Pattern 1841 Carbine

Introducing a quite rare British longarm: The Pattern 1841 Royal Sappers & Miners, &/or Royal Artillery Carbine. This comes from the design of George Lovell and is the ultimate smoothbore. The 30 inch barrel is in the new Reduced Bore of .733, a reduction of .020 from the Regulation .753 of the Infantry Musket but intended to still use the same cartridge loaded with a ball of .685.

Rival Rifles

Trials were held at Hythe in May 1860 to select a suitable rifle for use in the Queen’s Prize at long range. Mr. Whitworth and a deputation of Birmingham gun makers contested the trials, with the Whitworth rifle being the clear winner. With one exception, the Whitworth rifle continued to be issued to Queen’s Prize finalists until 1871, when for the first time the match was shot throughout with breech-loaders. The notable exception was in 1865, when the Rigby rifle was issued to Queen’s Prize finalists.

George Charles Gibbs (1859–1918)

George C. Gibbs was a gifted shot and G.T Teasdale-Bucknell in his “Experts on Guns & Shooting” (1900) observed that he “would by rifle shots be conceded the first place in the British Islands as a long range rifle shot. This position G.C. Gibbs has gained by no single feat but by constant good shooting, varied only by occasional phenomenal feats.”

Pattern 1838 Musket

The days of the flintlock action were numbered when Alexander Forsyth began experiments, in 1805 in the Tower of London, aimed at harnessing the power of exploding fulminates as a means of ignition. His work was expanded upon by others which eventually led to the “Musket, Rank and File for Foot Guards”, the first percussion musket to be issued in quantity to British soldiers. Today we usually simply call it the Pattern 1838.