FIRE-ARMS 



387 



902 



and screwed on to the barrel b, which is rifled in the usual manner; within this socket 

 is a slider c, which in fact constitutes the lock, as it contains the spiral spring and 

 mechanism that produce ignition by percussion ; it has a stout hebel, or 

 handle, by which it is moved backwards and forwards freely. The car- 

 tridge (Jig. 902) consists of the ball a, the sabot b, or bottom of hard 

 paper, and holding the priming matter, and lastly the charge of powder 

 c, the whole being made up in paper pasted together. In use, the slider 

 being drawn back, the soldier puts the cartridge with the point of the 

 ball in front into the open breech of the barrel, pushes the slider for- 

 ward, and secures its close junction by a turn to the right against an 

 inclined edge of the open socket. The spiral spring is then brought into 

 action by pressing the spring case forward with the thumb. 



To Captain Drayson, E. A., we are indebted for the following. The 

 Enfield rifle, which has lately been approved of for the use of the army, 

 is constructed principally by machinery. 



The factory at Enfield, at which this arm is manufactured, is con- 

 sidered one of the most complete establishments in the world. 



The barrel, lock, wood-work, furniture, and bayonet are all constructed 

 at Enfield, and, as each portion is made exactly of the same size and shape, 

 a part of one rifle will fit into the same part of another. 



The total length of this weapon, including bayonet, is 6 ft. 0- in., and it weighs 

 9 Ibs. 3 oz. ; the barrel is 3 ft. 3 in. in length, and weighs 4 Ibs. 2 oz. ; the diameter 

 of bore is -577 inch. The bullet is elongated, and rotates on leaving the piece like a 

 spherical bullet. The general figure of the bullet is cylindrical, but its front end is 

 rounded, and its rear end has a conical-shaped cavity. In the Minie rifle, some of 

 which were introduced into the service, a small iron cap was placed in the hollow at 

 the rear end of the ball for the purpose of causing the bullet to expand, but in the 

 Enfield rifle this opening is filled by a wooden plug instead. This diminishes the 

 fouling of the bore, and answers all the purposes of expansion. 



The bullet is -568 inch, length 1'062 inch, weight 530 grains. The barrel is proved 

 at Enfield, and when flaws are supposed to exist as much as 15 drams of powder have 

 been fired, without bursting the barrel. The service charge is 2|- drams. The weight 

 of 60 rounds of ammunition, including 75 caps, is 5 Ibs. 8 oz. 



The bore has three grooves ; each groove forms a spiral of half a turn in 3 ft. 3 in. 

 The rifle is sighted up to 900 yards, but an effective range may be obtained beyond 

 that distance. 



The system of rifling by grooves is the plan which has been generally employed, and 

 many experiments with different numbers of grooves, some of varying 

 depths, being deeper at the breech, and with different turns ; some in- 903 



creasing towards the muzzle have been tried and thought advan- 

 tageous, at various times. The Enfield rifle has three grooves, with a 

 pitch of 6 ft. 6 in., so that the bullet receives half a turn round its 

 axis while moving through the barrel, the length of which is 3 ft. 3 in. 

 The bullet is cylindro-conchoidal ; it is wrapped in paper, and made of 

 such a diameter as to pass easily down the barrel. It requires very 

 pure lead, to allow of its being properly expanded, or ' upset,' by the 

 explosion, and is driven partly against the original portions of the 

 bore, called the lands, and partly in the form of raised ribs, is forced 

 into the grooves, whose spiral shape gives the required rotation. The 

 Enfield bullet is shown in the annexed figure. It is conical in shape, 

 and has its back end recessed fof the insertion of a box -wood plug. 

 This plug, driven forward at the first shock of the explosion of gun- 

 powder, expands the lead until it fills the grooves at the breech. 

 (Fig. 903.) 



The prime cost of a finished Enfield rifle is stated to be about 21. 5s. 

 and from 1,500 to 1,800 rifles per week are at present made at the 

 Enfiold rifle factory. 



Since the remarkable proof, which has been obtained during the ' seven days' war,' 

 of the advantages possessed by the Prussian needle-gun, our War Office has directed 

 that all the fire-arms supplied to our army shall be breech-loaders, and the Enfield 

 factory is now fully engaged in the conversion of the ordinary Eufield into this form 

 of weapon. 



WhitwortJis Rifl-e. This fire-arm, and the principles on which it is constructed, can- 

 not be better described than by adopting, to a great extent, the words of the inventor : 

 In the system of rifling which I have adopted, the interior of the barrel is hexagonal, 

 and instead of consisting partly of non-effective lands, and partly of grooves, consists 

 of effective rifling surfaces. The angular corners of the hexagon are always rounded, 



CC2. 



