Some of William Metford’s letters to Sir Henry Halford survive and give a fascinating insight into the experimentation conducted by these gentlemen in the pursuit of accuracy. This short collection of extracts from their correspondence covers work with bullet alloys.
Archives
The Soper Rifle
The rifle invented by Mr. W. Soper, of Reading, was one of the number sent for the recent competition at Woolwich, and was rejected on the ground of “complication of breech arrangement.” In this rifle the breech-piece is formed of a block of steel, working freely up and down in a vertical slot at the rear of the barrel, and secured to a lever fixed at the bottom of the lock, which is placed in the center of the stock. The striker is mounted inside the breech-piece, and works easily without any spring. The cock is also secured to the breech lever in such a manner that the breech-piece and cock are worked simultaneously.
The Lee Magazine Rifle
England has lately adopted a small-bore – 0.303 inch calibre – modified Lee magazine rifle – a Lee with most of the strong points of the mechanism modified out – after making a long series of most amusing steps of development in order to reach the conclusion that this arm was suited to her needs.
The Soper Rifle Factory – In Liquidation
Mr. George Russell Butler has received instructions from the Trustee of Mr. William Soper’s Estate to Sell by Auction, at the above Factory (which adjoins the Great Western Railway Station at Reading), on Wednesday and Thursday, the 6th and 7th of July, 1881, at 11 for 12 o’clock punctually each day, and exceedingly valuable and complete Machinery, Special Tools, Stock in Trade and Effects, comprising the entire contents of the factory and of the retail shop in Friar-street.
The Snider Breech-Loader Rifle
At the present time when the “Snider question” is exciting so much interest and discussion, and when the Government factories are busily employed in turning out large numbers of what will, for some time, be the national weapon, we think a description of the Snider rifle and its ammunition will not prove uninteresting to our readers.
Small-bore Rifles Compared, Wimbledon 1862
During the early years of the National Rifle Association’s Annual Rifle Meeting there was keen interest in the small-bore rifles used. One correspondent to the Volunteer Service Gazette in 1863 in seeking to understand the merits of different makers rifles, collated scores obtained at Wimbledon in 1862 by four rifles – Henry, Kerr, Turner and Whitworth. His letter and comparative tables are reproduced.
Lancaster Oval Bore
In 1863 the “Army (Rifles)” report was published, being a ‘Report of the Committee on Small Bore Rifles and the various Systems of Rifling as tried last year.’ Large-bore and small bore rifles were tested, and the report commented favourably on the large bore Lancaster.
The Whitworth Rifle: A Brief Introduction
During the 1850s and 1860s the British service rifle calibre was .577, both for the muzzle-loading Enfield rifle and its breech-loading successor the Snider (a conversion of the Enfield). Early manufacture of the Enfield relied on much hand labour and consequently lead to problems of inconsistent performance, non-interchangeability of parts and slow supply. Joseph Whitworth was approached to provide assistance with regards to the design of appropriate machinery for its manufacture.
Snider Breech-Loader
This brief illustrated description of the construction of the Snider-Enfield was one of the earliest to appear in the British press.
Long Range Shooting with the Military Muzzle Loading Rifle
The military muzzle loading rifle (MMLR) may not be the first rifle that springs to mind for long range shooting, yet within Great Britain its use goes back to the origins of the National Rifle Association. The Volunteer Movement established in Great Britain in 1859 was the catalyst for a great interest in rifle shooting and marksmanship skills. Significant factors in maintaining this interest were the formation of the National Rifle Association (NRA) late in 1859 and the sponsorship by Queen Victoria of a competition in the NRA Annual Rifle meeting first held in 1860.
LRML: Rifles & Equipment
Choice of rifle today for LRML will be that of a modern made reproduction, including custom built rifles, or an original rifle. Many competitions make no distinction between reproduction and original rifles, although in international events they are fired in their own classes.
LRML Worldwide
The World Governing body for muzzle loading shooting is the Muzzle Loaders Associations International Confederation (MLAIC), who in 1999 introduced long range World Championships to their competition programme.