Guns and Projectiles. 117 



with the original circular bore of the gun, and rounding the 

 angles to contribute to the strength of the barrel." His pro- 

 jectile is made to correspond by its polygonal and sloping sur- 

 faces with the rifling of the barrel. 



Having been more attentive to scientific considerations than 

 the contrivers of the " Enfield/'' Mr. Whitworth naturally ob- 

 tained far greater success, and we cannot describe this better 

 than in the words of Sir Emerson Tennent, who observes : 



" The Whitworth rifle was first formally tried in competition 



with the best Enfield musket at Hythe, in April, 1857 



The success was surprising ; in range and precision it exceeded 

 the Government musket three to one. Up to that time the 

 best figure of merit obtained by any rifle at home or abroad 

 was 27 : that is to say, the best shooting had given an average 

 of shots within a circle of 27 inches mean radius at 500 yards 

 distance ; but the Whitworth lodged an average of shots within 

 a mean radius of four and a half inches from the same distance; 

 thus obtaining a figure of merit of 4|. At 800 yards its 

 superiority was 1 to 4, a proportion which it maintained at 

 1000 yards and upwards. At 1400 yards the Enfield shot so 

 wildly that the record ceased to be kept ; and at 1800 yards 

 the trial ceased altogether, whilst the Whitworth continued to 

 exhibit its accuracy as before.-''' 



It would not be just to the memory of the late General 

 Jacob to omit the fact that, by employing a well-shaped pro- 

 jectile and a high twist in his rifle, he had achieved a success 

 almost as remarkable as that of Mr. Whitworth. In 1855 he 

 recommended a rifle with a twenty-four gauge bore, having four 

 grooves, and carrying a projectile of a curved conical form, rest- 

 ing on a short cylindrical base, and he states that with it ' ' a tole- 

 rably good shot can certainly strike an object the size of a man 

 once out of three times at 1000 yards distance, and the full 

 effective range is near 2000 yards — the ball at that range 

 flying with deadly velocity.'''' * 



An important question connected with a high twist of the 

 rifled barrel is, what influence is exerted on the force of the 

 projectile and its range by the rapid rotation which it induces ? 

 If it lessened the rapidity of its flight, so as to diminish its de- 

 structive powers, it would be open to grave objections. It is 

 necessary in replying to this inquiry to pay attention to the 

 circumstances under which the rapid rotation is produced. If 

 the friction of the projectile against the sides of the barrel is 

 greatly augmented, a considerable loss of force and range 

 must be the result ; but by adopting different systems of rifling 

 and different projectiles, it is easy to communicate a similar 

 amount of spin or rotation with widely different proportions of 

 * Rijle Practice, by Major John Jacob, C.B. Smith, Elder, $• Co. 



