The Swiss bullet has obtained to some extent a reputation, admitting, like the Lancaster elliptical bullet, of being put into higher velocity. Its range, however, is limited, from the very great friction it undergoes in passing up the barrel: it is driven in upon itself until it becomes a mere plug of lead with a hemispherical head; and the centre of gravity being behind, ensures its flight frequently terminating by turning “topsy turvy.” Moreover, it cannot be used on a large scale, except by the addition of a hard metal point, as in General Jacob’s bullet.
The wisdom displayed in rifling barrels with the gathering or deepening groove may be doubted; it admits of serious consideration, whether or not it tends to increase the friction of the bullet passing outward. It is evident that did the bullet expand all at once it would do so; but as this is well known not to be the case, the question arises what is the advantage gained? for it is asserted on high authority that it improves the shooting. The mere deepening of the grooves at the breech end can have but little effect; and the question is, does the shallowing of the grooves as the bullet approaches the muzzle, produce the effect? We think it does. In the process of rifling these barrels, the rifling tool, by a very ingenious arrangement of screws, is caused gradually to cut deeper as it travels from the muzzle to the breech, so that when finished the depth of grooves at the muzzle is ·005 of an inch; half-way down the barrel it is ·010, and at the breech end ·015: thus gradually deepening 10⁄1000 of an inch, whereas the usual method of rifling is to have one uniform depth of ·010 inches. From the contraction of the protuberances on the bullet from 1⁄10 to 1⁄5000 of an inch in passing up the barrel, results the apparent benefit: such a reduction would surely allow of the bullet continuing its flight with less friction on the atmosphere; for it cannot be too often repeated that perfect smoothness, even to a polished surface, is essential to the easy passage of all bullets through the air.
There are some rather curious deductions obtained by practice alone, which to ordinary minds appear of trifling importance; but they clearly show that correct rifle-shooting can only be obtained by the most perfect arrangement in the rifling and scientific construction of the barrels.
The Government have lately adopted a highly finished and costly rifle arm, with sword bayonet attached to the usual form of bar soldered to the end of the barrels on the right side. When these barrels were first constructed, they were made lighter than experience subsequently showed they ought to be; for it was found that the barrel not expanding equally with the other portions at this necessarily rigid point, influenced the shooting of the gun to a considerable extent; so that an increase of metal was found necessary.
The difficulty of obtaining good shooting with double rifles, one side of each barrel being held rigid whilst the other is yielding, explains the difficulty, and points to the remedy: an increase of metal, or, what would be more convenient, the adoption of the most perfect laminated steel for all double rifles; it being self-evident that soft barrels and correct rifle-shooting are to a certain extent incompatible.
Double rifles have nearly superseded single ones; for few who can afford the additional price will use the latter, when in the same weight he can have two useful weapons. The one great end generally sought in a rifle is sufficient weight to neutralise the force of the explosion or recoil; and the additional barrel answers this as effectually as additional thickness of iron in the single. But there is one objection which I have never been able to master in the construction of double rifle barrels, and I much doubt the possibility of effectually overcoming it—another proof that mathematical demonstrations are frequently wrong in practice, however correct in theory. Many hold it to be essential that double rifle barrels should be put together perfectly parallel. I followed this rule, and was at considerable cost in perfecting tools for the purpose; yet, strange to say, in trial I found invariably that the right barrel threw the ball slightly to the right, and the left to the left. This I have been at enormous trouble to ascertain, and am enabled positively to declare it is an indisputable fact. The cause of it is evidently the recoil not striking the stock in the centre, but on one side; which causes the gun to swerve to that side. However small or unapparent the recoil may be, still there is a recoil; and hence its effect. To remedy this it is necessary to incline the barrels in, towards the muzzle, to counteract that tendency; but in doing this another evil is created, for you can only do this to suit a given distance, either 100, 150, or 200 yards, as may be determined. Thus it will be perceived a deficiency must exist at all times; and it shows clearly the necessity for motion being resisted centrically, if truth is to be maintained. This defect in the double rifle will always be a drawback to the “most correct shooting;” yet under ordinary circumstances it may not be a matter of vital importance, neither does there exist any means of sighting to overcome the difficulty. The only way to obtain a double rifle perfectly true—perfectly parallel, is to construct the barrels one above the other, as double pistols are now constructed. The only objection to them is the difficulty attending the arrangement of the locks, as one cock must strike the nipple the thickness of the barrel below the other, and is an unsightly matter at best. These facts lead to another, namely, the necessity of all rifles being stocked as straight as possible, avoiding in all cases any casting off in the butt; as it is evident that these matters have considerable influence on the correctness of shooting.
One great drawback to correct shooting is produced from the stock being thrown off at the butt end; and, in other cases, from imperfections in the stocking of the gun—all truth depending on the barrel or barrels being both stocked and held perfectly level in the act of using. It must be quite clear, that in case the right barrel of a pair be depressed but the 32nd part of an inch, the angle of the sight on the top, instead of giving elevation, will cause the line of flight of ball to be to the left, and “vice versâ.” Therefore, first of all be sure the gun is held square; and great advantage will be found in pointing the muzzle in all cases a few feet below the object, and raising it in a perfect line upwards to the bull’s eye. If this can be done well, in addition to the gun being held square, the better half of the difficulty is overcome; further practice will make perfect.
The point next in importance, is to take off the weight of the pull in the trigger, during the upward motion; overcoming the last atom of weight as the muzzle sight covers the bull’s eye. It must be done so gradually, that no jerk or pull can move the gun, be it ever so triflingly: in fact, all good shots fire thus while the gun is in motion. If the sight cannot be correctly obtained during the movement, always take the rifle down from the shoulder, and raise it again; for depend upon it, rifle shooting can never be acquired perfectly, where the habit is practised of holding the gun at the shoulder, “poking” the muzzle about and seeking the bull’s eye. All good shooting is produced from the shoulder; an absence of pulsation in the body which is induced by holding a weight. The shoulder rests are found to be the cause of vibration; resting one part of the body and straining another begets it instantly, and where rests are used they should be merely supports for the muzzle, and not for the centre of the gun. If the centre is placed upon it, the action of recoil is almost sure to jump the gun upwards. The best shooting can be accomplished from the shoulder, if the above instructions be carefully followed. Avoid in all cases gripping a rifle tightly, or you will most assuredly communicate the pulsation of the body to the rifle.
During the Crimean war many of the Enfield rifles expanded so much with the Pritchett plug bullet as not only to loosen all the bands on the stock, but also to produce a visible effect on the barrel; and to remedy this the Government adopted my expanding screw bands, which admit of being tightened by the screw when necessary.
The production of a perfect breech-loading small arm is as difficult as the production of a perfect breech-loading cannon, and that is so problematical as to amount, in my humble opinion, to nearly an impossibility. All experience teaches that a perfectly sound base of projection in the gun is indispensable, if good direction and velocity are required; without which there can be no good shooting. If this be a law, how can it be obtained where soundness is absent? Joints, slides, and their attendants, are all incompatible with soundness: the two cannot exist together; and hence no breech-loader can give the same results as a solid constructed gun barrel, unsoundness and absorption of power being always found to go hand in hand together.
I have had considerable experience in breech-loading guns, having obtained one or two patents; and very careful attention to the subject has satisfied me that the question was sufficiently ventilated soon after the adoption of gunnery, and that it was exhausted by many hundreds of inventors as ingenious as those of the present day; the result being in all cases a total failure.
One of the best breech-loading carbines of the present day is undoubtedly that of Mr. F. W. Prince, and those to whom they are unobjectionable will certainly find in this the simplest and a most effective weapon of the kind: Mr. Prince has certainly made the most of the practical knowledge he has brought to bear upon the invention.
Revolving rifles are, like revolving pistols, complicated weapons, useful only for certain purposes; requiring, as they do, very great care and cleanliness, to insure at best their limited services. Long barrels are useless, because all the velocity that can be given to the projectile has to be generated in the revolving chambers; all the superfluous force escaping at the joint of breeches and barrels. For any useful purpose, a nine-inch would be better than a longer barrel, allowing the bullet to leave the muzzle at a much higher velocity than it would do after passing through a barrel of thirty inches. It is evident, indeed, that a revolving pistol and a revolving rifle are possessed of power in inverse ratio to their lengths.
The French Government are making great efforts to improve their military system, in imparting to every soldier as much information relative to his weapons and the best method of using them, as is compatible with his limited education. Their institution of a normal-school for the instruction of the whole army in all that relates to guns, shooting, and natural “trigonometry,” is proof of this. A detachment from every infantry regiment in the service arrives at “Vincennes” early in the spring, and the men undergo a complete course of instruction during the whole of the summer and autumn months, or until by ability they acquire all that is to be taught. The first and a very essential part of the duty is to teach them to judge of distance; for this purpose a soldier takes a target, and runs straight ahead as far as he pleases. Having planted it, each man is called upon to judge the distance, which is recorded in a report of the day. This exercise is carried on to a great extent, until each becomes well able to judge correctly; then commences the instruction in shooting, each soldier using an elevation according to the distance he calculates he is from the target; and this is practised at all distances, from 500 to 1,000 paces. The greatest degree of perfection attained by the instructed is rewarded, by promotion or otherwise; and such skill in shooting is displayed by these various detachments as would truly astonish our military officers.
The accomplishment of a school of instruction for teachers of rifle shooting to the British army is now an established fact; the results, most flattering to the projectors, more than verifying their anticipations. The degree of perfection attained by some before leaving Hythe is so extraordinary, that I will leave the reality to be imagined or witnessed; and it will well repay the journey. The standing order lately issued, awarding substantial benefits to the adept in shooting, is sure to bear its fruits, and is only the first step to many others of no less importance.
Double rifled carbines can be constructed of so light a weight that their exclusive use for cavalry purposes is not far distant, 51⁄2 pounds being sufficient weight to ensure perfect safety. A carbine of this description, from 18 to 20 inches in the barrel, could give a practical range of from 600 to 700 yards, with an extreme range of 1,000 to 1,100. A cavalry soldier armed with two of these would be equal to four of the present day, for they would be no greater encumbrance than the late carbine used by the Guards, which approaches 10 lbs. in weight; and a pair of double carbines could easily be carried at the saddle bow, their length being no obstacle.
Revolvers have not yet been, and I fear they never can be, made sufficiently durable to become a useful cavalry appendage. The fact may be concealed, but it is true, nevertheless, that their fragile nature, independently of their great cost, will always confine their use to an exclusive few: indeed, revolving and breech-loading weapons are among the doubtful class of arms, not fully developed as yet, even if they ever can be.
The adoption of double carbines will eventually throw all other small arms for cavalry purposes into the back ground; a range of 1,000 yards with a toy 51⁄2 lbs. in weight is one of the greatest wonders of this wonderful age, showing the astonishing change which has been effected in gunnery: for a deadly power now exists in the most Lilliputian toy as well as in the Brobdignagian monster; and that, too, at immense distances. In proof of this, I will just quote a letter from that gallant officer, Lieutenant William A. Kerr, Southern Mahratta Irregular Horse.
“Camp, Bejapore, May 29th, 1858.
“Sir,
“I have received the Enfield carbine, and am much pleased with it in every respect. It cannot, I consider, be improved on, and is by far the best weapon for the mounted service I have ever handled. It is but due to you that I should mention, that your work, as put into the carbine, is far beyond what I expected at the money. I hope to be in a position, at no very distant date, to give you a heavy commission, and will certainly recommend you in every way I can. I have knocked over a deer at 400 yards with the carbine, and make very good practice up to 800 yards, by firing with two drachms of fine rifle powder. I have given it, and Prince’s breech-loader, a fair trial; the latter cannot be compared to the former; it has not the same range, power of projection, or of shooting; it moreover fouls in the proportion of at least 3 to 1 more. Had I had such carbines at Kolapore, I would have destroyed the 27th Native Infantry in an hour.
“I am, sir, yours, &c.,
“William A. Kerr.”
The weight of this single carbine is only 51⁄4 lbs., and it is 20 inches in the barrel. The great power of shooting would justify a reduction of length to 15 inches, thus reducing the weight to a little over 41⁄4 lbs.; and yet this carbine would be more certain in its effects at 600 yards, than old Brown Bess at 150. The complaint that carbines are found to be an encumbrance in the service is no longer valid: they may be made to form merely a portion of the saddle with the same facility of handling as a pistol, and with a hundredfold greater accuracy of range.
The hybrid affair, adopted by the Government, of a pistol made to serve as a carbine by the introduction of a loose butt, is of doubtful utility: if valuable as a carbine, it will never be used as a pistol; hence it had been much better to make it a carbine at once, thus rendering it at the same time more durable and less costly: even a double carbine might be constructed at about twice the price paid for the socket joint alone. But there is still a want in the Government establishment of “designers” of ability; all that has been effected by way of improvement has been done by feeling the way: a kind of progressional experiment, with a total absence of mind to grasp good ideas, and to hold them fast. The arms used by the corps of Guides who have distinguished themselves so much in India are now seven years old, and they will bear comparison with the best arms our Government are only just now producing: in fact, the irregular cavalry in India have always been armed with weapons in advance of those of the Government troops; and the explanation of this is very suggestive, they provide arms for themselves, and are more alive than the Government officials to the importance of having good ones.
The adoption of greased cartridges in India by some irregular corps, took place in carbines supplied by me eight or nine years ago; and the origin of the idea was this:—
The principal objection urged against the adoption of the rifle, is that of loading. I know not how quickly it is possible to load a musket; but with cartridges properly made, I think I could load and fire a rifle four times in a minute. But then it will be said, at the conclusion of so many shots, the rifle gets so foul, that it will be difficult to get the ball down. Not difficult at all. Have your cartridges made with a saturated cover, to surround the ball, and fit properly the grooves of the rifle.
It would clean the barrel so much, as to allow forty shots to be fired with as much ease as you now fire twenty. Or let a steel-wire brush be attached to the rifle; and by screwing it to the end of the rod, you can, by two or three times rubbing up and down, remove any accumulation of dirt from the powder. If, however, the covering I have mentioned were used with a weighty rod to the rifle, there would be no occasion for cleaning, short of fifty shots.
Experience leaves no room for doubt that a few grooves are better than many, in all expansive-principled rifles: the nearer the approach to a smooth surface the better, and the three divisions of grooves and projections adopted by the British Government is the best to meet all requirements. They will shoot as well as poly-grooved rifles; and if three grooves give the same result, more are unnecessary and useless. The advantage of the atmosphere acting to keep the bullet steady by its current down the grooving on the bullet seems to meet with no confirmation; improved shooting accruing by the grooves being reduced, as in the case of the gathering-grooved rifle experiments. In all cases of wild animal shooting at short distances with small charges, the many grooves will be an advantage: the same as those formerly adopted, and which are shown in the cut.
Expansive bullets may be effectually used; but in varying charges, incidental to game shooting, the same form of cavity in the bullet as is observed in the Enfield would not act, therefore a large cavity would be preferable to enable the less charge to act in expanding the lead into the grooving.
For other purposes than war, rifles will continue to be constructed on the poly-groove principle, and with spherical bullets. The perfect destruction of various animals is dependent generally on two causes: the penetration into the body, and the shock to the system during that act of penetration. No doubt exists that a spherical bullet would combine these two qualities best. The 25 bore, the 32 and 50 hexagonal bore would be, practically speaking, useless for the killing of elephants, tigers, &c. The effectual and instant killing of seals on ice is an illustration: failing to kill a seal dead, he will to a certainty reach his hole in the ice, and disappear, to the shooter’s serious disappointment. Small bore elongated bullets were very rapidly adopted, and as rapidly abandoned. “They did not kill dead;” the spherical bullet did this better. It would be wise to pause and consider whether a good military rifle is a good game-shooting rifle or not: whether the hole in the beast be wide enough. I am inclined to think the reduction to a bore of 25 too small for this purpose. In military muskets of smooth bore, the elongated bullet is not applicable: very little benefit is gained in using them in a smooth bore; and, although the original invention contemplated this, experience decided otherwise. The spherical bullet being thus indispensable, it follows that one size should be adopted which combines the greatest number of favourable points. Many years ago I made numberless experiments to ascertain this fact, and had it demonstrated beyond all doubt to be a bore of 18 and a bullet of 19; the difference in size admitting of the paper of the cartridge with a moderate degree of tightness. The ultimate range of such a musket with three drachms of gunpowder, would be equal to the range of the Enfield; but, of course, without one-tenth its accuracy. Yet for close quarters, line-firing, or quickness of loading, the musket will hold its place for centuries to come; and that this opinion is entertained by many officers, is proved by the fact that our Government is at this moment issuing contracts for 100,000 plain-bored muskets: 17 bore, 3 feet 3 inches long in the barrel. The near approximation of bore to my standard is suggestive of the influence my writings have had after many years, as the following extract from my book of 1842 shows:—
“Military rifles should never be shorter than three feet—say three feet three inches, with half-turn of spiral—the length of the musket. They should not be larger in the bore than a ball eighteen to the pound, as at that length a force, calculated to throw an extreme distance, might be generated. Whatever may be the arguments for heavy substances, they do not avail here, as it is impossible to throw them either with velocity or accuracy; for there never can be certainty, where so much elevation is required. The size of ball we have mentioned, can be thrown with great certainty, as far, if not farther, than any soldier in her Majesty’s service can accurately survey a single object. For the purpose of annoying a dense body of men, such as a square column, such a rifle would be an invaluable gun; as the muskets now made will not throw a ball one-half the distance. As to the actual range of a rifle of this bore and length, I should think it would reach, effectively, the distance of 1,500 yards.”
The experimental or competitive trials by the Royal Engineers at Chatham to prove the superiority of the elliptical bored rifle over the Enfield, is another of those occasional clap-traps with which the public are amused. The ordinary reader would judge and set it down for an established fact that the elliptical rifle was, as has generally been represented, an invention purely Lancasterian, gun and bullet; while the real facts are quite contrary: true, the barrel is rifled, slightly elliptical, and having “an increasing spiral;” but the ammunition is that of the Enfield—the “‘Greenerian’ expansive bullet with the centre of gravity in the head.” The bullet that Lancaster adopted, as well known, had a leaden plug. I quote from the report of the select committee:—
“The plug bullet used by Mr. Lancaster does not appear suitable for military service, for when the plug is driven into the bullet by the ignition of the powder, it generally nips the paper of the cartridge between itself and the base of the bullet, and carries a portion of it away, as may be seen by the specimens sent to the committee; upon the amount of paper so carried away by the ball depends the accuracy or inaccuracy of its flight; and the plugs do not in all cases remain firmly attached to the bullet.”
What then are these trials conducted to prove? It cannot be the superiority of Lancaster’s bullet; for he has abandoned that, “and uses the Enfield.” Is it the rifling?—if so, let us see what the same committee say of that:—
“The chief peculiarity of this rifle consists in the inner surface of the barrel being smooth, instead of cut into grooves, as in most rifled barrels. As a substitute for grooves, the interior of the barrel is cut into the form of an ellipse, whose major axis exceeds the minor by ·005 of an inch. The ball is rifled by being forced (when expanded by the explosion of the gunpowder) into the major axis of the ellipse, which thus fulfils the office of grooves in conducting the ball into the required degree of spiral motion.
“As Mr. Lancaster has adopted the American plan of a ‘gaining-twist,’ or ‘increasing spiral,’ and applied it to his smooth-bored barrels with elongated projectiles, it may be as well to consider the merits of this system.
“The advantages are supposed to be:
“1st. The alleged increased accuracy has been by some attributed to the supposition that the revolutions of the bullet round its own axis increase in rapidity while passing through the air, in consequence of having acquired that motion when passing through the barrel, under the influence of the grooves; but it is difficult to imagine how a leaden bullet can carry within itself, after leaving the muzzle, any power of increasing its own rotatory or progressive motion.
“2nd. That there should be less recoil is natural, as the bullet meets with less opposition when first started from a state of rest; but the amount of recoil in all rifles now made for expanding projectiles is quite inconsiderable, and not worth noticing.
“3rd. The tendency of a bullet to twist the rifle on one side is now avoided by reducing the spirality of the grooves. Instead of[408] being one turn in three or four feet as formerly, it is now one turn in six feet six inches, and sometimes only one turn in eight or nine feet.
“4th. The advocates of this system maintain that a bullet is less likely to ‘strip,’ or pass out of the barrel without rifling itself, when conducted gradually into the required degree of spirality. But the question is, whether in a well-constructed rifle, the bullet does strip? and if not, then a gaining-twist is unnecessary and objectionable, as it offers to the ball’s progress a continually increasing opposition, while the ball itself is subjected to a continually increasing urging force from the inflamed gunpowder in the barrel, so that, as the velocity of the ball increases, so also does the resistance to its escape. A projectile is set in motion gradually, and is (or should be, if the quality and quantity of the powder, and the barrel, have a right proportion to each other) at its greatest velocity just before leaving the muzzle; consequently the tendency of a ball would be to yield to the increasing force of the powder and pass straight out of the barrel without following the grooves; and this more especially in a smooth bore, which has no clearly defined edges to hold and guide the ball to its proper degree of spirality, but where the lead may be compressed along the smooth surface so as to pass straight along the barrel.”
So much for the gaining twist; it requires no further argument. The oval bore is not an invention of Mr. Lancaster: it is older than Captain Beaufoy’s book, “Scloppetaria,” published in 1808, for in it you will find a description how to rifle a smooth bore; and he gives drawings of the tools to do it with.
If these statements are facts—and I defy them being gainsaid—what connection has this gentleman with it at all? for what purpose is it pompously announced that the Lancaster elliptical bored rifle shoots superior to the Enfield, when there is not such a thing? The superior shooting of one man over another is more than sufficient explanation. The highly unscientific theory of putting a bullet into excessive spiral motion at the instant it has acquired a maximum of velocity is untenable, admitting of no lucid explanation. The Enfield rifle has evidently many enemies, who do not hesitate in injuring her reputation, nor hesitate about the means of doing it. All elliptical bores are but the two-grooved rifle in disguise: an idea fast exploding.
The truth of my opinion about the two-grooved or Brunswick rifle, introduced into the service in 1840, is now proved. Many of my readers will recollect that in my books of 1842 and 1846 I termed this “an abortion of science:” it has since died with that cognomen; though it was puffed up, as my readers will remember, by many high authorities, and amongst the rest by Dr. Ure, who said nearly as much for it as is now advanced in favour of the hexagonal rifle. On referring to the report of the Select Committee on Small Arms, published in 1852, I find the following account of it:—
“At all distances above 400 yards the shooting was so wild as to be unrecorded. The Brunswick rifle has shown itself to be much inferior in point of range to every other arm hitherto noticed.
“The loading of this rifle is so difficult that it is wonderful how the rifle regiments have continued to use it so long—the force required to ram down the ball being so great as to render any man’s hand unsteady for accurate shooting. Comment is unnecessary.”
The Prussian needle gun, too, has departed this life: another instance of the absurdity of adopting plans containing in themselves the reverse of scientific principles; for it may safely be accepted as an axiom that success at the present day can only arise to mechanical constructions which are based on those immutable foundations of mechanical science in accordance with great Nature’s laws.
That the principles of the expansive or “Greenerian” rifles are fast gaining the approbation of all scientific men qualified by their pursuits to judge, is evident from the fact that Birmingham has contributed, within the last twelve months, a considerable number of workmen to construct Enfield rifles in all the principal States of Europe. France, and Russia especially, are expending large amounts in manufacturing this arm; so that it is no stretch of imagination to suppose that in a few years the equilibrium of arms will be again established, all nations being armed with equally good weapons, to contrast with the contemptible ones of bygone times.
Before separating for the recess, a question was asked from the officials by an honourable member in the House of Commons:—“When a report would be given in as to the relative merits of the Enfield and Whitworth rifles as military weapons?” The answer given was evidently intended to mystify; for, from the most intimate inquiries I have made, I find that no experiments whatever are in progress. The last took place at Woolwich, in October, 1857, and terminated so very unsatisfactorily, that Mr. Whitworth wished to make some alterations in his rifles, in order to overcome the difficulties presented. Up to the present time the authorities inform me that no other rifles have been sent in for further trial.
The defects demonstrated in these experiments were precisely those pointed out in this chapter. On reversing their positions, “hard bullets v. soft,” the penetration of the Enfield was found to be equal to that of the Whitworth; the same number of elm deals being perforated. This proves what may be done by “mechanical dodges,” and how intimately acquainted those in charge of “gunnery experiments” ought to be with all its ramifications, or they, too, may be hoodwinked.
The difficulty of loading was here more strongly exemplified than at Hythe. The deposit from the “Government gunpowder” became so tenacious in the “hexagonal grooves,” that after a certain number of shots, loading became a very difficult matter indeed; so much so, that Mr. Whitworth considerately provided a very superior description of gunpowder, with which the hexagonal rifle worked a little better. The recoil, too, was of that severe kind as to leave strong recollections of its force on the minds of the reluctant operative shooters employed to carry out the experiment. The entire result may be summed up, in the mildest term, as “unsatisfactory.” The concealment of this result may be probably a considerate act on the part of the late Government; the parts acted by some of the members of it must be strong in the recollection of others; and letting down quietly this very highly inflated “wind-bag,” when it showed symptoms of collapse, was doubtless a judicious act.
Revolving or repeating pistols have now become as necessary in war as the rifle. The peculiarity of the contests in various parts of America first showed the necessity of a weapon being constructed, the moral and destructive effects of which should be equal.
Colonel Colt was unquestionably the first to overcome the difficulties found to exist in the earliest productions, and when the introduction of the revolver into Europe became general, and the demands for it increased, the manufacturers were enabled, from the commencement, to avoid the defects which he had overcome in the course of his experience; and thus, their task was a lighter one than his. An immense number of revolving pistols have been constructed in a very short time; but, like all new creations in mechanical science, the production has been distinguished by quantity rather than quality. The general adoption of these arms has been greatly impeded by the very inferior quality produced. Revolving pistols may be had from 10s. upwards; but as to the utility of such cheap trash nothing can be said. The possession of one may have a moral effect on the courage of the bearer, and its appearance may act on the fears of the opponent, but the danger is greatest to him who fires. The complicated arrangement of all repeating fire-arms requires that they should be of the very best workmanship, if they are to be safe and efficient weapons. That they have been of the utmost use to the allied armies in the Crimea, and in that more desultory but treacherous struggle in the East, is certain. Many and valuable lives have been saved by their ready application. The moral effect of the revolver was amply demonstrated where one noble young soldier held his post at “Rewah” by the dread of his revolver alone; the mutineers knowing well that six of them must fall before they could reach him, and feeling that each might be one of the six, he held his own until relief came.
Again, a tale is told of another gallant officer who shot five in succession, reserving the sixth for that arch-miscreant Nana Sahib; but unfortunately that sixth barrel missed fire. How many thousands of lives that shot might have saved had it been successfully fired! With all good, however, comes a certain amount of evil: no perfect weapon has ever yet been constructed; but this shows how desirable it is that a perfect revolver should be invented, if possible.
There are but few manufacturers of revolvers who have reached any degree of eminence: Colt, Dean, Adams, Tranter, and Webley, comprise nearly all the distinguished men in this country. There are a multitude of second-rate makers in England, France, and Belgium; but the most celebrated makers in Europe are those I have enumerated; and in order to guide the reader as far as my knowledge will serve, I will impartially point out the advantages and defects belonging to each production.
The construction of Colonel Colt’s repeating pistol is, according to his own description, a motion got by cocking the lock and rotating the cylinders; as described in the following quotation:—
“They differ from those formerly made, principally in the greater simplicity and the better proportions of the parts of the lock and the framework. Important additions and improvements have been made in the loading lever and rammer for forcing the balls firmly into the cylinder, the employment of the helical or spiral groove on the arbor on which the cylinder turns, whose sharp edges are intended to prevent fouling by scraping off any smoke or dirt accumulating in the cylinder from the lateral fire entering the centre opening, and the inclined plane leading to the recesses on the periphery of the cylinder, to direct the bolt below the opposite shoulder in the recesses; thus preventing the cylinder from being accidentally thrown too far by the sudden action of cocking. The lock is now composed of five working parts, instead of seventeen, as formerly; and it is obvious that if the several parts of the machinery are made proportionally strong for the work they have to do, so is the arm rendered more efficient by the greater simplicity of the general construction.
“In all arms having a moveable breech it is desirable to bring the barrel and cylinder as nearly in contact as possible, in order to prevent the escape of lateral fire, and yet to leave freedom for motion, without friction: this is now effected by the base pin, on which the cylinder turns, entering a corresponding opening in the under part of the barrel, being there held in place by a key passing through and bearing against the back end of the slot in the barrel, and the fore end of the slot in the base pin, which is thus drawn up to the bottom of the hole, and yet the barrel is prevented from being brought too close upon, or in absolute contact with, the cylinder, whilst its end is still held in its proper position with respect to the cylinder. In the event of any abrasion of the end of the cylinder or of the barrel, by deepening the cavity, or filing the[416] end of the base pin, the key can be driven further in, and the proper distance for the readjustment of those parts be maintained, whilst the essential rigidity of structure is secured.
“In loading the present arm, it is necessary to draw back the hammer to the half notch, to allow the cylinder to be rotated freely by hand; a charge of powder is then placed in each chamber, and the balls, without wadding or patch, are put one at a time upon the mouths of the chambers, turned under the rammer and forced down, by the lever, below the mouth of the chamber. This is repeated until all the chambers are loaded. Percussion caps are then placed on the nipples, when, by drawing back the hammer to the full catch, the click or lever is brought into contact with one of the ratchet teeth, on the base of the cylinder, bringing the nipple into the precise position to receive the blow of the hammer: the arm is then in a condition for being discharged by simply pulling the trigger; and a repetition of the same portion produces the like results, until all the chambers are discharged through the barrel.
“The movements of the revolving chamber and hammer are admirably provided for. The breach, containing six cylindrical cells for holding the powder and ball, moves one-sixth of a revolution at a time; it can, therefore, only be fired when the chamber and the barrel are in a direct line. The base of the cylindrical breech being cut externally into a circular ratchet of six teeth (the lever which moves the ratchet being attached to the hammer), as the hammer is raised in the act of cocking, the cylinder is made to revolve, and to revolve in one direction only. While the hammer is falling, the chamber is firmly held in its position by a lever fitted for the purpose; when the hammer is raised, the lever is removed and the chamber released.
“So long as the hammer remains at half-cock the chamber is free, and can be loaded at pleasure. The rapidity with which these arms can be loaded is one of their great recommendations, the powder being merely poured into each receptacle in succession, and the balls being then dropped in upon it, without any wadding, and driven home by the ramrod, which of course is never required to enter the barrel.
“While carried in the pocket, or belt, there is no possibility of an accidental discharge of these pistols. Whenever it is required to clean the barrel and chamber, they can be taken to pieces in a moment, wiped out, oiled, and replaced.
“The hammer at full-cock forms the sight by which aim is[417] taken. The pistol is readily cocked by the thumb of the right hand, a plan in every way far superior to the arrangement whereby the hammer is raised by a pull on the trigger: this is in every respect most objectionable, the pull materially interfering with the correctness of aim; and the sear-spring having the duty of the main-spring to perform as well, is apt constantly to be getting out of order.
“The ramrod attached to these pistols consists of a very clever but simple compound lever, which, forcing the ball effectually home, hermetically seals the chamber containing the powder, and by the application of a small quantity of wax to the nipple before capping, the pistol may be immersed for hours in water without the chance of a miss-fire.”
The great disadvantage said to be existing in this revolver is the necessity of cocking and half-cocking at every discharge; which double action is difficult in certain positions where revolvers are of the greatest use, as in a melée surrounded by many enemies, where the cocking and firing by one pulling motion, as in Tranter’s and Dean’s, is more expeditious: in fact, certificates are published by officers who, at the battle of Inkermann, would have been cut down had the slightest delay been necessary for cocking the pistol. On the other hand, it is said, that no certain aim can be taken where the pulling up and sudden liberation of the mainspring discharges the pistol; the act of discharging it destroying the aim. These two points have their advocates and their objectors, as has always been the case with new plans.
The mechanical construction of Colt’s pistol is effected entirely by machinery, and on this account superiority is claimed for it; in my opinion, however, the boasted benefits of machinery have never yet been realised. The manufacture of guns without machinery is difficult, but the entire use of it is unnecessary. Certain portions of pistol-making can never be done as they should be by machinery; and I have not yet been able to discover anything in Colt’s manufacture to make me advocate the use of machinery. I should not consider a pistol made by hand, and equal to the best of Colt’s, as well made; a hand-made pistol ought to be much better in all respects.
Dean and Adams were the first makers of note who contested the palm with Colt. They thus describe their pistol:—
“The barrel, the lock-frame, and top-bar were all forged out of one piece of iron: the chamber to contain five charges, revolved on a centre pin, which could be either drawn entirely, or partially out, as was required and was held in its position by a side spring; the toothed ratchet was secured to the base of the chamber by two screws, so as to admit of its being renewed, when it was abraded by use, and motion was given to it by a ratchet pall, connected with the hammer, which was lifted by pulling the trigger. The hammer moved on a transverse pin, and was pressed down on the nipple by a back spring in the stock, being connected with it by a swivel link; the trigger was kept in position by a horizontal bent spring, and had attached to it the hammer-lifter and the ratchet pall; the point of the former fell into a notch in the base of the hammer, so that as the trigger was pulled, the hammer was raised, until the rounded portion of the base, acting as a cam, forced the lifter out of the notch, and allowed the hammer to descend on the nipple and to explode the percussion-cap. On withdrawing the finger from the trigger, the lifter and ratchet pall descended and again slipped into the notches of the hammer and the chamber, in readiness for repeating the operation of firing. The lifter was retained in contact with the hammer, by a small flat spring, the upper end of which was attached to the pall, while the lower end acted upon the lifter, which, in turning on its centre, brought the lower prolongation against the spring, below the centre, so as to press the upper end in the proper direction, in order that its action might be certain.
“The rotation of the chambers was obtained by a ratchet pall, acting on a tooth each time the trigger was pulled, thus causing the chambers to revolve, so far as to bring a nipple into the proper position for receiving the blow of the hammer, and in that situation it was held by a projecting stop on the back of the trigger.
“In order to load the chambers it was necessary that they should revolve free of the stop: this was effected by pressing inwards another stop, attached to a spring on the side of the lock, which engaged the point of the hammer and prevented it from descending on the nipple, until the chambers were loaded, when, on the trigger being pulled, the side spring stop was released and resumed its original position, leaving the weapon ready for action.
“The bullets were cast with a small ‘tang’ on them, which served to fix a wad on each; thus no ramrod was required in loading, the bullets being merely pressed in with the finger. The aperture of the barrel was slightly expanded at the lower end to admit of the bullets entering more readily in firing. The rifling of the barrel was the reverse of the ordinary system, as it consisted of three projecting ‘feathers,’ or ridges, extending the length of the tube, leaving very wide grooves between them.
“It would be observed, that the cocking and firing were performed by the same action of the trigger; therefore the rapidity of firing was proportionally great; the arm was very light, its construction simple, and its action certain.”
The defect of cocking and firing by the same action of the trigger must have been important; for new patents were, I believe, taken to cover both plans, and they now manufacture what is termed a double-action pistol, which acts either by cocking with the finger, or by the trigger, as of old. The important improvement in the durability and soundness of Dean and Adams’s pistol over Colt’s is, that the barrel, the lock-frame, and top bar, are all forged out of one piece of iron; thus, the cylinders revolve in a frame which cannot undergo any displacement.
In Colt’s, the barrel is supported by a crooked elbow, rising from the centre, or revolving pin; its principal support consequently is some distance below the tube of the barrel, but parallel to it: the effect of long firing is to bend this elbow, causing the barrel to fall or droop downward, instead of continuing in a straight line with the chambers; thus, an opening between the chambers and the barrel is established, increasing the space for lateral escape.
Next, though certainly not least, is Tranter’s pistol, of three different modes of construction. The name of this manufacturer has risen higher than that of his London competitors; owing, no doubt, in a great measure, to the generally entertained opinion that all essential improvements in the English revolving pistols have arisen from the skill and untiring industry of Mr. William Tranter. Whether the opinion that he originated all the improvements claimed for Dean and Adams’s pistol is well founded or not, I cannot say: I only reiterate the opinion; and I believe, from the very great attention Mr. Tranter has paid to the subject, and from his great mechanical skill, that he is quite capable of effecting these improvements. Any admirer of beautiful arrangements in gunnery has only to examine one of his double-trigger revolving pistols, to be struck with the elaborate nature of his improvements. I give a wood-cut of it on the next page, and some quotations from his own description of its quality:—
“W. Tranter’s patents for a double trigger, a safety-hammer spring, an elongated socket for the chamber, a loading lever, and a lubricating bullet for revolving arms, increase the value and efficiency of these arms as defensive weapons.