Introduction > Comparative Trials > Hythe Trials > Woolwich Trials > Rifle Fired by the Queen > Ordnance Select Committee > Henry & Metford Rifles > Hexagonal Rifling
Trials Of The Whitworth And Enfield Rifles, Made At Woolwich In The Year 1857
After the contest at Hythe, a series of experiments were conducted by a Committee appointed by the Minister of War, and the enquiries were especially directed to these points:-
(1) Precision, (2) penetration, (3) range.
The trials were made in July and August, 1857, and the best results obtained from the Whitworth and Enfield rifles were officially reported to be the following:-
| Rifle | Range Yards | Figure of Merit |
| Whitworth Enfield | 500 500 | 10.194 18.240 |
| Whitworth Enfield | 800 800 | 18.264 45.750 |
| Whitworth Enfield | 1400 1400 | 74.844 110.451 |
| Whitworth Enfield | 1700 1700 | 129.762 beyond range |
| Whitworth Enfield | 2000 2000 | 129.565 beyond range |
In the experiment on penetration, a Whitworth bullet made of a hard alloy passed through 34 half-inch elm boards, while a tubular bullet passed through 34 of the same boards, cutting out clean cores in its passage. The range was 307 yards.
I have not any record of the penetration of the Enfield bullet, except that given in the Hythe trials, where it passed through 12 half-inch elm planks, and was stopped by the 13th plank.
