I 
THE RIFLE OF A PAST HALF CENTURY 
7 
from a secure cover. It was remarked during the 
Crimean War that a large proportion of wounded 
men were struck in the right arm, which would have 
been raised above the head when loading the old- 
fashioned rifle, and was thus prominently exposed. 
It is not my intention to enter into the minutiae 
of military rifles, but I cannot resist the satisfaction 
with which I regard the triumph of the small-bore 
which I advocated through the columns of the Times 
in 1865, at a time when the idea was opposed by 
nearly all authorities as impracticable, owing to the 
alleged great drawback of rapid fouling. There can 
be no doubt that the charge of 70 grains with a 
small-bore bullet, *303, will have a lower trajectory 
and higher velocity (equivalent to long range) than 
the heavier projectile, *450, with the additional 
advantage of a minimum recoil. 
The earliest in the field of progress was the old- 
established firm of Purdey and Co. Mr. Purdey, 
before the general introduction of breechloaders, 
brought out an Express rifle. No. 70 bore, with a 
mechanically fitting two-groove solid bullet. This 
small projectile was a well-pointed cone weighing 
exactly 200 grains, with a powder charge of no 
grains, more than half the weight of the bullet. 
The extremely high velocity of this rifle expanded 
the pure soft lead upon impact with the skin and 
muscles of a red deer. At the same time there was no 
loss of substance in the metal, as the bullet, although 
much disfigured, remained intact, and continued its 
course of penetration, causing great havoc by its in- 
