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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.
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 .
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.
The Whitworth, designed by Joseph Whitworth and manufactured in England, was a rare gun during the war but an interesting precursor to modern artillery in that it was loaded from the breech and had exceptional accuracy over great distance. An engineering magazine wrote in 1864 that, "At 1600 yards [1500 m] the Whitworth gun fired 10 shots with ...
The QF 12-pounder 12-cwt gun (Quick-Firing) (abbreviated as Q.F. 12-pdr. [12-cwt.]) was a common, versatile 3-inch (76.2 mm) calibre naval gun introduced in 1894 and used until the middle of the 20th century. [4] It was produced by Armstrong Whitworth, Elswick and used on Royal Navy warships, exported to allied countries, and used for land ...
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):
One of the Dahlgren guns of the American Civil War; Ordnance BL 12 pounder 7 cwt, British field gun, 1885–1892; Ordnance QF 12 pounder 8 cwt, British naval landing gun, late 19th century and early 20th century; Ordnance BL 12 pounder 6 cwt, British light field gun, 1894–1916; QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun, British "Long 12" of 1890s–1940s
The 120-pounder Whitworth naval gun was designed by Joseph Whitworth during the 1860s. It was a rifled muzzle loader and used his hexagonal rifled bore design, the principle of which is described in the article on the 70-pounder Whitworth naval gun .