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07 29th, 2009| 
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.
Hennem was requested to make thirty of his screwless locks for Durs Egg’s breech-loading cavalry carbines austro hungarian empire architecture .: and two months later he was directed to make ninety muskets to the design of the Master-General, of the Ordnance (now the Duke of Richmond) and to fit them with his locks chippendale drum table 2 drawers . On the ist October 1785 Major-General O’Hara, Colonel of the 22nd Foot (now The Cheshire *Regiment), invited Hennem to fit his locks to all the muskets in his regiment john widdicomb furniture/french provincial . O’Hara must presumably have seen and been extremely impressed with the 2oth’s trial muskets, for the alteration was a very expensive one to carry out under regimental arrangements amphora czechoslovakia . It must have looked to Hennem as if the future of his lock was assured, and yet it seems that O’Hara’s was the last important order that he had meubles decoration antique europe .
On the 22nd February 1′786 Hennem offered *to modify the stocks of Sergeant’s, carbines and to replace the existing locks with his own for an inclusive charge of 155 barley sugar twist pillars timber . -for each carbine george iii serving table . This offer was politely rejected with the explanation that a change of the firearms of the Army was under consideration small antique sutherland table . The change was due to a competitive venture by Hennem’s erstwhile backer or co-operator, Henry Nock delftware t.i holland .
Nock was one of the leading gunsmiths in both London and Birmingham ivan chermayeff, furniture . He held Government contracts for the manufacture of muskets and carbines, and produced, in addition, many ingenious and original weapons of various types brass frame girandole images . He designed, for instance, a ‘volley gun’ with seven barrels all fired by one hammer at the same time, and intended for Naval boarding parties; four- and seven-barrel revolving pistols; a heavy piece, or ‘wall-gun’, with a repeating action; and several others how much is a victorian dressing table worth . He was obviously the type of gunmaker to whom Jonathan Hennem’s lock would have appealed silver spoon design europe 18th century .
What the arrangement was between Hennem northern europe in the 16th and 17th century . and Nock is not known early 19th century upholstery fabric . It may be that Hennem was too independent a character for Nock’s liking pier roger vandercruse . In any case he had found an eccentric genius who had invented a lock which was somewhat similar to Hennem’s, though more complicated bulbous leg dining table . This was a mathematician named George Bolton, who at one time had been tutor to the children of George III 18th century silver mote spoon . He had devoted a large part of his spare time to the improvement of gun-locks; and seems to have established a gun shop in London in 1773 with another Bolton (F luxury art deco upholstery fabrics . H jennens & bettridge tole tray .), who was perhaps a brother rococo revival marquetry-inlaid wardrobe .
The Bolton lock also had no screws, and all its components were enclosed between two plates, of which the outer (in the position of the normal lock plate) was fitted with pins to hold the moving parts antique double claw pedestal dining room table . A special feature was the accurate machining to standard dimensions, which permitted the easy replacement of breakages antique inlaid pembroke table .
Nock seems to have acquired the sole rights in this lock, for most, if not all, of those made for the Government bear his name ‘H scheid enamel . Nock’ on the plate tripod table, claw and ball foot, antique . In, probably, 1785 Nock produced a new range of military firearms, comprising musket, pistol and carbine, which he submitted as suggested replacements for the Brown Bess series of flintlocks antiques furniture,josef hoffmann . Initially he seems to have* met with considerable success chinese porcelain wall decoration mask history . Trials carried out with his arms must have been satisfactory, for they led to a cessation of orders to Hennem, and a large number were issued to regiments of Horse and Foot for extensive trial turn top walnut tea/card table . Further, it does not appear that art deco consoles . ultimate approval was doubted, for a very large number of the locks were manufactured, and it is reasonable to suppose that these were intended for the conversion of existing flintlocks antique collectors cabinets . Nevertheless the Nock arms were rejected after only a short trial 1940’s art deco black and gray lacquer bedroom set prices . There must have been some weakness in the lock which led to it comparing unfavourably with the sturdy old Brown Bess under active service conditions apostle tea spoons made in england .
One of Nock’s most notable contributions to the development of firearms was the invention of his ‘Patent Breeching’ renaisance design dining table made .
It was too expensive a refinement ever to have been adopted for military firearms, but it drew attention to the advantages obtained by more rapid and more efficient explosion of the charge german 1930 furniture value .
It had been known for some time that if, instead of the ordinary flat-surfaced breech-plug, a special type known as a `chamber-plug’ was fitted, a more powerful explosion resulted antique double pedestal dining room table . In this form of breech the diameter of the powder chamber was slightly less than the bore of the gun, and the breech end was a rounded hollow cut out of the breech-plug 5″ antique rectangular drop leaf table with drawer . From the centre of this hollow was drilled a narrow channel, called the `ante-chamber’, which received a portion of the powder and which connected at right angles with a vent running outwards to the touch-hole of the gun antique brass mirror convex eagle . The idea was that the flame
from the touch-hole, instead of igniting a corner of the charge, “antique furniture” - writing bureau and display cabinet .9
passed through the ante-chamber and through the centre of the powder, thereby igniting all of it at the same moment 17th century antique trinket boxes . The greater power of the explosion resulted in a higher initial beilby glass prince of wales feathers newcastle . velocity of the bullet; in other words, the full force of the powder was exercised in a shorter distance types of bureaux . It was therefore possible to use a shorter barrel; and the barrels of ‘chambered’ pieces were from six to ten inches shorter than those of firearms with the normal pattern of breech characteristics of english medieval gateleg table .
The disadvantage of the ‘chambered’ gun was that the flame had to travel down the touch-hole vent and thence through the ante-chamber before it reached the main chamber; a considerably longer distance than the usual direct contact between touch-hole and charge cabriole leg demilune table . The flintlock already suffered from the delay between pressure on the trigger and ignition of the charge antique oval drop leaf dining table with turned legs . In ‘chambered’ guns it was much greater, and the sportman had little chance of hitting a fleeting target art-deco-1920-1930-wood .
Nock’s feat was to invent a breech which produced the same power as one fitted with the chamber-plug, and yet with less delay between the fall of the cock and the explosion than was experienced with the ordinary flintlock breech antique rectangle drop leaf table cabinet .
Instead of a hollow the Nock breech-plug had a deep cavity cut in it to receive the charge antique french cabriolet dresser . The rounded end of this cavity was connected by a very short passage to a wide ante-chamber cut through the breech-plug from one side to the other art decos exotic bronze chair . One end of this ante-chamber was closed by a screw, to give access for cleaning, and the other by a gold or platinum plug drilled in the centre with the touch-hole 18th century drum tables . Since in loading some powder fell through into the ante-chamber, and the passage separating it from the main chamber was only about -at inch, the touch-hole was as in close effective contact with the charge as in the conventional breech antique walnut dining table 10 foot . Furthermore, the powder in the ante-chamber was so closely confined that it exploded as soon as the flame from the priming powder reached it, instead of being set on fire first as in the normal piece turn a silver tray into a table .
The vast improvement in the performance of flintlock weapons which was effected by Nock’s invention has been rather overshadowed by Forsyth’s more efficient solution of the same problem with the percussion lock english antique trays .
SWORDS IN THE
EIGHTEENTH CENTURY
Progress towards the standardization of swords throughout the Army was far slower than in the case of firearms jean rene prou furniture . Regulation patterns for musket, carbine and pistol had been introduced in the reign of King James II; but it was not till near the end of the eighteenth century that there was Army uniformity of swords 19th c english tin glazed pottery . Long before that there must have been similarity in the swords carried by regiments of the same arm of the Service because there was bound to be a limit to the number of types which the swordsmiths turned out, and these types would conform in general to popular military demand clock singer music candlesticks . Variations between regiments, therefore, would be chiefly minor modifications of the normal type in accordance with the taste of* the Colonels sofa carved top rail . The officers’ swords would tend to differ much more than those of the men, because being more expensive and privately purchased there would be little difficulty in satisfying even the most exotic requirements chinese porcelain decorators . But two factors would tend to preserve some uniformity: firstly, the Colonel of a regiment would often, probably, insist on his officers being armed alike; and secondly, the fashion of the moment is a very powerful factor, particularly amongst very young men value of primitive antique work bench .
After the end of Queen Anne’s wars on the Continent infantry soldiers still seem to have been armed with the hanger 19th century empire daybed . It appears, however, to have been exceedingly unpopular; probably because the possession of a bayonet would make a sword seem an unnecessary encumbrance meissen cris de paris . Several infantry units seem to have stopped wearing swords altogether, for on the 1st December 1724 an order was issued to the Army which by its wording inferred a widespread irregularity biedermeier candelabra . The order read:
`The King is determined to have all the N what is a double gate leg table .C macassar ebony furniture .O ironstone ware japanese willow .’s and men of His foot forces wear swords antique round dining tables with extensions .’
Nevertheless Authority was fighting a losing battle gothic arch furniture . Once the fighting troops have decided that a particular piece of equipment serves no useful purpose there is little chance of its being carried on active service weimar germany china antique . By the middle of the century many regiments had far less than their proper complement of swords, and some had none at all makers of antique table clock with music in china .
At some period Grenadier companies were given basket-hilted swords, instead of the usual brass-hilted hangers wardrobes 19th century . The Grenadiers of the 4th Foot (later The King’s Own Royal Regiment) had them in 1727, those of the 40th Foot were wearing them in about 1750, and a water-colour by Sandby shows the Grenadiers of the Coldstream wearing straight steel basket-hilted swords in 1747•
There does not seem to have been any material change during the- first half of the eighteenth century in the type of swords carried by infantry officers refectory table . In 1746 those of the 4th Foot had a steel hilt, and the scabbard was leather with steel mounts antique deco tub chair .
A typical cavalry sword of 1750, carried by both Horse and Dragoons, had a straight single-edged blade and a full basket-hilt 20th century furniture development in france . The pattern of basket-hilt varied from regiment to regiment, and those of the King’s Own Regiment of Dragoons, for instance, were of brass french animal chairs . The 3rd and 4th Irish Horse, instead of a straight blade, had one which was curved and slightly shorter than the normal kommode roentgen . The length of the blade was 31-1 inches and the breadth 1j inches gilt metal mounted pier table .
There is a Dragoon sword of about 1742 which is of interest as probably being of a fairly typical general pattern, and yet with distinctive regimental characteristics octagon mahogany antique table value . The blade is straight with a single edge and a length of thirty-six inches john walton antiques . The hilt is iron, but only half basket, and with a fishskincovered hilt bound with twisted brass wire how much would an antique clawfoot dresser cost . From the hilt hangs a buff leather sword knot with runner and tassel value of silver candelabra . The scabbard is of black leather, carried in a frog suspended from a shoulder belt 1980 scandinavian leather chair recliner barcelona .
In 1735 the drummers of the 8th Dragoons were distinguished by carrying scimitar swords; and in 1754 special swords were used to denote rank in the Royal Dragoons: brass-hilted swords being issued to serjeants and corporals 16th cent. sideboard .
When in 1755 a Light Troop was added to each regiment of Dragoon Guards and Dragoons on the British establishment, the Royal Warrant laid down that the men were to have `a short cutting sword 34 ins picture of pennsylvania house antique cherry buffet claw feet . long in the blade with a light hilt without basket’ penwork italian . This regulation was typical of the time in that it gave a very general specification and ample scope to Colonels of regiments to choose what they wished antique mahogony carved dressing table . The blade could apparently be either straight or curved and the hilt of any pattern so long as it was light and without a basket antique draw leaf tables . Captain Hinde, in his The Discipline of the Light Horse, deals with both the Light Troops and the subsequent regiments of Light Dragoons, the first of which was raised in 1759 confidante sofas . It is unlikely that there was very much change in the Light Dragoon sword between the time the Light Troops were raised and the formation of the Light Dragoon regiments; but at the time Hinde wrote the sword blade had been lengthened to thirty-seven inches old silver lustre myott . Hinde’s description of the swords carried by officers and men is given in Chapter V, and it will be- noted that the pattern of sword was still left to the choice of the commanding marquetry inlaid trays . officer seated harlequin with a tankard, johann kandler . An illustration in Hinde’s book shows a trooper of a regiment of Light Dragoons armed with a straight-bladed double-edged sword, with no hilt protection other than counter curved quillons indian antique tea kettles . In addition to the mounted pattern, officers apparently had a special sword for parades on foot verlys france . Of these Hinde says: ‘The Officers Parade Swords for Foot Duty, are about 28 Inches Long in the Blade, and worn in a Belt round the Waist’ antique side chair desk . Even the length of swords, however, does not always seem to have complied with regulations french 18th century bureau cabinet . Of his own regiment, the Royal Foresters, Hinde says: `Their Swords were remarkably Long, and quite straight’ makers of 1940’s american art deco furniture .
Farriers did not carry swords antique fold over table . According to Hinde: ‘They carry an Ax at their Left Side in a Belt of the same Colour of the Mens over the Right Shoulder, and a White Apron rolled back on their Left Side jupe patent extending dining table . When the Men draw their Swords, the Farriers take their Axes from, their Sides, and place the Handle on their Right Thighs Advanced, with the Edge turned towards their Horses Heads; they might carry a Saw on their Right Sides, in a Belt over the Left Shoulder, and a Spade in a flat Bucket under the Right deco tub chair . Budget, like the Carbines coming under the Right Arm art deco antiques contemporary world paris .’
Captain Hinde’s remarks on weapons may be fittingly concluded with his method of preventing arms from rusting antique american empire card table with scroll feet . This is as follows:
` antique furniture empire chest of drawers .d Receipt to keep Zrms from Rust nouveau art draws .
‘One Ounce of Campshire to Two Pounds of Hogs-Lard, Dissolve them together and take off the Scum; Mix as much Black-Lead as will bring them to an Iron Colour: Rub your Arms over with this, and let it lie on Twenty-four Hours, then Clean them as well as possible with a Linen Cloth, and they will keep without the least Rust for Six Months fold over tea table .’
The Royal Warrant of 1768, which dealt in detail with the clothing and equipment of the Army, made some attempt to secure reasonable uniformity in swords value staffordshire engine turned redware teapots 18th century . It laid down that the swords of each regiment were to be uniform and proscribed patterns and colours for sword-knots, belts, etc 19th century antique hall table ., and gold or silver coloured metal for hilt and scabbard appointments, according to the colour of the buttons old fashioned table brass metal claw feet on casters .
As regards the rank and file of the infantry the Warrant recognized what was practically a fait accompli empire card table . It said:
‘SWORDS antique card table withe one flap .
`All the Serjeants of the Regiment, and the whole Grenadier Company, to have swords spanish table antique turned legs . The Corporals and Private Men of the Battalion Companies (excepting the Regiment of Royal Highlanders) to have no Swords 16th century english joyned table .’
The Royal Highlanders (42nd Foot, or Black Watch) were presumably excepted because, like the Grenadiers, they wore the broadsword with basket hilt chippendale pinecone . The privilege was not appreciated, however, and the 42nd got into hot water for discarding their swords on the pretext that bayonets had proved far more useful in the American War 18th century antique gate leg table . However, the 42nd’s opinion of infantry swords seems to have received support from senior officers with war experience, for in 1783 they were given permission to return their swords to store french cabriole leg tracing pattern . The following year a Board of General Officers, which had been established to examine the soldier’s equipment in the light of the war in America, reported that Grenadiers had never worn their swords in action and recommended their abolition 19 century mahogany gateleg table . As a result swords were abolished throughout the infantry for all rank and file except drummers antique pottey work table . For these latter, the Royal Warrant of 1768 had specified ‘a short sword with a scimitar blade’; which was, in point of fact, a hanger vintage cherry table with queen ann legs .
Somewhat paradoxically the sword was about to become the principal weapon of the infantry officer at about the same time as it was being withdrawn from the remaining rank and file maurice dufrene, design .
The changes in officers’ shaft weapons is somewhat complicated 18th century occasional table . At the beginning of the eighteenth century captains and lieutenants of infantry had pikes and ensigns find 1954 crystal green tinted wine glasses . half-pikes telescopic table pedestal . In 1710, or thereabouts, captains reverted to the spontoon yuan muhammadan blue . At possibly the same time the lieutenant’s weapon was changed to a half-pike antique hanging corner display cabinet . In 1743 all officers of foot were directed to carry spontoons s s meissen mark . The spontoon was then the infantry officer’s principal weapon; but not, it seems, a very popular one gabriel viardot . That some difficulty was experienced in making officers carry it is shown by the following extract from an order book of the Brigade of Guards stationed in Germany in 1761-2:
`28th April rectangular table dressing . Colonel Thomas having remarked that the use of the espontoon is grown into a kind of disuse amongst the Officers of late, the naked sword or firelock being substituted in its room (a liberty which never used or ought to be allowed but upon emergencies), desires it may be resumed on all occasions in the Coldstream Battalion when it used to be!
The carrying of a ‘firelock’ was an adoption of the practice in Grenadier companies where all officers carried a light flintlock, generally a privately purchased weapon staffordshire figure prince “zebra” .
The American war finally dealt the death blow to the officer’s spontoon antique vargueno . Of the 63rd Foot in 1784, for instance, the Inspecting General commented: ‘Just arrived from America, where the officers never made use of espontoons; saluted with swords’ antique buffet sideboard signed by cabinet maker . Two years later the carrying of spontoons by infantry officers was abolished century pembroke .
Serjeants carried halberds for practically the whole of the eighteenth century, but in 1792 they were directed to carry pikes instead scandinavian aesthetic . This order did not in the first instance 1940’s mahogany dining chairs .apply to serjeants of Grenadier and Fusilier companies who, like the officers, carried flintlocks, but later in the same year they too were ordered to carry pikes meissen porcelain bronze . Serjeants of Light companies, who also carried flintlocks, were permitted to continue to do so english ironstone pottery ltd .
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.
