The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-24 00:00:00

Whitworth
Enfield

Deg. Feet.
1.15 0.37
1.32 2.24

Whitworth
Enfield ...

2.22 1.0
2.45 4.11
3.45 2.41
4.12 8.c4
5.0 4.62
6.20 to 7.0 No hits.

Whitworth
1
Eufield

Whitworth
Enfield ..

6.40 1 11.62

Whitworth
Enfield ..

1,800

It would appear from these figures that at 500
yards in 10 shots the Manchester rifle has a supe-
rior accuracy I,f 1.87 of a foot ; at 800 yards 3.11 ;
at 1,100 yards 5.63 ; and that at 1,400 yards
and upwards the Enfield weapon ceases to at-
ford any data for a comparison. In penetration
the results obtained have been equally decisive ;
the Whitworth projectile with the regulation charge
of powder going through 33 half-inch planks of elm,
and being brought up by a solid oak bulk beyond,
while the Eoleld ball could not get past the 13th
plank.
The shooting on Tuesday was more to satisfy
L-Td Panuaure and the other strangers present.
upon the comparative merits of the two weapons
than to show the limit of what each could do under
favourable circumstances. Still the targets of every
10 shots on either side bore decisive evidence of the
superiority of the new rifle, as a glance at the fol-
lowing table will prove :

Figure of
Rifle. Range. Elerttlo3. . merit.
-
Deg. Feet:
Whitworth 2.22
I 809 / 141
2*45
Enfield
Whitworth c 1 117 500 1 ... ... 1 3.30
Enfield
Whitworth 1.33
Enfield

Whitworth 1 1 500
Enfield

The last entry in the table records the mean ra-
dial distance from a central point of 10 shots fired
from a table-rest by Col. Hay awl Mr. Guner, the
manager of the Enfield factory. Both are first-rate
marksmen, yet at 500 yards the Manchester rifle in
the hands of the former gives three times as good
shooting as the latter can get out of the Govern-
ment arm. All the other trials were made by firing
from a beautifully-constructed machine rest, which
placed both weapons on a lowing of perfect equa
lity as to the conditions under which they Were
tested. In addition to the foregoing experiment.,
there was one for showing that with cylindro-con-
voidal balls on the expansion principle of those
u'ed for the Enfield rifle, very superior shooting
could be obtained from Whitworth's hexagonal
bore. This was most satisfactorily established, the
mean deviation on the target from the centre of the
group of 10 bits being only •85 of a foot at 500
yards' range. It will be observed that at 800 yards'
range, at which the practice commenced, the shoot-
ing of 'Whitworth's rifle was so much better than
the other that no greater distance was attempted.
A reference to the first table of experiments will
denionstrate that the target made by the former
weapon at 1,100 yards is nearly as good as
that made by the latter at 500. These are great
results to have achieved, and amply justify
the forethought of the late Lord Hardinge
in securing the services of so eminent a mechanic
as Mr. Whitworth for the improvement of the
rifle. Until he took the subject in hand the proper
principles for guidance in the construction of the
weapon bad re.t been accurately determined. The
manufacture was still conducted by rule of thumb,
and in a very hap-hazard way on the most import-
ant points. The u.e of g!ooves and an expansive
projectile made it impossible to secure the requi-
site amount of pitch in the rifling and the indispen-
sable hardness of metal in the bullet for penetra-
tion. Moreover, from the
.small amount of bear-
ing, the wear and tear both in the barrel and in the
projectile were enormous, and the length of ti,o
latter could not be increased without causing it to
capsize in its flight. By the polygonal bore and
rapid pitch to which the form of the bullet accu-
rately conforms Mr. Whitworth has rendered strip-
ping impossible, and, his rifle when fired acting
exaAly like a male and female screw, the projectile
must rotate with perfect steadiness and precision
on its axis. He can increase its length so consider-
ably as to secure space for converting it into a shell
if necessary, and, being ab'e to use metal of any
degree of hardness, .he can adapt its form and,
strength exactly to the work which it has to per-
form. Thus, with a rifle 39 inches long and half-
inch bore, having a turn in 20 inches, or two turns
, in its length, he finds needifficulty in peneiratinga
wrought iron plate 6-10ths of an inch thick or
cutting a core out of a piece of solid timber half a
foot thick ; and some idea may be formed of the
extraordinary power of his arm when we mention
that his projectiles in their flight rot rte at the rate
of 15,000 revolutions per minute. The question of
driving holes in the 4-inch breastplates of floating
batteries is at once solved by the application ot
these principles to artillery, the construction of
which this new rifle proves must he completely re-
volutionised. A weapon which in expert hands will
make good practice at 1,400 yards, and the range
of which can be very easily helped by a telescope if
necessary, gives the coup de grace to our present
system of field batteries. At the Alma it would
have silenced the ,Russian guns; or driven them
from their position, rendering the rush of the Light
Division, with the heavy loss of life consequent
thereon, unnecessary. Nor during the siege of Se-
bastopol would the rope mantlets of the Redan and
Malakhoff have given much protection to the men
working behind the embrasures. .
It affords some consolation in the midst of those
difficulties with which the question of aumy rofoim
is still surrounded, that at Hytbe an institution
exists, under zealous and efficient control, where
the training of the seldier in the knowledge of his
weapon will in a short time be well provided for.
Supplied with the best rifle that can be made,
and stimulated to its dexterous and accurate
use by-some such judicious system of rewards as
that we understand Colonel Hay is -anxious to see
established, our military f Tee, small as it is should,
in real strength and fighting power, be quite on a
par.,with the largest centineet tl armies. And no
less result than this ought to satisfy a nation
like this, so full of those resources by which
the individual Englishman is male the equi-
valent of even hundreds of men placed under
less favourable circninstances for action. The prin-
ciples of rifling developed in the Manchester small
arm are even still more applicable to artill,ry, and
their applicability fortunately coincides with the
absolute necessity for great and decisive changes in
that branch of the service. It can no longer be
doubted that rifled cannon can be 'made at a rea-
sonable cost, and that out of the ordinary size of
field-piece, if neee=sary, can be obtained, with an
accuracy of fire hitherto undreamt of, the range,
weight of projectile, arid penetrat ion of the heavie4
ordnance. The means ot demonstrating these facts
were, at the late Lord Hardinge's suggestion, put
by Mr. Whitworth withie reach of the Wo Awich
authorities months aeo,
6 but they have taken no
stei sin this most important matter. Hera is just
the invention which the peculiarities of Chinese /
campoign,ng demand, yet no one thinks of turning
it to account. In those vasty manufacturing estab-
sisements which the war was taken advantage of to
form at the public expense machinery had been put
up for the production of given implementsof
war-
fare, and the tremendous vis ineesise of
Govern-
ment is now committed to these models. Will the
'new rifle be adopted in preference to the Enfield?
Will it even have a recognised place beside it?
Whatsver practical answer time may dive to these
questions, tl:e British soldier is clearly entitled to
tee best weapon that can le procured for him, and
the recent experiments at Hythe satisfactof ily show
that the best weapon is not that which the State has
leen running up such huge workshops to provide
him with.

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