gun was fitted with an automatic loading system, but this idea fell by the wayside, and it is doubtful if any were ever made. All in all, the medium AA gun story is remarkable in the similarity of British and German experience.

In the field artillery world practically all development was simply a matter of improvement on existing designs. No nation in its right mind would attempt a major re-equipment of its standard weapons in.the middle of a war. The British 25-pounder served valiantly, and modifications to meet special demands included the self-propelled ‘Bishop’ (on a Valentine chassis) and ‘Sexton’ (on a: Ram chassis); the Australian-developed ‘Short’ or ‘Baby’ 25-pounder with a truncated barrel, no shield, short trail and castor wheel for easy manoeuvring in the jungle; it was tried as a self-propelled gun (SP) in many vehicles including the Lloyd carrier, which was asking too much of such a light vehicle; it was strapped to the cargo bed of a DUKW for supporting amphibious landings; and it was even considered for the armament of submarines. Similarly, the American 105-mm howitzer was tried in a variety of SP mountings, starting with a half-track, until the Sherman-based M-7 became standardized as the ‘Priest’; it was shortened and placed on a light carriage for use by airborne units; it was mounted in tank turrets as a close support gun; and, like the 25-pounder, mounted on the long-suffering DUKW.
The German 1E FH 18, more or less the equivalent of the 25-pounder and 105 howitzer, suffered similar, though more drastic, changes. First it was given a muzzle brake and a heavier charge with a long-range shell; then in an attempt to reduce the weight, like the ‘Baby 25-pounder’, the barrel and recoil system were mounted on the carriage of the 75-mm Pak 40 anti-tank gun; the wheels were removed and it was dropped bodily into a tank hull to provide an assault gun; it was grafted on to a variety of tracked mountings. But eventually a complete re-design was called for and Rheinmettal was given a contract. Before their offering was ready, the experiences of the Russian Front had shown that certain features were mandatory in the next generation of field guns. Briefly, these were that the gun must have a good anti-tank performance for self-protection; at the same time it ‘iad to be capable of hiding in forests and firing out at high angles: the range had to be at least 8 miles without demanding special ammunition; it had to have all-round traverse, since Soviet partisans c,)uld attack from any direction; and it had to weigh less than 2.200 pounds. Now even today a designer would have a hard time meeting that specification, but in 1943 both Krupp and Skoda rose to the challenge.
The Skoda version, the 10.5-cm 1E FH 43. was most ingenious: the carriage had virtually a normal split trail at the rear. plus another split trail at the front, beneath the barrel. and a firing pedestal beneath the axle. In action, the equipment rested on the two rear trails and the pedestal, and the front trails were laid on the ground to form a cruciform stable platform above which the gun could rotate through 360 degrees, the four legs giving stability at any angle of the barrel. The novelty of this carriage lay in the fact that the two front legs were not rigidly attached to the carriage; to compensate for eneven ground they were permitted to lie at any convenient angle. A hydraulic system was arranged so that slow movement of the legs—as during folding and unfolding to and from the travelling position—was freely permitted. but fast movement—as the firing shock—would cause the legs to lock rigidly to the carriage and give the desired stability.
Krupp, under the same nomenclature, produced two models; one was very similar in general design to Skoda s. though without the hydraulic system, while the other was based on a more or less conventional cruciform platform of the type familiar in AA guns. However, none of the designs, Krupp or Skoda. were ready for production before the war’s end, and only prototypes existed.

Tags: ammunition, artillery weapons, calibre, calibres, cartridge, changing tactics, chronological story, designers, fire control, german forces, gunners, political climate, pounder, principal features, russian guns, second world war, sheer size, tank, three aspects, wwii