Scloppetaria or Considerations on the Nature and Use of Rifled Barrel Guns

Henry Beaufoy

Description

Originally published in 1808. The author not only appreciated the advantage of the rifle in war, he also gives an exceptionally lucid account of its origins, operation and mechanics. The well illustrated contents will prove of great value to the historian, soldier and gun enthusiast. Contents Include: Of Projectiles in General Theory of Spiral Motion Qualities of the Rifle History of the Rifle Construction and Perfections of the Rifle Appendages of the Rifle Modes of Using the Rifle General Hints Loading, Aiming, Cleaning etc. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Informations

• Publié par: Read Books Ltd.
• Date de parution: 22 mars 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781528761017
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Published by T.Egerton at the Military Library Whitehall, Sep r .1.1808 .
Scloppetaria:
OR
CONSIDERATIONS
ON THE
NATURE AND USE
OF
RIFLED BARREL GUNS,
WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR FORMING
THE BASIS OF A PERMANENT SYSTEM OF NATIONAL DEFENCE, AGREEABLE TO THE GENIUS OF THE COUNTRY.

BY A CORPORAL OF RIFLEMEN.

Omne tulit punctum, qui miscuit utile dulci .-H OR .

Whatever State shall thoroughly comprehend the nature and advantages of Rifled Barrel Pieces, and having facilitated and completed their construction, shall introduce into their armies their general use, with a dexterity in the management of them, will by this means acquire a superiority, which will almost equal any thing that has been done at any time, by the particular excellence of any one kind of arms; and will perhaps fall but little short of the wonderful effects, which histories relate to have been formerly produced by the first inventors of fire-arms.- Robins s Tracts on Gunnery .
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
FRANCIS RAWDON HASTINGS,
EARL OF MOIRA ,
GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY S FORCES, CONSTABLE OF THE TOWER,
LORD LIEUTENANT AND CUSTOS ROTULORUM
OF THE TOWER LIBERTY,
c . c . c .

MY LORD ,
THERE are so many reasons, which the public well know how to appreciate, why this little work should be dedicated to your Lordship, that it would be an useless trespass on your patience, were I to enter into their explanation.
If, my Lord, I have overlooked the previous etiquette of soliciting that patronage, which I have thus assumed, it was dictated by an anxious solicitude, lest your Lordship s judgment should have been implicated in those errors, inseparable from a new subject, and a first attempt in literature.
Accept then, my Lord, that tribute of admiration from an individual, which the universal suffrage of the public has long since confirmed. The facts adduced in the little treatise, which I now have the honor to lay before your Lordship, will, I flatter myself, be found, not unworthy of attention; they have not been pressed and distorted into an agreement with any preconceived theory; the deductions offered are the result of much experience, and some labour; and nothing is advanced without having had the fullest confirmation of constant and diversified experiment.
In submitting the measures here recommended to your Lordship s consideration, I feel a perfect confidence, that there is nothing to apprehend from the false philanthropy, which would ascribe to them an increase of the horrors of war; nor need I add to the present trouble, by any further conciliation of favour, since your Lordship s true benevolence will condescend to my errors, or my deficiences, a more benign consideration, than by any means I could hope to create.
I have the honour to be,
With the most profound respect,
My Lord,
Your Lordship s most humble
And obedient Servant,
THE AUTHOR.
London, 1st Dec. 1808.
ADVERTISEMENT.

T HE Author laments exceedingly, that it has not fallen to the lot of some one far better qualified than himself, to stand forward as the commentator and public advocate of the principles and use of the Rifle. Such a subject could not but afford to the polished writer the best opportunity for those eloquent effusions of patriotism, which a national defence must always inspire; and in the demonstrative parts an equal scope is offered to such as have made the concise study of mathematical reasoning their more immediate pursuit. Having, however, failed in his attempts to induce any of his friends to enter into the present undertaking, he has been reluctantly compelled to do that himself, which he feels fully sensible would have been so much more ably recommended to public attention by many, whose talents he has, unfortunately for himself and his subject, so fruitlessly solicited. His deficiencies are too obvious to the reader to make it necessary for him to point them out; but of these it may at least afford some palliation that it was necessary his only objects should be the improvement of the Rifled Gun, and the more extensive organization of corps so armed. To obtain these ends, neither pains nor expense have been spared, and he will feel most amply recompensed should the result prove of the smallest benefit to his country.
As, however, the Author is aware that he has made but very trifling advances towards perfection, and as he feels that the present work is to be considered as the mere rough basis, on which a more important superstructure may be raised, he anxiously solicits the communications of those amateurs who may be willing to impart such corrections, improvements, or emendations as may strike them; for many who would not have submitted to the labour of collecting the rude materials, may not object to assist in rounding off the more prominent asperities of the general mass.
For the honesty of his intentions, the Author has given the best pledges in a book little calculated for any private purpose. He has endeavoured, regardless of expense, to illustrate the talent and ingenuity of every co-labourer in his art, and of every artizan whose skill or spirit has deserved an exhibition to the public. In pursuance of this purpose, he also desires it to be understood, that whatever gun-maker shall in future produce any improvement, founded on legitimate principles, and proved by intelligent practice, may command a similar advantage to those makers already mentioned in the work (with graphic illustration if necessary), by application by letter, through the publisher, Mr. Egerton.
For the information of such as may be desirous of referring to the different works which may be considered as comprising the scattered materials, from whence the present collectanea have been gathered, it will be perceived that due attention has been paid to General Manningham s very excellent Lectures read to the Officers of the 95th Rifle Regiment, and to the Green Book of the same corps; to Major Barber s intelligent work prepared for the instruction of the Duke of Cumberland s Sharp Shooters; to Rottenburg s Rifle Regulations; to the small work of Mr. Baker on the subject; to Robins s Tracts, and Professor Hutton s Experiments on Gunnery; as well as to whatever was to be found in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London, and the Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg; Vegetius de Remilitari; Saxe s Military Reveries; Rocheaymon, L Art de la Guerre; Cooper on Light Infantry; Ehwald and Howard on Light Troops; and Antoni on Gunpowder; not to mention a variety of works more generally considered, as Roberts s Archery, and Grose s Military Antiquities.
CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.
OBJECTS of the work endeavoured to be recommended on the following principles:-The utility of attending to the minor characteristics of a people in political economy-Skill in shooting, shown to be characteristical of the people of Great Britain-Effects of the invention of gunpowder upon it-Laws encouraging and enforcing its practice both before and after the invention of fire-arms-Perseverance in the art more prevalent in other countries than England, and the causes-Military spirit of Great Britain renovated-The excellence of rifle-barrel guns, and expedience of their extensive adoption, as a weapon comprising the advantages of the ancient arms of Britain, with those of the improved fire arms; their particular utility on general service, and their peculiar adaptation to the principles of a permanent system of national defence-Facts and ideas illustrative of these positions, arising from theory and experience of all countries-Hints as to future political interference with the popular characteristic on these subjects-The volunteer system, invasion, c.-Application of the objects of the work
C APUT I.-OF PROJECTILES IN GENERAL.
Their irregularities-From what cause-Comparative resistance of air and water-Certainty of the arrow s flight explained-the superiority of balls fired from rifled over plain barrelled pieces, proved by parity of reasoning-Mr. Robins s opinion thereon-Experiment to shew that whichever end of the ball lies foremost in the piece, continues so during the whole course of its flight
II.-OBJECTS OF THE RIFLE IN PARTICULAR.
The object of rifling barrels is to make the ball spin-Various opinions, as to the cause of the spinning-Commonly received opinion, that rifled range further and throw harder than plain barrels, proved to be without any foundation-Experiment to prove it-Rifled balls describe a larger parabola at equal distances, and under the same circumstances, than those fired from plain barrels-Balls not having the indents of the bearings cut upon their surface, are not to be depended on with any certainty of success
III.-THEORY OF SPIRAL MOTION,
CONFIRMED BY EXPERIMENT .
Postulata on which it is intended to found an explanation of the spinning of balls fired from rifled pieces-The resistance of the air to projectiles found to increase as the squares of the velocity, according to postulata No. I.-The rotatory motion of the windmill and the shuttlecock sanction the justice of postulata No. II.-By parity of reasoning so long as the ball has progressive, it must have lateral motion also-Objections made to this theory of spinning, and answered-Answer to objections, confirmed by experiment-Experiment to prove the number of revolutions made by the ball, while flying any given distance-Spiral log on water-Its theory and practice relatively to each other explained by Capt. Huddart-Spiral log in air-Conclusions drawn from these experiments-Mathematical demonstration, per favor of Professor Dalby, confirming the above reasoning, mechanically considered
IV.-MINOR QUALITIES OF THE RIFLE