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The Great War and WWII
[1850-1980]
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Home: Military: Early British Rifles

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BRITISH RIFLE

'Rifle' has become a general term for any gun that is held to the shoulder. However the word actually means a spiral groove or 'Lands' within the barrel of a weapon; this is known as rifling and was discovered by Gaspard Koller in the 16th century.

What is Rifling

Before rifling became an engineering possibility for bulk production long barrelled arms were known as Muskets. With a Musket the ball or projectile was fed into the open end of the barrel (smooth bore). On leaving the barrel the ball wobbled and hence deviated randomly from its trajectory; something well known by the oncoming enemy. Only one in ten balls found their mark. Lengthening the barrel did more to improve the sighting than to get the ball to go where it was intended. but it did protect the man in front from exploding powder when firing in two rows (one firing one loading).

Early archers knew that, if the feathers on an arrow were arranged in a manner such as to make the arrow spin in flight, accuracy was improved. Benjamin Robins, an English mathematician, proved this theoretically and this theory was eventually implemented in a rifle by making a spiral groove on the inside of the barrel.

Brunsick Percussion Cap Rifle, 1830's More

Baker Flintlock Rifle, 1803 More

Early Rifles

In the early 19th Century rifles were a specialised weapon only available in small numbers and very expensive to produce. Examples of British weapons of this type are the "Baker" using Flintlock and "Brunswick" using Percussion cap methods of ignition . Producing accurate grooves was one obstacle to rifling, making the barrel of a uniform size to grip the ball was another. If the ball stuck in the barrel it would explode, if it was too loose no spin was achieved. One temporary solution was to insert the ball down the barrel with a 'patch' wrapped around it to make it grip, this was greased with oil made from cow fat, a fact that would prove to be an enormous problem when Muslims were expected to handle the guns during the First Indian War of Independence in 1856. Previously in 1853 the Enfield Factory produced rifled weapons in large numbers for use in the Crimean War.

Other Developments

The Musket/Rifle was too slow to load, as ramming a ball down the barrel took longer than a smooth bore, even using the new Percussion Cap, invented in 1807 by Alexander Forsyth*. Breach loading rifles were the next step with the introduction of the brass cartridge and eventually a metal jacket on the lead bullet, solving the problem of the lead bullet sticking in the barrel due to expansion.

* It was already well known that hitting Fulminate of Mercury produced a spark. Alexander Forsyth used this new priming to detonate gunpowder. It was another 20 years before a reliable system of delivering fulminate primer to the breech, in the shape of percussion caps was developed.

Rifles at the Museum of Technology

Brown Bess Musket, 1790
Baker Flintlock Rifle, 1803
Brunswick Perccussion Cap Rifle, 1830's
Enfield 3 Band Rifle, 1853