THE WHITWORTH RIFLE. 109 



secutive balls within a space less than that 

 occupied by a five-shilling piece ; and it is said 

 that he will not be contented until he can throw 

 a bullet from the barrel of one rifle into the 

 barrel of another placed at 500 yards' distance. 

 His ordinary rifles are guaranteed, in the hands 

 of a good marksman, to be true at the same 

 distance within eight inches. When his rifle 

 was tested at Hythe with a Regulation Enfield, the 

 efficiency of the one as compared with the other 

 was as twenty to one: Colonel "Wilford saying 

 that the Whit worth was better at 800 yards than 

 the Enfield at 500. Beyond 1100 yards the 

 Enfield must cease firing even at large masses, 

 while Whitworth's can do business at 2000. In- 

 deed, rifling seems in its infancy, and range must 

 only cease with the power of the human eye to 

 take an aim. If Mr. Whitworth applies his 

 peculiar principle of rifling to a breech-loader, he 

 will produce the most finished weapon of the 

 day. 



