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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 ...
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]
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.
The first rifle-armed unit, the 5th Battalion of the 60th Regiment, was formed mainly from German émigrés before 1795. An Experimental Corps of Riflemen , armed with the British Infantry Rifle, more commonly known as the Baker rifle , was formed in 1800, and was brought into the line as the 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles) in 1802.
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 ...
The factoid saying that the Baker rifle fires 2 to 3 rounds per minute is downright wrong. This is a musket's rate of fire, not a Baker rifle. While the musket could easily be loaded within a 20 second timeframe by a well-drilled soldier, the Baker rifle required its ball ammunition to be wrapped in a leather patch so that it would grip the ...
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The British did utilise the rifle such as the Baker Pattern 1800 Infantry rifle equipping some units, most notably with the creation of an entire elite rifle regiment, the 95th Regiment (Rifles). One success of the British 95th Rifles was picking off French general Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais in 1809 during the Peninsular War.