[374]

Rifle.Range
in yards.		Elevation.Figure
of Merit.
Deg.Feet.
Whitworth - 500 - 1·150·37
Enfield1·322·24
Whitworth - 800 - 2·201·00
Enfield2·454·11
Whitworth - 1,100 - 3·452·41
Enfield4·128·04
Whitworth - 1,400 - 5·004·62
Enfield6·20 to 7.No hits
Whitworth - 1,800 - 6·4011·62
Enfield——

It would appear from these figures that at 500 yards in 10 shots the Manchester rifle has a superior accuracy of 1·87 of a foot; at 800 yards 3·11; at 1,100 yards 5·63; and that at 1,400 yards and upwards the Enfield weapon ceases to afford any data for a comparison. In penetration the results obtained have been equally decisive; the Whitworth projectile, with the regulation charge of powder, going through 33 half-inch planks of elm, and being brought up by a solid oak bulk beyond, while the Enfield ball could not get past the 13th plank.

“The shooting on Tuesday was more to satisfy Lord Panmure and the other strangers present upon the comparative merits of the two weapons than to show the limit of what each could do under favourable circumstances. Still, the targets of every 10 shots on either side bore decisive evidence of the superiority of the new rifle, as a glance at the following table will prove:—

Rifle.Range
in yards.		Elevation.Figure
of Merit.
Deg. Feet.
Whitworth - 800- 2·22 1·41
Enfield2·455·67
Whitworth - 500 —- 1·27
Enfield3·30
Whitworth - 500 —- 1·33
Enfield4·01

“The last entry in the table records the mean radial distance from a central point of 10 shots fired from a table-rest, by Colonel Hay and Mr. Gunner, the manager of the Enfield factory. Both are first-rate marksmen, yet at 500 yards the Manchester rifle in the hands of the former gives three times as good shooting as the latter can get out of the Government arm. All the other trials were made by firing from a beautifully-constructed machine rest, which placed both weapons on a footing of perfect equality as to the conditions under which they were tested. In addition to the foregoing experiments, there was one for showing that with cylindro-conoidal balls on the expansion principle of those used for the Enfield rifle, very superior shooting could be obtained from Whitworth’s hexagonal bore. This was most satisfactorily established, the mean deviation on the target from the centre of the group of 10 hits being only ·85 of a foot at 500 yards’ range. It will be observed that at 500 yards’ range, at which the practice commenced, the shooting of Whitworth’s rifle was so much better than the other that no greater distance was attempted. A reference to the first table of experiments will also demonstrate that the target made by the former weapon at 1,100 yards is nearly as good as that made by the latter at 500. These are great results to have achieved, and amply justify the forethought of the late Lord Hardinge in securing the services of so eminent a mechanic as Mr. Whitworth for the improvement of the rifle. Until he took the subject in hand the proper principles for guidance in the construction of the weapon had not been accurately determined. The manufacture was still conducted by rule of thumb, and in a very hap-hazard way on the most important points. The use of grooves and an expansive projectile made it impossible to secure the requisite amount of pitch in the rifling and the indispensable hardness of metal in the bullet for penetration. Moreover, from the small amount of bearing, the wear and tear both in the barrel and in the projectile were enormous, and the length of the latter could not be increased without causing it to capsize in its flight. By the polygonal bore and rapid pitch to which the form of the bullet accurately conforms, Mr. Whitworth has rendered stripping impossible, and, his rifle when fired acting exactly like a male and female screw, the projectile must rotate with perfect steadiness and precision on its axis. He can increase its length so considerably as to secure space for converting it into a shell if necessary; and, being able to use metal of any degree of hardness, he can adapt its form and strength exactly to the work which it has to perform. Thus with a rifle 39 inches long and half-inch bore, having a turn in 20 inches, or two turns in its length, he finds no difficulty in penetrating a wrought-iron plate 6-10ths of an inch thick or cutting a core out of a piece of solid timber half a foot thick; and some idea may be formed of the extraordinary power of this arm when we mention that his projectiles in their flight rotate at the rate of 15,000 revolutions per minute. The question of driving holes in the 4-inch breast plates of floating batteries is at once solved by the application of these principles to artillery, the construction of which this new rifle proves must be completely revolutionized. A weapon which in expert hands will make good practice at 1,400 yards, and the range of which can be very easily helped by a telescope if necessary, gives the coup de grace to our present system of field batteries. At the Alma it would have silenced the Russian guns or driven them from their position, rendering the rush of the Light Division, with the heavy loss of life consequent thereon, unnecessary. Nor during the siege of Sebastopol would the rope mantlets of the Redan and the Malakhoff having given much protection to the men working behind the embrasures,” &c., &c., &c.

So much for the praise bestowed by Mr. Whitworth on his own production. A beautiful experiment it has been, and one for which the scientific world is bound to be thankful; giving, as it does, perhaps a faint idea only of what is yet to be effected.

However, all is not gold that glitters: it is very well to do all this by straining every principle that can be brought to bear,—extra charge, bullets hardened and turned with mathematical precision, steel barrels, with a fineness of polish in the interior like that of a looking-glass—these are all great adjuncts in the trial against an ordinary unprepared gun, taken from a number promiscuously, and which perhaps might be the worst specimen in the possession of the party at Hythe. But these are trifles when compared with the two following facts. The diameter of the bore of Mr. Whitworth’s is 500, or half-inch at the largest diameter, and 450 at the smallest, or a mean, taking the two extremes, of fifty bore; the Enfield is 577, or twenty-five bore, and the bullets on leaving the guns were the same weight exactly. The length of the Enfield bullet is 7⁄8 inch, that of the Whitworth is 13⁄8 inch. But all this will be more fully seen from the [woodcuts].