Friedrich Engels 
The History of the Rifle 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 9, 3. November 1860 

The History of the Rifle. 

By the Author of "A German Account of the Newton Review." 

I. 

The rifle is a German invention, dating as far back as the close of the fifteenth 
century. The first rifles were made with apparently no other object than to 
facilitate the loading of the arm with an almost tight-fitting bullet. To this 
end, the grooves were made straight, without any spiral turning, and merely 
served to diminish the friction of the bullet in the bore. The bullet itself was 
surrounded by a piece of greased woollen or linen cloth (the plaster), and 
was thus hammered down without too much difficulty. These rifles, primitive 
as they were, must have given far better results than the smooth-bore small 
arms of the period, with their bullets of considerably smaller diameter than 
the bore. 

Later on, the character of the arm was totally altered by the spiral turn 
given to the grooves, which transformed the bore of the barrel into a sort 
of a female screw ; the bullet, by the tight-fitting plaster, being made to f ollow 
the grooves, took the spiral turn as well, and thus retained a spiral rotation 
round its line of flight. It was soon found that this mode of fixing the rotation 
of the bullet vastly increased both the range and accuracy of the arm, and 
thus the spiral grooves very soon superseded the straight ones. 

This, then, was the kind of rifle which remained in general use for more 
than two hundred years. If we except hairtriggers and more carefully worked 
sights, it scarcely underwent any improvement up to 1828. It was greatly 

Friedrich Engels 

superior to the smooth-bore musket in accuracy, but not so very much in 
range; beyond 300 or 500 yards, it could not be relied upon. Atthe same time, 
it was comparatively difficult to load; the hammering down of the bullet was 
a very tedious operation; the powder and plastered bullet had each to be put 
separately into the barrel, and not more than one round per minute could 
be fired. These drawbacks made it unfit for the generality of an army, espe- 
cially at atime like the eighteenth century, when all battles were decided by 
the rapid firing of deployed lines. With such tactics, the old smooth-bore 
musket, with all its glaring imperfections, was still a far preferable arm. Thus 
we find that the rifle remained the favourite implement of the deer-stalker 
and chamois-hunter, and that it was used as an exceptional arm of war, for 
a few battalions of sharpshooters, in such armies only as could recruit these 
battalions from a sufficient number of trained sportsmen among the popula- 
tion. 

The wars of the American and French Revolutions created a great change 
in tactics. Henceforth extended order was introduced in every engagement; 
the combination of skirmishers with lines or columns became the essential 
characteristic of modern fighting. The masses, during the greater part of the 
day, are kept back; they are held in reserve or employed in manceuvring so 
as to concentrate on the weak point of the enemy; they are only launched 
in decisive moments; but, inthe mean time, skirmishers and their immediate 
supports are constantly engaged. The mass of the ammunition is spent by 
them, and the objects they fire at, are seldom larger than the front of a 
company; in most cases, they have to fire at single men well hidden by 
covering objects. And yet, the effect of their fire is most important; for every 
attack is both prepared, and, in the firstinstance, met by it; they are expected 
to weaken the resistance of detachments occupying farm houses or villages, 
as well as to take the edge off the attack of a charging line. Now, with old 
"Brown Bess," none of these things could be done effectively. Nobody can 
ever have been under the fire of skirmishers armed with smooth-bore 
muskets, without taking home an utter contempt for its efficiency at medium 
ranges. Still, the rifle in its old shape was not fitted for the mass of skirmish- 
ers. The old rifle, in order to facilitate the forcing down of the bullet, must 
be short, so short that it was but a poor handle to a bayonet; consequently, 
riflemen were used in such positions only when they were safe against an 
attack with the bayonet, or by cavalry. 

Under these circumstances, the problem at once presented itself: to invent 
a gun, which combines the range and accuracy of the rifle, with the rapidity 
and ease of loading, and with the length of barrel of the smooth-bore musket; 
an arm, which is at the same time a rifle and a handy arm of war, fit to be 
placed into the hands of every infantry soldier. 

The History of the Rifle - I. 

Thus we see that with the very introduction of skirmishing into modern 
tactics, arose the demand for such an improved arm of war. Inthe nineteenth 
century, whenever a demand for a thing arises, and that demand be justified 
by the circumstances of the case, it is sure to be supplied. It was supplied 
in this case. Almost all improvements in small arms made since 1828 tended 
to supply it. 

Before, however, we attempt to give an account of those improvements 
which have created such great and numerous changes in rifled fire-arms, by 
dropping the old system of forcing the bullet home, we may be allowed to 
cast a glance at the attempts made to improve the rifle while maintaining the 
old method of loading. 

The rifle with oval bore which is known in England as the Lancaster rifle, 
has been in use on the continent for more than forty years. We find it 
mentioned in a German military book printed in 1818. In Brunswick, Colonel 
Berner improved it and had the whole infantry of that duchy armed with it 
in 1832. The ovality was but slight, and the oval bullet was forced home in 
the old fashion. This oval bullet, however, was to be used in skirmishing only. 
For volley firing, the men were provided with spherical bullets of smaller 
calibre, which rolled down the barrel quite as easy as any musket ball. Still, 
the inconveniences of this system are obvious. It is merely remarkable as 
the first instance of giving rifled muskets to the whole of the infantry in any 
one army. 

In Switzerland, a civil engineer and officer of rifles, M.Wild, improved 
the rifle considerably. His bullet was smaller in proportion to the bore than 
usual, and was made to take the rifling by means of the plaster only; a disk 
on the ramrod prevented it from entering the bore too deep, and thus driving 
the bullet so close on the charge that the powder got crushed; the spirality 
of the grooves was reduced and the charge increased. Wild's rifle gave very 
good results up to above 500 yards, with a very flat trajectory; besides, it 
allowed of more than 100 shots being fired without fouling. It was adopted 
in Switzerland, Wurtemberg, and Baden, but is now, of course, antiquated 
and superseded. 

The most modern and the best rifle constructed upon the forcing principle 
is the new Swiss sharpshooter's regulation rifle. This arm has adopted the 
American principle of a very small calibre; its bore is not more than 
10.50 millimétres, or 0.42 of an inch. The barrel is but 28 inches long, and 
has eight flat grooves (one turn in 34 inches). The ramrod is provided with 
the disk as introduced by Wild. The bullet is cylindro-ogival, and very long; 
itis forced home by means of a greased plaster. The charge is comparatively 
strong, and of a very coarse-grained powder. This arm has shown the most 
astonishing effects; and in the trial of various rifles recently made by the 

Friedrich Engels 

Dutch government, its range, accuracy, and lowness of trajectory, were 
found to be unequalled. In fact, at a range of 600 yards, the highest point 
of its trajectory is only 8 feet 6 inches, so that the whole of the flight, at that 
range, is dangerous space for cavalry, and that even for infantry the last 
100 yards of the trajectory are dangerous space; in other words, an error in 
judging distance of 100 yards, at 600 yards range, would not prevent the 
bullet from hitting an object six feet high. This is aresult far surpassing that 
of any other rifled musket; the very best of them require an elevation, which 
raises the highest points of the trajectory, for 600 yards, to 13 to 20 feet, and 
reduces the dangerous space to from 60 to 25 yards. This extraordinary 
flatness of trajectory is produced by the small calibre of the arm, which 
admits of a very elongated bolt-shaped shot, and of a comparatively powerful 
charge; with a small bore, the rifle may be made very strong, without being 
clumsy, the shot may be long, without being heavy, and the charge may be 
powerful, relatively, without producing too severe arecoil. It is certain that 
the forced loading has nothing to do with the admirable shooting of the arm; 
indeed, it forms its only drawback, and prevents it from being used as the 
general arm of infantry. The Swiss have, therefore, restrained it to their 
companies of sharpshooters, in whose hands, no doubt, it will answer uncom- 
monly well. 

In the next article, we shall show how the rifle came to be made into a 
weapon fit to be placed into the hands of every infantry soldier. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 11, 17. November 1860 

Il. 

Delvigne, a French officer, was the originator of the first attempt to make 
the rifle a weapon fit for general infantry use. He saw clearly that to do this, 
the bullet must slip down the barrel as easy, or nearly so, as the bullet of 
a smooth-bore musket, and be made, afterwards, to change its shape so as 
to enter into the grooves. 

To obtain this end, he constructed, as early as 1828, arifle with a chamber 
at the breech; that is to say the extreme end of the bore at the breech, where 
the powder lies, was made of considerably smaller diameter than the remain- 
ing part of the barrel. This chamber was adopted fromhowitzers and mortars 
which had always been so constructed; but while, in ordnance, it merely 
served to keep well together the small charges used for mortars and howitz- 
ers, it answered quite a different purpose in Delvigne's rifle. The powder 

The History of the Rifle - II. 

having been dropped down into the chamber, the bullet, smaller than the 
bore, was made to roll down after it; but, arrived on the edge of the chamber, 
it could not pass any further, and remained supported on it; and afew smart 
blows with the ramrod were sufficient to force the soft lead of the bullet 
sideways into the grooves, and to enlarge its diameter so much that it fitted 
tight in the barrel. 

The greatest inconvenience in this system was, that the bullet lost its 
spherical shape, and became somewhat flattened, in consequence of which 
it was apt to lose the lateral rotation impressed upon it by the grooves, which 

1 o impaired its precision considerably. To remedy this, Delvigne invented elon- 

gated shot (cylindro-conical), and although the experiments with this kind 
of shot were not, at first, very successful in France, it answered very well 
in Belgium, Austria, and Sardinia, in which countries Delvigne's rifle, with 
various improvements, was given to the Chasseur battalions instead of the 
old rifle. Although his rifle is at present almost everywhere superseded, 
Delvigne's improvements embrace the two great principles on which all 
succeeding inventors have been obliged to rely. Firstly, that in muzzle- 
loading rifles, the shot must go down with a certain windage, so as to admit 
of easy loading, and must change its shape, so as to enter the grooves, only 
after it has been rammed home; and secondly, that elongated shot are the 
only projectiles adapted for modern rifles. Delvigne thus at once put the 
question on its proper footing, and fully deserves the name of the father of 
the modern rifle. 

The advantages of elongated shot over spherical bullets are numerous, so 
long as their lateral rotation (around its longitudinal axis) can be secured to 
the former, which is accomplished in a satisfactory manner by almost every 
modern rifle. The elongated shot offers a far smaller section, in proportion 
to its weight, to the resistance of the atmosphere than the spherical bullet. 
Its point can be so shaped as to reduce that resistance to a minimum. Like 
a bolt or an arrow, it is to a certain degree supported by the air below it. The 
consequence is, that it loses far less of its initial velocity by the resistance 
of the air, and that, consequently, it will reach a given distance with a far 
lower trajectory (that is to say, with a line of flight far more dangerous to 
the enemy) than any round shot of the same diameter. 

Another advantage is, that the elongated shot offers a far greater surface 
of contact to the sides of the barrel than the round shot. This makes the 
former take the rifling far better, and therefore admits of a reduced pitch 
of the rifling as well as of a reduced depth of groove. Both these circum- 
stances facilitate the cleaning of the arm, and at the same time permit the 
use of full charges without increasing the recoil of the gun. 

And finally, as the weight of the elongated shot is so much greater than 

Friedrich Engels 

that of the round bullet, it follows that the calibre, or diameter of bore, of 
the gun can be considerably reduced, while it still remains capable of firing 
a projectile equal in weight to the old round bullet. Now, if the weight of 
the old smooth-bore musket and that of its bullet be considered as the stand- 
ard weights, a rifle for elongated shot of this weight can be made stronger 
than the old musket in the same proportion as the bore has been reduced, 
and it will still not exceed the weight of the old musket. The gun being 
stronger, it will stand the charge so much the better; it will have less recoil, 
and, consequently, the reduced bore will admit of relatively stronger charges, 
whereby a greater initial velocity, and, consequently, a lower line of flight 
will be secured. 

The next improvement was made by another French officer, Colonel 
Thouvenin. He clearly perceived the inconvenience of leaving the shot, while 
being rammed into the grooves, supported on a circular projection touching 
its edges. He therefore did away with the edges of the chamber, boring out 
the whole of the bore to one uniform diameter as heretofore. In the middle 
of the screw closing the bore, he fixed a short strong steel pin, or peg, which 
projected into the bore, and around which the powder was to fall; on the blunt 
top of this peg the shot was to be supported while the ramrod hammered it 
into the grooves. The advantages of this system were considerable. The 
expansion of the shot, by the blows of the ramrod, was far more regular than 
in Delvigne's rifles. The arm could afford a greater windage, which facilitated 
loading. The results obtained with it were so satisfactory that, as early as 
1846, the French Chasseurs à pied were armed with Thouvenin's rifles; the 
Zouaves and other light African infantry followed; and as it was found that 
the old smooth-bore muskets could, with little expense, be transformed into 
Thouvenin's rifles, the carbines of the French foot-artillery were all altered 
accordingly. The Prussian rifles were armed with Thouvenin’s rifle in 1847; 
those of Bavariain 1848 ; and most of the smaller States of Northern Germany 
followed the example, in some cases arming even portions of the line with 
this excellent weapon. In all these rifles there is visible a certain approach 
to unity of system, in spite of all their variations as to calibre, etc. ; the number 
of grooves is reduced (mostly to 4), and the pitch generally is from’/, of a 
turn to one turn in the whole length of the barrel. 

Still, Thouvenin's rifle had its drawbacks. The force required to drive, by 
repeated blows, the lead of the shot, laterally, into the grooves was incom- 
patible with that length of barrel which the common musket of infantry of 
the line must always have as aneffective handle to abayonet. It was, besides, 
very difficult for skirmishers, crawling or kneeling, to apply that force. The 
resistance offered to the explosive force by the shot, jammed as it is in the 
grooves just in front of the powder, increases the recoil, and thereby restricts 

The History of the Rifle II. 

the gun to a comparatively small charge. Finally, the peg always remains an 
undesirable complication of the arm; it renders the cleaning of the space 
around it very difficult, and is liable to get out of order. 
Thus the principle of compressing the shot by blows from the ramrod gave 
5 very satisfactory results, for the time being, in the system of Delvigne, and 
better results, again, in that of Thouvenin. Still it could not assert its superi- 
ority, for an arm for general infantry use, over the old smooth-bore gun. 
Other principles had to be resorted to before a rifle fit for every soldier's 
hands could be produced; and of them we shall speak in a succeeding 
10 paper. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 14, 8. Dezember 1860 

MI. 

Delvigne, whose rifle we described in the preceding article, found it advisable 
to hollow out his elongated bullets from the base, in order to reduce their 
weight to something like that of the old spherical bullet. Though he very soon 

15 found that this hollow projectile was incompatible with the system of ex- 
panding the shot by mechanical blows, his experiments sufficed to prove to 
him that the gas developed by the explosion, on entering the hollow formed 
in the bullet, had a tendency to expand the walls of this hollow portion so 
as to make the bullet fit the barrel exactly and take the rifling. 

20 It was this discovery which was taken up in 1849 by the then Captain Minié. 
He did entirely away with the peg or pillar at the bottom of the bore, and 
restored to the rifle the simplicity which it had possessed before Delvigne 
and Thouvenin; relying entirely upon the expansive action of the explosion 
upon the hollow portion of his bullet. This bullet was cylindro-ogival, with 

25 two ring-shaped indentations round the cylindrical portion,* and hollowed 
out conically from the base; a cup-shaped hollow iron plug (culot)closed the 
hollow portion, and was driven into it by the force of the explosion, thereby 
effectively expanding the lead. The bullet had sufficient windage to go easily 
down, even when surrounded by the greased paper cartridge. 

30 Here, then, we have at last arifle and a bullet constructed upon principles 
which render it possible to give this arm to every foot soldier. The new arm 
loads as easily as the smooth-bore musket, and has an effect far superior 

* These indentations (cannelures) had been invented by Tamisier, another French officer. 

Besides reducing the weight of the bullet and the friction in the barrel, they were found to balance 
35 the shot in the air, similar to the wings of an arrow, and thus to lower the trajectory. 

Friedrich Engels 

to that of the old rifle, which it equals in precision, but far exceeds in range. 
The rifle with expansion-bullet is undoubtedly—of all muzzle-loaders—the 
best arm for general use as well as for sharpshooters, and it is owing to this 
circumstance that it owes its very great success, its adoption in so many 
services, and the many attempts that have been made to improve the shape 
of the shot or the grooving of the rifle. The Minié bullet, in consequence of 
its being hollowed out, can be made but little heavier than the old round bullet 
of the same calibre; the bullet lying loose on the powder, and being only 
gradually expanded as it passes through the barrel, the recoil is far less than 
with either the old or the Delvigne and Thouvenin rifles, in every one of 
which the shot is jammed fast in the barrel, and has to be dislodged by the 
full force of the explosion; consequently the Mimé rifle can apply arelatively 
stronger charge. The grooves have to be made very shallow, which facilitates 
the cleaning of the barrel; the length of axis in which one full turn of the 
grooves is made has to be pretty great, in consequence of which the number 
of rotations, and also the friction with the air (which takes place at every 
rotation), is diminished, whereby the initial velocity is better preserved. The 
hollow base-end of the shot also brings its centre of gravity more forward; 
and all these circumstances combine to produce a comparatively low trajec- 
tory. 

The general adoption of the Minié rifle was, in fact, owing to another 
circumstance: that, by a very simple process, all old smooth-bore muskets 
could be transformed into rifles fit for Minié bullets. When the Crimean war 
made it desirable, in Prussia, that the whole infantry should at once be armed 
with rifled muskets, and the requisite number of needle-guns had not yet been 
manufactured, 300,000 old muskets were rifled and rendered fit for Minié 
ammunition in less than a year. 

The French Government were the first to arm a few battalions with the 
Minié rifles ; but the grooves were progressive, that is to say they were deeper 
at the breech than at the muzzle, so that whatever lead had entered the 
grooves at the breech, was again compressed by the shallowing grooves 
during its progress through the barrel, while at the same time from within 
the expanding force of the powder continued to act. Thus such an amount 
of friction was created that very often the solid point of the shot was torn 
off and sent out of the barrel while the hollow, base-end remained fast in 
the grooves. This, and other defects, induced the Government to renounce 
any further attempt to introduce the Minié rifle. 

In England, as early as 1851,28,000 of these rifles were constructed, similar 
to those tried in France; the bullets were slightly conical, with ogival point, 
with a round hollow plug, and without indentations, as it was intended to 
press them. The results were very unsatisfactory, chiefly in consequence of 

The History of the Rifle - IV. 

the shape of the bullet; until, in 1852, new experiments were made, from 
which, finally, the Enfield rifle and bullets proceeded, which will be again 
alluded to hereafter. The Enfield rifle is but one of the modifications of the 
Minié. It has, since 1854, definitively superseded all smooth-bore muskets 
in the British army. 

In Belgium, the Minié rifle, with slight alterations, has been adopted since 
1854 for riflemen, and latterly for the Une also. 

In Spain, in 1853, the rifles received the Minié, which has since also been 
given to the une. 

In Prussia, in 1855-56, the Minié rifle was provisionally given to the line, 
as stated above. It has since been completely superseded by the needle- 
gun. 

In the smaller German States, the Mime rifle was also adopted, with very 
few exceptions. 

In Switzerland, the Prélat rifle, destined to arm the whole of the infantry 
with the exception of the sharpshooters, is but a modification of the Minié. 

And in Russia, finally, the Government is just now occupied in replacing 
the old smooth-bore muskets by Minié rifles of a very good model. 

In almost every one of these countries has the number, depth, and pitch 
of the grooves, and the shape of the bullet, undergone various modifications 
of detail, to describe the most important of which will be the purport of our 
next article. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 15, 15. Dezember 1860 

IV. 

We again recapitulate the principle of Minié's system: A rifled musket, with 
shallow grooves, is loaded with an elongated bullet, whichis so much smaller 
in diameter than the bore, that it glides down easily. This bullet is hollowed 
out from its base, that is to say, from the end resting on the powder. On firing, 
the gas suddenly developed by the explosion enters into this hollow part, and 
by its pressure against its comparatively thin sides, expands the lead so as 
to make it fit the bore and enter into the grooves; the bullet, therefore, must 
f ollqw the turn of these grooves, and retain the lateral rotation characteristic 
of all rifle bullets. This is the principle, the essential part in all the different 
rifles firing expansion bullets; and it is common to them all. But in mat- 
ters of detail, a great many modifications have been made by various inven- 
tors. 

Friedrich Engels 

Minié himself adopted the plug. This plug was a little, round, cup-shaped 
piece of sheet-iron, driven into the mouth of the hollow part of the bullet. 
It was intended to be driven deeper into the hollow by the explosion, and 
thus to assist and render more certain the expansion of the shot. It was, 
however, soon found that this cup-shaped plug had great inconveniences. It 
separated very often from the bullet on leaving the muzzle, and in its irregular 
line of flight it slightly wounded sometimes troops belonging to the firing 
party and placed a little in advance laterally. It also sometimes turned over 
while being driven into the lead, and thus caused an irregular expansion, and 
thereby a deviation of the shot from the line of aim. As it had been proved 
that the expansion of the shot might be obtained without any plugs at all, 
experiments were made to fix the best shape of an expansion bullet without 
plug. The Prussian Captain Neindorff appears to have been the first to 
propose such a bullet (in 1852). The hollow of this projectile is cylindrical, 
but widened out towards the base, in the shape of atun-dish. This shot gave 
very good results as to range and precision, but it was soon found that the 
plug served another purpose besides expansion, it preserved the thin sides 
of the hollow shot from getting crushed during transport and rough handling; 
while Neindorff 's bullets became deformed during transport, and then gave 
very bad results. In most German services, therefore, the hollow iron plug 
was maintained, but it was made of a long, pointed, sugar-loaf shape, and 
then answered very well, never turned over, and scarcely ever got separated 
from the leaden shot. The Enfield bullet, as is well known, has a solid wooden 
plug. 

In some States, however, the experiments with bullets without plugs were 
continued, and such bullets adopted for the service. This was the case in 
Belgium, France, Switzerland, and Bavaria. The chief object in all these 
experiments was to fix a shape for the hollow part of the bullet which would 
prevent crushing while it allowed expansion. Thus the hollow was formed 
in the shape of a bell (Timmerhans, in Belgium), of a three-sided prism 
(Nessler, in France), with a cross-shaped section (Ploennies, in Darmstadt), 
etc. But it appears almost impossible to unite the two elements, solidity and 
expansibility, in any modification of an expansion shot without a plug. The 
new Bavarian projectile (Major Podewils'), which has a plain cylindrical 
hollow, and very strong sides to it, appears, so far, to answer best. 

In countries where old smooth-bore muskets were rifled for Minié bullets, 
the large calibre of the old musket became, of course, compulsory. But where 
entirely new rifles were provided for the army, the calibre was considerably 
reduced, from considerations to which we have alluded in a former article. 
The English Enfield rifle has a calibre of 14.68 millimétres, the South- 
German rifle (adopted in Wurtemberg, Bavaria, Baden and Hesse-Darm- 

The History of the Rifle - V. 

stadt) of 13.9 mm. The French alone, in their rifles for the guard, retained 
the calibre of their smooth-bore muskets (17.80 mm). 

The Enfield rifle is a very fair specimen of the expansion system. Its calibre 
is small enough to admit of a shot twice the length of its diameter, and still 
not heavier than the old round musket bullet. Its workmanship is very good, 
and superior to that of almost all rifles served out to Continental troops. The 
bullet has very good proportions; against the wooden plug it is objected that 
it may either swell and thereby increase the diameter of the shot, or shrink, 
and then fall out; but we think these objections futile. If the swelling of the 
plug presented any inconvenience, it would have been found out long since; 
and in case of its shrinking, the make of the cartridge prevents its falling out. 
The results obtained with the Enfield rifle are about on a par with those of 
the best Continental expansion rifles. 

The objections to the Enfield, as a rifle with expansion bullets, are these: 
That the calibre might still be smaller, giving a longer bullet for the same 
weight and a stronger barrel with the same weight; that five grooves are 
proved to be better than three; that the barrel of the long Enfield, at least, 
is too delicate, towards the muzzle, to be used as a handle for a bayonet; 
that the bullet, from having no ring-shaped indentations, must suffer an 
enormous amount of friction in the barrel, and thereby runs the risk of having 
the solid point torn off, while the ring-shaped hollow part sticks fast to the 
grooves. 

To change the calibre is a very serious matter; and without that it will be 
very difficult to give the muzzle end of the barrel more sohdity. This appears 
to us the most serious objection. Ah other objections appear unimportant; 
the number of grooves and the shape of the bullet may be altered any time 
without inconvenience; and even as it is, the Enfield has proved itself a very 
useful arm of war. 

We have, so far, compared the Enfield with such rifles only which use 

30 expansion bullets ; the comparison with rifles based upon different principles 

we must reserve for a future occasion, when we shall have examined the 
various other constructions now in use. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 17, 29. Dezember 1860 

V. 

In 1852, an English gun-maker, Mr. Wilkinson, and an Austrian officer of 
artillery, Capt. Lorenz, simultaneously, but each independently of the other, 
invented another method of making a loose-fitting elongated bullet increase 

Friedrich Engels 

its diameter by the force of the explosion, so as to make it fit the bore closely, 
and follow the turn of the grooves. This method consisted in making the 
explosion compress the bullet lengthways, instead of expanding it. 

Take a soft or elastic ball, place it on a table, and make it fly off with a 
smart blow of the hand. The first effect of the blow, even before it starts 
the ball, will be a change in its shape. Light as it is, the weight of the ball 
offers resistance enough to become flattened on the side where it receives 
the blow; itis compressed in one direction, and, consequently, its size must 
increase in another direction, similar to what it does when you completely 
flatten it. As the blow acts upon the elastic ball, so is the explosion of the 
powder expected to act upon the compression bullet of Lorenz and Wilkin- 
son. The weight, the vis inertias of the bullet is made the means, which, by 
its resistance to the force of the explosion, compresses the bullet lengthways, 
and thereby makes it larger sideways; when the shot comes out, it is shorter 
and thicker than when it was put in. 

An elongated bullet of solid lead, in order to offer sufficient resistance, 
and thus to be sufficiently compressed to take the grooves, would have to 
be very heavy—in other words, very long in proportion to its thickness. Even 
with a small calibre such a bullet would be too heavy for war, as the men 
would be overweighted with ammunition if they carried the usual number 
of rounds. To remedy this, two very deep ring-shaped indentations are cut 
into the cylindrical part of the bullet. Take an Enfield bullet, remove the plug, 
fill the cavity with molten lead, and when cold, cut these two indentations, 
close to each other and close to the flat end, into the cylindrical part of the 

projectile, leaving the three remaining portions of the bullet strung, as it were, 

upon a common axis of solid lead. The bullet will then consist of two very 
flat truncated cones, pointing forward, and of the heavy solid point, all of 
which are solidly connected with each other. This bullet will answer as a 
compression bullet. The resistance against the explosion will be offered by 
the heavy fore part or point of the bullet; the head of the rear cone will be 
driven, by the force of the powder, into the base of the cone in front of it, 
whose head, again, will be driven into the rear end of the point; and thus the 
shot, being shortened and compressed in the direction of its length, will be 
made so much thicker that it closes on all sides to the bore and takes the 
rifling. 

From this it is evident that the solid point is the principal portion of the 
compression bullet. The longer and heavier it is, the more resistance will it 
offer, and, consequently, the more certain will be the compressive effect of 
the explosion. So long as the calibre of the rifle is small, say rather less than 
the Enfield, it will be possible to make compression bullets not heavier in 
metal than expansion bullets; but with the calibre grows the surface of the 

5 

The History of the Rifle - V. 

base of the bullet, or in other words the surface exposed to the immediate 
action of the powder; and this is the cause why, with large calibres, com- 
pression bullets will always have to be too heavy to be of any use; otherwise 
the force of the explosion, by overcoming the resistance of the bullet, would 
throw it out of the barrel before it had time to become properly compressed. 
Large calibred, smooth-bore muskets may, therefore, be altered into rifles 
for expansion shot, but they will never do for compression bullets. 

With small calibres and flat grooves, the compression system gives ex- 
cellent results. The forward position of the centre of gravity is very favour- 
able to a low trajectory. The compression bullet has all the advantages of 
the expansion system, as far as regards ease and rapidity of loading, and 
smallness of recoil. The bullet is solid, and can stand transport and rough 
usage well enough; its shape allows of its being pressed, instead of cast. The 
only drawback is thatitrequires a very small windage, of not more than about 
0.01 of an inch, and a great regularity both in the size of the bores and that 
of the bullets, as evidently the compressive effect does not increase the 
circumference of the shot by near as much as the expansive effect; andthus, 
with a greater windage, or old barrels, it would be doubtful whether the bullet 
becomes compressed enough to take the rifling. But this small windage is 
no great objection, as many rifles with expansion shot have no greater 
windage (the Enfield, too, for instance, has only 0.01 of an inch), and there 
is now no difficulty in constructing both barrels and bullets of very exact 
and regular dimensions. 

The Austrian army has adopted the compression bullet for the whole of 
the infantry. The calibre is small, 13.9 millimétres, or 0.546 of an inch (0.031 
less than the Enfield); the barrel has four very flat grooves (an even number 
of grooves, though decidedly objectionable in expansion rifles, is found to 
answer better in compression rifles than an odd number), with one turn in 
about six feet six inches (almost the same as the Enfield). The bullet weighs 
about 480 grains (50 grains less than the Enfield), and the charge is 1-6th of 
its weight (with the Enfield, about I-8th of the weight of the bullet). This arm 
stood its trial in the Italian campaign of 1859, and the great number of French 
soldiers, and especially officers, who succumbed to it, testify to its ex- 
cellence. It has a considerably lower trajectory than the Enfield, which is 
owing to the proportionally stronger charge, to the smaller calibre producing 
a more elongated shot, and, may be, to the action of the two ring-shaped 
indentations. 

Saxony, Hanover, and one or two small German States have also adopted, 
for their light infantry, rifles from which compression bullets constructed 
on Lorenz's principle are fired. 

In Switzerland, besides the sharpshooter's rifle mentioned before, there 

Friedrich Engels 

has been adopted a rifle of the same calibre (10.51 millimetres or 0.413 of 
an inch, 0.164 smaller than the Enfield) for compression shot. This rifle is 
used by the light compames of the infantry battalions. The bullet is on 
Lorenz's model, and the results given by this rifle, in lowness of trajectory, 
range and precision, class it second only to the Swiss sharpshooters' rifle 
above alluded to, whose bullet, forced home in the old fashion, has the flattest 
trajectory of any known rifle. At 500 yards, the Swiss compression bullet 
fired from this rifle gives a dangerous space of 130 yards!* 

So far, there can be no doubt that the compression-system has given better 
results than the expansion system, as it has hitherto certainly produced the 
lowest trajectory. It is, however, equally doubtless that this is not owing to 
the system in itself, but to other causes, among which the smallness of the 
calibre is the principal one. With an equally small calibre, the expansion bullet 
must produce as low a line of flight as its hitherto more successful com- 
petitor. This will soon be made evident. The rifles of the four States of 
South-Western Germany (Bavaria, etc.) have the same calibre as those of 
Austria, so that they may in case of need use Austrian ammunition, and vice 
versa. But, in adopting the same diameter of bore, they have all of them 
adopted expansion bullets; and the practice tables of both classes of shot 
will thus afford a fair test of the merits of either. If, as we expect, the 
expansion bullet will then give as good results as its competitor, it will 
deserve the preference; for—Ist, it is more certain of taking the rifling, under 
any circumstances; 2nd, it may be made lighter, with the same bore, than 
compression shot; and, 3rd, itis less affected by the enlargement of the bore, 
which takes place in all gun-barrels after having been in use for a certain 
time. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 18, 5. Januar 1861 

VI. 

All the rifles which we have hitherto described, were muzzle-loaders. There 
have been, however, in former times, a great many kinds of fire-arms which 
were loaded at the breech. Breech-loading in cannon preceded muzzle- 

loading; and most old armouries will contain rifles and pistols two or three 
* By dangerous space is understood that portion of the flight of a bullet in which it is never 
higher than the height of a man, say six feet. Thus, in this instance, a shot aimed at the bottom 
of a target six feet high and 500 yards distant, would hit any object, six feet high, standing in 
the line of aim anywhere between 370 and 500 yards from the man firing. In other words, with 

the 500 yards sight, an error of 130 yards in judging the distance of the object may be made, 
and still the object will be hit if the line of aim was taken correctly. 

The History of the Rifle « VL 

hundred years old, with a moveable breech, into which the charge could be 
introduced without being passed through the barrel by a ramrod. The great 
difficulty always was to join the moveable breech in such a way to the barrel 
that it could be easily separated and put on again, and that the mode of fixing 
it was solid enough to stand the explosion. With the deficient mechanical 
contrivances of those times, it was no wonder that these two requisites could 
not be combined. Either the parts fixing the breech on to the barrel were 
deficient in solidity and durability, or the process of unfixing and re-fixing 
it was fearfully slow. No wonder, then, that these arms were thrown aside, 
that muzzle-loading did its work quicker, and that the ramrod ruled su- 
preme. 

When, in modern times, military men and gun-makers were bent upon the 
construction of a fire-arm which should combine the quick and easy loading 
of the old musket with the range and precision of the rifle, it was natural that 

15 breech-loading should again receive attention. With a proper system of fixing 

the breech, all difficulties were overcome. The shot, alittle larger in diameter 
than the bore, could then be placed, together with the charge, inthe breech, 
and on being pushed forward by the explosion, would press itself through 
the bore, fill the grooves with its excess of lead, take the rifling, and exclude 
all possibility of windage. The only difficulty was the mode of fixing the 
breech. But what was impossible in the 16th and 17th centuries need not be 
despaired of now. 

The great advantages of a breech-loader, supposing that difficulty over- 
come, are obvious. The time required for loading is considerably reduced. 
No drawing, turning round, and returning ramrod. One motion opens the 
breech, another brings the cartridge into its place, a third closes the breech 
again. A rapid fire of skirmishers, or a quick succession of volleys, so 
important in many decisive circumstances, are thus securedin adegree which 
no muzzle-loader can ever equal. 

With all muzzle-loaders the art of loading is rendered difficult as soon as 
the soldier, in skirmishing, is kneeling or laid down behind some covering 
object. If he keeps behind his shelter he cannot hold his gun in a vertical 
position, and a great part of his charge will stick on to the sides of the bore 
while running down; if he holds his gun straight up he has to expose himself. 

With a breech-loader he can load in any position, even without turning his 
eye from the enemy, as he can load without looking at his gun. In line, he 
can load while advancing; pour in volley after volley during the advance, and 
still arrive upon the enemy with a gun always loaded. The bullet can be of 
the simplest construction, perfectly solid, and will never run any of the 
chances by which both compression and expansion shots miss taking the 
grooves, or experience other unpleasant accidents. The cleaning of the gun 

Friedrich Engels 

is uncommonly facilitated. The chamber, or place where the powder and 
bullet lie, which is the part always most exposed to fouling, is here laid 
completely open, and the barrel or tube, open at both ends, can be easily 
inspected and cleaned to perfection. The parts about the breech being neces- 
sarily very heavy, as otherwise they could not withstand the explosion, bring 
the centre of gravity of the rifle nearer the shoulder, and thereby facilitate 
a steady aim. 

We have seen that the only difficulty consisted in the proper closing of 
the breech. There can be no doubt that this difficulty has now been fully 
overcome. The number of breech-loaders brought out during the last twenty 
years is wonderful, and some of them, at least, fulfil all reasonable ex- 
pectations, both as to the efficiency and solidity of the breech-loading 
apparatus, and as to the ease and rapidity with which the breech can be fixed 
and unfixed. As arms of war, however, there are at present only three dif- 
ferent systems in use. 

The first is the gun now used by the infantry in Sweden and Norway. The 
breech-loading apparatus appears to be sufficiently handy and solid. The 
charge is fired by a percussion cap, both cock and piston being at the under 
side of the chamber piece. Of the practice made by this gun we have not been 
able to obtain any particulars. 

The second is the revolver. The revolver, same as the rifle, is a very old 
German invention. Centuries ago, pistols with several barrels were made, 
provided with a revolving apparatus, which, after every shot, made a fresh 
barrel turn into the position required for the action of the lock upon it. 
Colonel Colt, in America, again took up the idea. He separated the chambers 
from the barrels, so that one barrel did for all the revolving chambers, thus 
making the arm breech-loading. As most of our readers will have handled 
one of these Colt's pistols, it will be unnecessary to describe them; besides, 
the complicated nature of the mechanism would render any detailed account 
impossible without diagrams. This arm is fired by percussion caps; and the 
round bullet, rather larger than the bore of the barrel, takes the grooves while 
being pressed through it. Colt's invention having become popular, a great 
number of revolving small-arms have been invented, but only Deane and 
Adams have really simplified and improved it as an arm of war. Still, the 
whole thing is extremely complicated, and applicable, for war purposes, to 
pistols only. But, with a few improvements, this revolver will become a 
necessity for all cavalry, and for sailors when boarding, while for artillery 
it will be far more useful than any carbine. As itis, its effects at close quarters 
are terrible; and not only have the American cavalry been provided with 
them, but they have also been introduced into the British, American, French, 
Russian, and other navies. 

The History of the Rifle - VI. 

The Swedish gun, as well as the revolver, are fired from without by 
common percussion caps. The third class of breech-loaders, the much talked- 
of Prussian needle-gun, does entirely away with these too; the charge is fired 
from within. 

The needle-gun was invented by a civilian, Mr. Dreyse, of Sommerda, in 
Prussia. After having first invented the method of firing a gun by means of 
a needle suddenly penetrating an explosive substance fixed in the cartridge, 
he completed his invention, as early as 1835, by constructing a breech-loader, 
supplied with this needle-firing apparatus. The Prussian Government at once 
bought up the secret, and succeeded in keeping it to themselves up to 1848, 
when it became public; in the meantime they resolved upon giving this arm, 
in case of war, to all their infantry, and commenced manufacturing nee- 
dle-guns. At present, the whole infantry of the Une, and the greater portion of 
the landwehr are armed with it, while aU the light cavalry are at this moment 
receiving breech-loading needle-carbines. 

Of the breech-loading mechanism we will only say that it seems to be the 
simplest, handiest, and most durable of aU those that have, so far, been 
proposed. It has now been tried for years, and the only fault that can be found 
with it is this, that it does not last quite so long, and wiU not bear quite so 

20 many rounds as the fixed breech of a muzzle-loader. But this is a fault which 

appears unavoidable in aU breech-loaders, and the necessity of renewing, a 
little sooner than with the old arms, a few pieces of the breech, cannot in 
any way detract from the great merits of the arm. 
The cartridge contains bullet, powder, and the explosive composition, and 
is placed, unopened, into the chamber, which is shghtly wider than the rifled 
barrel. A simple motion of the hand closes the breech, and atthe same time 
cocks the gun. There is, however, no cock outside. Behind the charge, in a 
hollow iron cylinder, lies a strong pointed steel needle, acted upon by a spiral 
spring. The cocking of the gun consists in merely drawing back, compressing, 

30 and holding fast this spring; when the trigger is drawn, it sets the spring loose, 

which at once sends the needle quickly forward into the cartridge, which it 
pierces, instantaneously explodes the explosive composition, and thus fires 
the charge. Thus, loading and firing with this gun consists of five motions 
only: opening the breech, placing the cartridge in it, closing the breech, 
presenting, and firing. No wonder that, with such a gun, five weU-aimed 
rounds can be fired in a minute. 

The projectiles first used for the needle-gun had a very unfavourable 
shape, and, consequently, gave a very high trajectory. This defect has been 
very successfully remedied a short time ago. The shot is now much longer, 

and has the shape of an acorn taken from its cup. Itis of considerably smaller 
diameter than that of the bore; its rear-end is embedded in a kind of cup, 

Friedrich Engels 

of a soft material, so as to give it the requisite thickness. This cup sticks on 
to the bullet while in the barrel, takes the rifling, and thus gives the shot the 
lateral rotation, while at the same time it considerably diminishes friction 
in the barrel, and yet does away with all windage. The practice of the gun 
has been so much improved thereby, that the same sight, which formerly 
served for 600 paces (500 yards), now serves for 900 (750 yards); certainly 
an immense lowering of the trajectory. 

Nothing is further from the truth than that the needle-gun is of a very 
complicated construction. The pieces composing the breech-loading appara- 
tus and the needle-lock are not only far less numerous, but also far stronger 
than those composing a common percussion-lock, which yet nobody thinks 
too intricate for war and rough usage. Moreover, while the taking to pieces 
of a common percussion-lock is an affair requiring considerable time and 
sundry instruments, a needle-lock can be taken to pieces and refitted in an 
incredibly short time, and with no other instruments than the soldier's ten 
fingers. The only piece liable to break is the needle itself. But every soldier 
carries a reserve-needle, which he can fit to the lock at once, without having 
to take it to pieces, and even during an action. We are also informed that 
Mr. Dreyse has rendered the breaking of the needle a very unlikely thing, 
by an improvement in the lock, which makes the needle go back to its 
sheltered position as soon as it has done its work of exploding the charge. 

The trajectory of the present Prussian needle-gun will be about the same 
as that of the Enfield rifle; its calibre is a little larger than that of the Enfield. 
With a reduction of calibre to that of the Austrian, or better still, the Swiss 
sharpshooters' rifle, there is no doubt that it would equal any of these arms 
in range, precision, and flatness of trajectory, while its other enormous 
advantages would remain to it. The breech-loading apparatus could even be 
made much stronger than at present, and the centre of gravity of the gun 
would be brought still nearer to the shoulder of the aiming soldier. 

The introduction into an army of an arm capable of such rapid firing will 
necessarily produce many speculations as to what changes this will produce 
in tactics; especially among people so fond of speculating as the North 
Germans. There has been no end of controversies on the pretended revolu- 
tion in tactics which the needle-gun was to produce. The majority of the 
military public, in Prussia, at last came to the result that no charge could be 
made against a battalion firing needle-gun volleys in rapid succession, and 
that consequently it was all up with the bayonet. If this foolish notion had 
prevailed, the needle-gun would have brought upon the Prussians many a 
severe defeat. Fortunately, the Italian war proved to all who could see, that 
the fire from modern rifles is not necessarily so very dangerous to abattalion 
charging with spirit, and Prince Frederic Charles of Prussia has taken occa- 

The History ofthe Rifle - VIL 

sion therefrom to remind his comrades that passive defence, if ever so well 
armed, is always sure of defeat. The tide of mihtary opinion has turned. 
People again begin to see that men, and not muskets, must win battles; and 
if any real change in tactics will be made by the new gun, it will be a return 
to a greater use of deployed lines (where the ground admits of it), and even 
to that charge in line which, after having won most of the battles of Frederic 
the Great, had become almost unknown to the Prussian infantry. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 19,12. Januar 1861 

VIL. 

Having now passed in review the différent systems upon which the various 
rifles, now in use in European armies, are constructed, we cannot take leave 
of our subject without saying a few words with respect to a rifle which, 
although not introduced into any service, enjoys a well-deserved popularity 
for its astonishing precision at long ranges. We mean, of course, the Whit- 
worth rifle. 

Mr. Whitworth, if we are not mistaken, claims as original two principles 
in the construction of his fire-arms—the hexagonal bore and the mechanical 
fit of the projectile in the bore. The bore, instead of having a circular, has 
a hexagonal section throughout, and a very strong pitch or turn, as is shown 
on the surface of one of the hexagonal bullets. The bullet itself is of a hard 
metal, fits the bore as nice as possible, and is not expected to alter its shape 
in consequence of the explosion, as its six corners make it follow the twist 
of the grooves with unerring certainty. To prevent windage, and to lubricate 
the bore, a cake or bottom of greasy matter is inserted between the powder 
and the charge; this grease melts from the heat of the explosion, while travel- 
ling, behind the bullet, towards the muzzle. 

Now, in spite of the undeniably excellent results which Mr. Whitworth has 
obtained with his rifle, we beheve that this principle is inferior to either that 
of expansion, or of compression, or of breech-loading with a bullet larger 
in diameter than the bore. That is to say, we beheve that either a rifle for 

expansion-shot, or one for compression-shot, or one constructed on the 
system of the Prussian needle-gun, would beat a Whitworth rifle if the 
workmanship was equally good, the calibre equally small, and all other 
circumstances alike. Mr. Whitworth's mechanical fit may be ever so nice, 
he cannot make it as close as the change in the shape of the bullet during 

35 and after the explosion makes it. There is in his rifles with hard bullets always 

Friedrich Engels 

that which a rifle is meant radically to avoid, namely, windage and con- 
sequent escape of gas; even the melting grease cannot entirely do away with 
that, especially in a rifle which, from long use, has become a rifle larger in 
the bore. There is a very distinct limit to all mechanical fit in such a case, 
and that is, the fit must be loose enough to let the bullet go down easily and 
quickly, even after a couple of dozen rounds. The consequence is that these 
hexagonal bullets do fit but loosely, and although we do not know exactly 
what the amount of windage is, still the fact that they will go down quite easily 
without any grease and with a piece of paper wrapped round them, makes 

5 

it probable that it is not much less (if less at all) than that of the Enfield bullet, 1 o 

which is the one-hundredth part of an inch. Mr. Whitworth, in contriving this 
rifle, seems to have had chiefly two leading ideas: firstly, to do away with 
all possibility of getting the grooves loaded; and, secondly, to do away with 
all the accidents which may prevent a cylindrical bullet from taking the 
rifling—because they prevent either expansion or compression taking place— 
by adapting the shape of the bore and that of the shot to each other be- 
forehand. The obstruction of the grooves by particles of lead torn off from 
the bullet may occur in all rifles with soft leaden bullets; the accidents 
preventing a bullet from taking the grooves in the correct way may occur 
in either compression or expansion rifles, but not in breech-loaders on the 
Prussian principle. But neither of these inconveniences is so great that they 
cannot be overcome, and that, in order to avoid them, the first principle in 
rifle making should be sacrificed, viz., that the bullet takes the rifling without 
leaving any windage. 

In saying so, we are backed by an excellent authority, namely by Mr. Whit- 

worth himself. We are informed that Mr. Whitworth has dropped his princi- 
ple of mechanical fit as far as his rifle is concerned, and certain it is that at 
present most people fire from his rifle not a hard, solid, hexagonal bullet, 
but a soft, leaden, cylindrical bullet. This bullet is hollowed out at its base 
similar to the Enfield bullet, but it has no plug; it is very long (the one 
480 grains, three times as long as its diameter, the other, 530 grains, three 
and a half times its diameter), and takes the rifling by the effect of the 
explosion. Here, then, we have Mr. Whitworth's principle of mechanical fit 
entirely abandoned for that of expansion, and the Whitworth rifle turned into 
a subordinate species of the genus Minié quite as much as the Enfield ever 
was. Remains the hexagonal bore ; and how will that answer for an expansion 
rifle? 

The hexagonal bore has, of course, six grooves, and we have seen that an 
even number of grooves has been found to answer, for expansion bullets, 
not so well as an uneven one, as itis not desirable that two grooves should 
be diametrically opposite to each other. Then the grooves in most expan- 

The History of the Rifle - VIL 

sion-rifles are very shallow—in the Enfield, for instance, scarcely visible. In 
the hexagon the difference between the diameter of the inner circle (repre- 
senting the bore at large) and that of the outer circle (drawn through the six 
corners) is about 2-13ths, or rather less than one-sixth part of the former; or, 
in other words, the lead has to expand nearly one-sixth of its diameter 
before it can properly close to the corners of the hexagonal bore. From this 
it would appear that the hexagonal bore, although exceedingly ingenious for 
the system of mechanical fit, is about the most unlikely to answer for the 
system of expansion. 

Still it answers, as the results of almost every rifle contest prove. How 
is this possible, if Mr. Whitworth has abandoned the essential point of his 
principle, and now applies a principle for which his rifle is not adapted? 

First of all, there is the excellence of the workmanship. It is weU known 
that for accuracy in the most minute and even micrometrical details, 
Mr. Whitworth stands unrivalled. As his engineering tools, so are his rifles; 
perfect models in the construction of their detail. Look at the sight on the 
muzzle of his rifles, and at that of any other class! There is no comparison: 
and in rifles firing at 1,000 yards range, this is an immense advantage. 

Secondly, and chiefly: the calibre of the Whitworth rifle is 0.451 of aninch 

minimum bore (what we have called the inner circle). The Enfield is 0.577; 
the Swiss sharpshooters' rifle, which we have more than once mentioned as 
giving the lowest trajectory known, is 0.413. Now, look at the difference in 
the shape of the bullet. The Whitworth expansion bullet of 530 grains is about 
three-eighths of an inch longer than the Enfield bullet of the same weight; 

while the former is about three and a half times its own diameter in length, 
the latter is scarcely twice its own diameter. It is evident that a bullet of the 
same weight and with the same charge will cut better through the air, that 
is, give a lower trajectory if it is thin and long, than if it is short and thick. 
Then, the charge of the Enfield is 68 grains of powder; for the Whitworth, 

30 charges of 60,70, and 80 grains are used, but we have been told by good shots 

who are in the habit of using this rifle that 80 grains are required to make 
the bullet expand well and give good results at long ranges. Thus we have a 
charge for the Whitworth fully one-sixth stronger than for the Enfield, and 
that charge would act better (even with equal weight), as it explodes in a 
more confined space and acts upon a far smaller surface of bullet. 

Here, then, we have another specimen of the immense advantage of a small 
bore, which gives a long, thin, bolt-shaped shot. Whoever of my readers has 
attentively followed our inquiries into the advantages of the various rifles, 
will have long since come to the conclusion that the shape of the bullet is 
of far more importance than the system on which either shot or rifle are 
designed; and that in order to have a portable soldier's bullet of the best 

Friedrich Engels 

shape, we must have a small bore. This is the lesson the Whitworth rifle again 
teaches us. 

We may also learn from it that, with a small bore, the long, heavy point 
of the bullet offers resistance enough to allow the hollow tail end to expand 
with certainty, and without the assistance of a plug. The Whitworth bullet 
has but a small cavity at its base, and no plug; it has to expand at least three 
times as much as any other expansion bullet; and still, with 80 grains of 
powder (which the rifle stands without too much kicking), it does take the 
rifling quite sufficiently. 

That Mr. Whitworth's rifle will ever become a weapon of war, we very 
much doubt; indeed, we think the hexagonal bore will soon go out altogether. 
If volunteers who had become practically convinced of the superior shooting 
of the Whitworth rifle as compared with the present Enfield, have proposed 
that they should be armed with the former, they have certainly far overshot 
the mark. We think it utterly unfair to compare the two species of arms. The 
Whitworth is an arm of luxury, which costs at least twice as much as the 
Enfield to produce. Inits present state itis too delicate a weapon to be placed 

into every soldier's hands; but take, for instance, the delicate sight from the “ 

muzzle, replacing it by one fit for rough usage, and its accuracy at long ranges 
will be considerably diminished. To arm both army and volunteers with the 
Whitworth, one of two things must be done; either the calibre of the regula- 
tion small-arms must remain the same as now, and then a Whitworth, with 
the bore of the present Enfield, would give far worse results than the present 
Whitworth, or the bore must be reduced, say to that of the present Whit- 
worth, and then it is probable that an Enfield with that reduced bore, on the 
making of which as much had been spent as on a Whitworth, would give as 
good or better results. 

The Volunteer Journal, 
for Lancashire and Cheshire. 
Nr. 20,19. Januar 1861 

VIII. 

We conclude with a short recapitulation of the different systems of rifles 
now in use, and of the principles which we may consider as established with 
regard to this arm. 

The different systems of rifles are as follow:— 

1. The system of forcible loading, the tight fitting bullet and plaster being 
hammered down by strong blows of the ramrod. This is the oldest plan of 
making abullet take the rifling. It has now been almost universally abandoned 

The History of the Rifle - VII. 

for arms of war; the principal and very remarkable exception being the new 
Swiss sharpshooters' rifle, which has a very small calibre and a long, bolt- 
shaped shot, and which gives, of all rifles now in use, the lowest trajectory. 
It is not intended for an arm for the mass of the infantry, but for select bodies 
only, and requires careful loading in order to give the highly favorable results 
which distinguish it above all other rifles now known. 

2. The system of flattening the loose fitting bullet against some obstacle at 

the bottom of the breech (either the rim of a narrowing chamber—Delvigne— 
or a peg placed in the middle of the chamber—Thouvenin) and thus drive it 
into the grooves. This plan, for a time very generally favored, is now be- 
coming more or less superseded by the following systems. Let us observe, 
at the same time, that it requires a rather large calibre, as otherwise the 
chamber becomes too narrow. 

3. The system of expansion, the loose fitting, elongated shot being hol- 

lowed out from the base, and the gas created by the explosion entering into 
the cavity and blowing it up, so to say, to a sufficient degree to make the 
bullet fit the bore and take the rifling. This system now is in general favor, 
and is still capable of great improvement, as has latterly been shown by the 
excellent result which Mr. Whitworth obtained with his rifle since he adopted 
the principle of expansion. 

4. The system of compression, in which the same result is obtained by 
providing the bullets with deep, circular indentations, which allow the ex- 
plosive force, while opposed by the weight of the heavy fore part of the 
projectile, to compress it lengthways, and thereby give it the required in- 

25 crease of diameter. This plan, although evidently less safe than the expansion 

principle, has given excellent results with small calibres, as has been proved 
in Austria and Switzerland. Still, the compression-bullet, fired from the Swiss 
sharpshooters' rifle above alluded to, does not give quite as good results as 
the tight-fitting plaster bullet from the same arm. 

5. The breech-loading system, which has advantages of its own over all 
other systems of rifles in the mode of loading and firing, offers, at the same 
time, the greatest certainty of the bullet taking the rifling, as the chamber 
and bullet may be made slightly larger than the rest of the bore, and thus 
the bullet cannot get to the muzzle without being pressed into the grooves. 
This system, indeed, appears to be destined gradually to supersede all other 
systems. 

We do not count Mr. Whitworth's system of mechanical fit, as ithas been 
abandoned as far, at least, as small arms are concerned; and withthese alone 
we have now to do. 

If the various systems are classed according to their intrinsic merits, we 
should say that the breech-loading needle-gun stands highest; next, the 

Friedrich Engels 

expansion system; then the compression system. The two first systems may 
be considered to be superseded; for even if forcible loading, in Switzerland, 
so far gives better results, with the same calibre, than compression, we should 
not at all be inclined to give to the system the credit of these results without 
a very searching examination; and, besides, the Swiss sharpshooters' plaster 
bullet is acknowledged to be unfit for the mass of the infantry. 

At the same time, we have seen that since the introduction of elongated 
bullets, the system on which either rifle or shot is constructed is of but 
secondary importance in obtaining great range, low trajectory, and accuracy 
of flight. As long as bullets were round, the system of rifling was of greater 
importance, for then all bullets were met by the resistance of the air under 
nearly equal circumstances, and the influences of a stronger pitch of rifling, 
of deeper or more numerous grooves, etc., were comparatively far more 
important than now. But with elongated shot, a new element appears on the 
ground. The bullet may be made longer or shorter, within pretty wide limits, 
and now the question is which shape of bullet is most advantageous? On 
theoretical grounds it is clear that the same mass of lead, started with the 
same initial velocity, will better retain that velocity if its shape is long and 
thin, than if it is short and thick; supposing always that the lateral rotation 
which arifle would give it, is there to prevent its going head over heels. The 
resistance of the air is the retarding force; it gradually diminishes the original 
velocity imparted to the bullet by the powder, and thus gives the ever-in- 
creasing force of gravity, so to speak, a greater hold upon the projectile. The 
initial velocity depends upon the charge, and in some degree upon the con- 
struction of the arm; this we may, therefore, consider to be fixed; the force 
of gravity is also fixed, and a given quantity; remains, as variable, the shape 
of the bullet to enable it to dart through the air with the least amount of 
resistance; and to evade atmospheric resistance, as we have said, a long and 
thin shot is far better fitted than a short and thick one of the same weight. 

Now, the maximum weight of the bullet for military purposes is also a 
given quantity. A man must be able to carry, at least, sixty rounds over and 
above his arms and accoutrements. To produce the best-shaped bullet, 
therefore, out of this given weight of lead (say 530 grains), the length must 
be increased and the thickness diminished;—in other words, the bore of the 
rifle must be made less. Up to a certain point this will hold good without 
exception. Look at the 530 grains in the Enfield and at the same weight in 
the Whitworth bullet: a single glance explains why the latter has a so much 
lower trajectory (that is, retains its initial velocity so much better), and will, 
therefore, hit a target at a 1,000 yards with ease, while the Enfield cannot 
be trusted at that distance. And yet, the two are both expansion bullets, and 
the general construction of the Whitworth is certainly not the best adapted 

The History of the Rifle - VII. 

for expansion. Or look at the Swiss sharpshooter's rifle, with a bore still 
smaller than the Whitworth, and giving still better results and a still lower 
trajectory, be its bullet rammed home with a plaster, or let down loosely and 
compressed by the explosion. Or take the Prussian needle-gun; by reducing 
the diameter and increasing the length of the bullet, and guiding itin the wide 
bore by a bottom or wad, the same sight which formerly marked the 
600 yards’ range, now carries the bullet to 900 yards. We shall, therefore, 
be pretty safe in considering it as an established fact that, in a general way, 
the efficiency of rifles, no matter on what system they are constructed, will 
be in the inverse ratio of the diameters of their bores. The smaller the bore, 
the better the rifle, and vice versa. 

With these observations we take leave of a subject which may have 
appeared rather dry to many of our readers. Still its importance is very great. 
No intelligent soldier ought to be ignorant of the principles on which his arms 
are constructed and are expected to act. What we have attempted to expose 
here, the non-commissioned officers of most continental armies are expected 
to know; and surely, the majority of the volunteers "the intelligence of the 
country," ought to be as weh up in the knowledge of their firearms as they!