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The Whitworth rifle was an English-made percussion rifle used in the latter half of the 19th century. A single-shot muzzleloader with excellent long-range accuracy for its era, especially when used with a telescopic sight, the Whitworth rifle was widely regarded as the world's first sniper rifle. [1]
The 12-pdr rifle was designed in the early 1850s by British manufacturer Joseph Whitworth, who had recently been contracted to improve the Pattern 1853 Enfield.During his experiments with the Enfield, Whitworth was inspired to begin experimenting with a hexagonally-rifled barrel; Whitworth would later apply these principles to his field guns.
Many older Mississippi rifles were re-bored to .58 caliber. The rifle was also modified to accept a sword type bayonet. The first Mississippi rifles had a v-notch sight. This was later replaced with leaf sights with 100, 300, and 500 yard ranges. A ladder sight with ranges from 100 to 1100 yards in 100 yard increments was fitted on some later ...
Whitworth rifle: Considered the world's first sniper rifle when used with a telescopic sight, the Whitworth was a British single-shot, muzzleloading rifle purchased by the Confederate government in limited numbers. Firing a mechanically fitted, six-sided bullet from a hexagonal bore, the Whitworth was capable of incredible accuracy at long range.
The gun used polygonal rifling, a principle invented by Whitworth in 1853.The concept was to use the hexagon to impart a very rapid spin to the projectile. The method of manufacturing the rifling was thus described by the Report of the Armstrong & Whitworth Committee of the British War Office (1866):
RML 2.5-inch mountain gun United Kingdom: 1879 73: 2.9-inch Parrott rifle United States: 1860 76: 3-inch ordnance rifle United States: 1862 76: RML 7-pounder mountain gun United Kingdom: 1873 86: Canon de campagne de 4 rayé France: 1858 96: Wiard rifle United States: 1861 121: Canon de 12 La Hitte France: 1859 140: 70-pounder Whitworth naval ...
The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket (also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifled musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867; after which many were replaced in service by the cartridge-loaded Snider–Enfield rifle.
In service, the rifle was sometimes referred to as a mountain gun, though this might stem from a confusion over caliber sizes. [3] From a design standpoint, the weapon was unique. Like all of Whitworth's designs, the weapon had a hexagon-ally rifled barrel. It was also a breechloader, an unusual feature for the time.