On Oak Hill at Gettysburg with two British imported Whitworth cannons to discuss the development of the Whitworth and British imports in the American Civil War.
Author: Research Press
Miscellaneous Papers, 1870
‘Miscellaneous Papers on Mechanical Subjects”, by Sir Joseph Whitworth (privately published in Manchester 1870). This leather bound and gilt edged collection of Whitworth papers arrived in the post a little while ago. Much of the content relates to Whitworth cannon.
Joseph Whitworth
Joseph Whitworth was born at Stockport in 1803 and was to become the foremost manufacturer of machine tools of his time. He was approached in 1854 by Lord Hardinge to investigate ‘the mechanical principles applicable in the construction of an efficient weapon.’ Unwilling to commit to the design of a complete set of machinery for manufacturing rifle muskets, Whitworth was asked to undertake the construction of the machinery for the rifle barrel only. His experiments revolutionised rifle design.
Hex Bore blog
INDEX. Hex Bore is a project by Research Press for the study of Whitworth rifles and artillery. This blog includes project news, updates, information and anecdotes.
Gun Barrel Markings
In three articles, The Crossed Sceptres & Crown Mark, Why The Tombstone?, and English Provincial Makers’ Marks, the authors discuss and illustrate the barrel markings found on provincially made English firearms. They have attempted to summarise the present state of knowledge and have drawn a few inferences.
Sir Joseph Whitworth, Bart.
This memoir and portrait appeared in ‘The National Portrait Gallery’, published by Cassell, Petter & Galpin, London, c1878. Four series of portraits, bound in 2 volumes, were published. Each series has twenty full-page colour plates of portraits taken from photgraphs. Each portrait has the prinited signature of the subject. The accompanying texts (referred to as Memoirs) are written in the third person by an unnamed writer, and are on prominent British men from the 1800s. Sir Joseph Whitworth, Bart. is featured in the Fourth Series.
Research Press Library
INDEX. Research Press has a library of free to download documents (PDF files). Please respect the copyright of the respective authors. Subjects include firearms, long range target shooting and military history.
Research Press Journal
Journal is Research Press occasional magazine that features firearms, long range target shooting and military history. Newly written articles and contemporary reprints. It is also being gradually used to provide an archive of the web site content in a printable and often expanded form.
Research Press Digest 2021
Rise and demise of the match rifle. Introduction to the Whitworth rifle. History of the Rifle Musket, Pattern 1853. ‘The Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield’ at the time that the Martini-Henry rifle was in the hands of British soldiers. ‘The Small Arms of European Armies’ (1889). Early history of the School of Musketry. The British Volunteer System.
Big Guns: Manufacture
The conditions which are essential to the safety and efficiency of a big gun having already been explained, it only remains to give a description of how these are practically carried out in the great industry which has its head-quarters at Woolwich.
Measuring Velocity
The ballistic pendulum invented by Benjamin Robins (1707 – 1751), was first used in 1740, with the object of measuring the velocity of projectiles and the resistance of the air. Electro-ballistic apparatus was seeing use by the mid-19th Century. One such device was Navez Apparatus, which saw use in Great Britain with both small arms and artillery.
Big Guns: The Materials
Although Great Britain had become possessed of a national arsenal, it was many years before anything approaching to a perfect system was introduced as a substitute for castings of iron and brass. Even now, though iron is employed so universally for the every-day purposes of life, there is a great amount of ignorance of the principles upon which it ought to be manufactured.