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Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century. Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. [5] Meanwhile, in China, an early form of breech-loading musket, known as the Che Dian Chong, was known to have been created in the second half of the 16th century for the Ming dynasty's arsenals. [6]
The second variation used a vertical cylindrical breech block, stored powder beneath the lock, and had a capacity of up to 10 shots. [1] These guns had a removable cap over the breech, allowing the breech to be easily cleaned. [1] An additional variation of the Kalthoff used a cylindrical breech that rotated on an axis parallel to the bore. [6]
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech-loading rifles to be put into service by the British military. It was designed by Major Patrick Ferguson (1744–1780). It fired a standard British carbine ball of .615" calibre and was used by the British Army in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, and possibly at the Siege of Charleston in 1780.
The M1819 Hall rifle was a single-shot breech-loading rifle (also considered something of a hybrid breech and muzzle-loading design) designed by John Hancock Hall, patented on May 21, 1811, and adopted by the U.S. Army in 1819. It was preceded by the Harpers Ferry M1803.
A variation of the musket known as the caliver, a standardized "calibre" (spelled "caliber" in the US), appeared in Europe around 1567–9. [7] According to Jacob de Gheyn, the caliver was a smaller musket that did not require a fork rest. [12] Benerson Little described it as a "light musket". [31] [32]
The "Brown Bess" muzzle-loading smoothbore musket was one of the most commonly used weapons in the American Revolution. While this was the main British musket, it was briefly used by the Americans until 1777. This musket was used to fire a single shot ball, or a cluster style shot which fired multiple projectiles giving the weapon a "shotgun ...
have a reduced caliber compared to the then standard musket; have reliable ignition, with the means of the caplock mechanism (earlier muskets had been equipped with the flintlock mechanism); be quicker to load than the musket, and therefore be a breech loader; and; be more accurate than the old smoothbore muskets.
Loading was accomplished by lowering a lever which was mounted on the left side of the rifle. This caused the chambers to line up with two magazines contained within the buttstock and allowed one .55 caliber lead ball and a 60-grain powder charge to fall into their respective chambers. When the lever was returned to its original position, the ...