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The Pattern 1800 Infantry Rifle, better known as the Baker rifle, was a flintlock rifle designed by English gunsmith Ezekiel Baker and used by the British Armed Forces from 1801 to 1837. First seeing action during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , it was the first British-made firearm to be issued as a service rifle to all soldiers ...
Baker rifle. The Baker rifle was a muzzle-loading flintlock weapon used by the British Army in the Napoleonic Wars, notably by the 95th Rifles and the 5th Battalion, 60th Regiment of Foot. This rifle was an accurate weapon for its day, with reported kills being made at 100 to 300 yards (90 to 270 m) away.
Ezekiel Baker (1758–1836) [1] was a master gunsmith from Whitechapel, London, who became known for his design of the Baker rifle in 1800. Baker was apprenticed to gunsmith Henry Nock and opened a gunshop of his own at 24 Whitechapel Road, London in 1775. [1] He later wrote a book on his experiences when making and using rifles. [1]
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle Corps".
The shots were "from a range that seemed extraordinary to the" men of the 95th Rifles, [5] who were trained to shoot targets with a Baker Rifle at 180 metres (200 yd). Their marksmanship was far better than the ordinary British soldiers, who were armed with a Brown Bess musket and only trained to shoot into a body of men at 50 metres (55 yd ...
During the Napoleonic Wars the British army created several experimental units known as "Rifles", armed with the Baker rifle. These Rifle Regiments were deployed as skirmishers during the Peninsular war in Spain and Portugal, and were more effective than skirmishers armed with muskets due to their accuracy and long range. [citation needed]
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves ("rifling") cut into the barrel walls.The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile (for small arms usage, called a bullet), imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the orientation of the weapon.
Colbert-Chabanais was killed by a single long-range shot from a Baker rifle, fired by a noted sharpshooter of the 95th Rifles, rifleman Thomas Plunket, and who also, with a second shot, killed the officer who came to Colbert's assistance.