Brunswick rifle The Brunswick rifle was a large calibre ( . 704 ) muzzle - loading percussion rifle manufactured for the British Army at the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield in the early 19th century . History . The Brunswick rifle was one of several designs submitted to replace the Baker rifle . Unlike the Baker rifle , the Brunswick rifle used a special round ball with raised ribs that fit into two spiraling grooves in the barrel . During its evaluation , it was noted that the Brunswick ' s unique round meant that the Brunswick rifle could not fire the standard British paper cartridges in use at the time . The rifle was also noted as being very heavy , and that it fired a relatively low velocity round . Despite these detriments , the rifle performed much better than expected , and the Master - General of Ordnance ordered the rifle to be produced with a 30 inch barrel of . 654 caliber . The new rifle was designed to accept a bayonet , though the design was changed with the mounting moved farther back since experience had shown that the Baker rifle could not be fired with its bayonet fixed . In December 1836 , trials were conducted to compare the Brunswick rifle against the Baker rifle . The Brunswick rifle proved to be equally as accurate at shorter ranges , and more accurate at longer ranges . The Brunswick rifle also proved to require less cleaning than the Baker rifle . Evaluators also noted that the simplified two groove design of the Brunswick was likely to have a longer service life than the barrel of the Baker , and the Brunswick rifle was noted as being very rugged overall . In January 1837 , the rifle was approved for production . Almost immediately , the caliber was changed from . 654 to . 704 under a new program of standardization . An altered pattern was submitted in August 1837 , and the first bulk order of 1000 rifles was given on October 25 , 1837 . In January of the following year , it became apparent that 600 of these would be required urgently for Col . Brown ’ s Battalion of the Rifle Brigade and that the Enfield factory would not be able to supply them in time . Thus the whole order was put out to the trade in London at a charge of 38s per rifle . The first Brunswick rifles were made by the following gunmakers : Production began in March 1838 , and the first mass - produced rifles were issued to the Rifle Brigade , the Canadian Rifle Regiment , and a few specialized units in 1840 . The Brunswick rifle developed a reputation for being difficult to load , but was fairly well received and remained in production for almost 50 years . The rifle was used in England and assorted colonies and outposts throughout the world . Several refinements were made to the design during its production life , and production of the rifle was finally discontinued in 1885 . The Brunswick was also manufactured in Belgium . Limited numbers of Brunswick rifles were imported to the United States during the Civil War . Some of those ended up in the hands of units like the 26th Louisiana Infantry , which was partly equipped with Brunswicks during the Siege of Vicksburg . The rifle takes its name from the German state of Brunswick . Design and Features . The Brunswick had a two groove barrel designed to accept a " belted " round ball . Like all rifles of the period , the Brunswick rifle suffered from the problem of being difficult to load . Rounds for rifles were required to fit tightly into the barrel so that the round would grip the rifling as it traveled down the barrel , imparting a spin to the round and improving its stability . Even though the rib and groove design of the Brunswick allowed it to use rounds that did not fit quite as tightly , the black powder used during this period would quickly foul the barrel , making even the Brunswick ' s design more and more difficult to load as the rifle was used . Since the Brunswick used a round that was specifically designed to be mated with the grooves in the rifle , it had to be oriented properly in order to be loaded . This made the rifle difficult to load at night , when the grooves could not be seen . The lock was originally a back action design , with the mainspring located behind the hammer . This design proved to be unpopular , as it weakened the wrist of the stock . Later Brunswick rifles featured a more conventional side action lock . The stock was made of walnut , and featured a straight wrist and a low comb butt . A patch box with a hinged brass lid was located on the right side of the butt . Originally , the Brunswick rifle used a single compartment patch box . Later rifles used a slightly larger patch box with two compartments . The ramrod pipes , trigger guard , and butt plate were all made of polished brass . The rifle was designed to accept a sword type bayonet which mounted by use of a bayonet bar , similar to the design of that used on the Baker rifle . The bayonet bar was relocated further back due to problems that had been experienced with the Baker rifle . The Brunswick rifle used a block front sight and a two position folding leaf rear sight which could be set for either 200 or 300 yards . The rifle weighed approximately 9 to 10 lbs ( depending on the pattern ) without the bayonet attached . Variants . The Pattern 1836 featured the original back action lock and the single compartment patch box . The first of these were . 654 caliber . This was changed fairly early in the rifle ' s life , and most were . 704 caliber . All subsequent patterns were . 704 caliber . The Pattern 1840 featured a dual compartment patch box , and had several minor improvements to the Pattern 1836 . The Pattern 1841 replaced the back action lock with a side lock . However , this lock change was not put into manufacturing until 1845 . This version also used a wrought iron barrel instead of twisted steel , and a simple plug that replaced the break - off breech plug used in earlier patterns . The Pattern 1848 featured other minor improvements , and used an improved bayonet latch with the locking notch located halfway along the bayonet bar on its upper side . Only a few batches of rifles produced for the British Army were fitted with this improvement . A heavier version in . 796 caliber was produced for the Royal Navy . Copies of the Brunswick rifle were made in Nepal , from approximately 1840 to 1860 . These copies were apparently hand made , and as such their details varied slightly . There were two distinct versions , a " light " pattern that weighed approximately 7 . 5 lbs , and a version that was more similar to the standard Brunswick rifle that weighed over 9 lbs . It is estimated that approximately 10 , 000 to 12 , 000 of these were made in Nepal .