70 G&A october 2019 |rifle of the future
The Brunswick arrangement worked
OK, but wasn’t really all that much of
an improvement over a plain patched
round-ball. Still, it remained in service for
some 20 years. Interestingly, the Russians
adopted an almost carbon copy of the
Brunswick, though it had more sophis-
ticated sights and its projectile was conical with two opposing
studs at the base to engage the rifling. This was the primary
Russian rifle to serve in the Crimea.
Around the same time, the respected British gunsmith, William
Greener, was undertaking some research of his own. His entry into
the expanding bullet field involved an oval-shaped projectile with
a deep, narrow chamber and a tapered cast metal plug with a flat
base inserted into the cavity. The ball was easily muzzle-loaded,
and when the arm discharged,
the plug was driven up into
the cavity where it expanded
the bullet. Even though it was
tested with relative success
by the Board of Ordnance, it
was ultimately rejected on the
rather specious basis that it was
a “compound projectile.”
Back across the channel, the
French still hadn’t given up on
rammer-expanded bullets. In
1843, Captain Louis-Étienne
Thouvenin proffered his cara-
bine ˆ tige in which a conical bullet, previ-
ously devised by artillery Captain François
Tamisier, was expanded by a central pillar
which jutted out in the center of the breech.
This caused less deformation of the bullet
than the Delvigne, and like its predecessor,
was adopted for use in some French mili-
tary arms. The tige was also seen in civilian
guns, including and interestingly enough,
a couple of models of elegant percussion
revolvers produced by noted Parisian gun-
maker Jean-Louis François Devisme.
By the 1840s, the quest for the ideal
muzzleloading infantry rifle was pro-
gressing in the right direction. In 1849,
French Army Chef D’escadron (“Squadron
Leader”) Claude-Étienne Minié, serving at
the Vincennes military school, developed a
bullet inspired by Captains Delvigne’s and
Montgomery’s previous efforts. It had a hollow cavity that con-
tained an iron cup in the base to help with expansion. The bullet
worked and worked well, though French ordnance officials com-
plained that often the cup was driven through the entire body of
the projectile by the explosion, leaving the shooter with a lead tube
stuck in the barrel. Once there, it had to be laboriously extracted
by worming it out of the bore. Captain Minié modified his bullet,
removing the iron cup and replacing it with a wooden one which
performed more satisfactorily.
Over the years, the French
Minié would undergo a number
of cavity changes, ultimately
eliminating the expander; but
that’s a story for another time.
Word of the efficacy of this
new French bullet spread
rapidly, and it wasn’t long
before it caught the atten-
tion of the British Board of
Ordnance. Previously, Arthur
Wellesley, commander-in-chief
and regarded as the oracle-of-the Pattern 1851’s lock plate was virtually
identical to that of the Pattern 1842.
the P51 back sight was ladder style,
graduated to 900 yards. the front was a
barleycorn style which also served as a
bayonet stud.the Pattern 1851 Minié rifle was a sturdy, .702-caliber
percussion muzzleloader with a basic silhouette that
hearkened back to its predecessor, the Pattern 1842
smoothbore. the barrel was attached with keys called
“bolts” rather than with bands.
G&A’s evaluation rifle had a
large circular mark stamped
deeply into its buttstock.
this is most probably the
monogram of some trading
company, and added after the
gun was sold out of stores.Butt markings on our evalua-
tion Pattern 1851 indicates it
was issued to the 77th (east
Middlesex) regiment of foot.
the 77th served in the Crimea
from 1854 to 1856. it is very
likely this rifle saw service in
that conflict.