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These pages are dedicated to the memory of
William (Bill) Scott Curtis
(1931-2021)

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Hex Bore blog

Hex Bore is a project by Research Press for the study of Whitworth rifles and artillery.

This blog includes project news, updates, information and anecdotes. (Chronological contents list)

 

Whitworth Database Updates - 2022

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Parent Category: Hex Bore - The Whitworth Research Project
Category: Hex Bore blog
Published: Wednesday, 27 April 2022 17:10
Written by Research Press

Whitworth Database Management Updates - 2022

  • That's the new year off to a good start with two previously unrecorded Whitworth rifles added to the database; a 'B' series military target rifle and an 'F' series full match rifle. 7 January 2022
  • With further information what was initially thought an 'F' series match rifle, appears to have been an early Whitworth sporting rifle c1859/60, with half stock, and spur trigger guard. It appears to have been re-barreled c1864/65 - it may also have been at this time that a tang sight mounting was added. 16 January 2022
  • Rifles appear at auction, then often are lost track of. Nice to receive an update on the whereabouts of a 'D' series Whitworth previously noted in 2004, 2008 and 2021. 5 February 2022
  • Good to catch up with a couple of Whitworth rifles; a 'B' series military match rifle and an 'E' series full match rifle. Previously recorded in the Whitworth database in 1994; details reviewed and updated. 12 February 2022
  • Whitworth rifle serial no. 670 of 1860 now documented. Previously the only information to hand was a reference to it from 1963, but no details or pictures. Now fully documented. 27 February 2022
  • Whitworth sporting rifle no. 237 records updated. One of a small batch of such rifles with back action locks made in 1859. 3 March 2022
  • Updated records for Whitworth commercial military rifle C465. Previously last noted for sale at auction in 2009. 6 April 2022
  • Details of a previously undocumented cased Whitworth sporting rifle c1860, with original mould and powder flask, added to the database. 17 April 2022
  • Photographs added and details updated of early experimental / trials rifle dated 1858. 27 April 2022

Whitworth Database Updates - 2021

Details
Parent Category: Hex Bore - The Whitworth Research Project
Category: Hex Bore blog
Published: Saturday, 04 December 2021 18:57
Written by Research Press

Whitworth Database Management Updates - 2021

  • Two previously undocumented Confederate Whitworth rifles surfaced in 2020 and were documented - each was complete with scope mounts but missing the telescope. I wonder what else is tucked away in family homes and passed down as heirlooms. . . March 2021
  • Pleased to receive pictures of a Whitworth sporting rifle c1859 from a private collection in New Zealand. Noted in 1963 it reappeared in 2005 in the US, then in NZ on 2010, and again in 2021. Documentation details updated. 3 May 2021
  • Updated database records for Whitworth military match rifle B94. The cased rifle, with accessories, was presented to a Volunteer Officer attending a course at Hythe School of Musketry in December 1860. 8 May 2021
  • Last recorded in 1978, details of Whitworth military match rifle 841 now updated. 17 May 2021
  • Whitworth rifle D552 records updated. This was fitted with a Metford Patent barrel by George Gibbs of Bristol in the late 1860s. 29 May 2021

    Read more: Whitworth Database Updates - 2021

Birth of a Big Gun (1908)

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Parent Category: Hex Bore - The Whitworth Research Project
Category: Hex Bore blog
Published: Thursday, 18 November 2021 20:15
Written by Research Press

Astonishing footage from 1908 at the factory of Armstrong Whitworth & Co.

"A new weapon is launched in the pre-WWI naval arms race. This striking film illustrates the processes in the casting and manufacture of a 12-inch, 50-calibre naval gun - the kind of gun that would be used on battleships between 1914 and 1918. It was filmed in early 1908 at the factory of Armstrong Whitworth & Co., based in Newcastle-on-Tyne. The scale of the operation from 85,000 kilos of molten steel to the massive form of the finished gun is nicely filmed to showcase its impressiveness."

 

Whitworth Rifle Accuracy

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Parent Category: Hex Bore - The Whitworth Research Project
Category: Hex Bore blog
Published: Sunday, 14 November 2021 15:26
Written by Research Press

Whilst the Whitworth was undoubtedly an accurate rifle for its time, setting standards for other gunmakers to aspire to, contemporary reports can be misunderstood. The system used to measure precision of rifled arms was the "Figure of Merit" (FoM). It is a measure of mean radial distance of shots from the centre of a group. Today, contemporary results of FoM are from time to time reported as group size, presenting misleading information and unreliable reports of accuracy. The actual size of the original group cannot be determined from the Figure of Merit, however for a 20 shot group multiplying the Figure of Merit by about three and half will give an indication of the likely overall size of the group.

So in trials in 1857 the Whitworth was recorded with a FoM of .37 feet (or 4.44 inch) at 500 yards - based on the above this would be a group size in the order of 15.5 inch (roughly 3 minutes of angle). At 1100 yards the FoM of 2.41 feet was recorded - so a group size in the order of 8.5 feet.

See the following article and videos to which it links: Measuring Accuracy

 

Replacing Whitworth Barrels in the 19thC

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Parent Category: Hex Bore - The Whitworth Research Project
Category: Hex Bore blog
Published: Friday, 01 October 2021 19:30
Written by Research Press

The Whitworth rifle with its hexagonal bore set new standards in accuracy and in the early 1860s was used by keen long range riflemen in target shooting competition. By the late 1860s it was however being supplanted by other gunmakers using shallow groove rifling and hardened cylindrical bullets - notably Metford and Rigby. It is not uncommon to find Whitworth stock/lock fitted with such barrels as 19thC riflemen ‘upgraded’ their rifles, and over the years the original Whitworth barrel becomes separated.

I was recently contacted by the owner of one such Whitworth barrel enquiring if the Whitworth database held any further records. Luckily the owner of the original stock/lock, fitted with a Metford barrel, had provided information 10 years previously. Cross reference of serial numbers matched. Happily, and after gaining permission, the owners of the respective parts are now in touch with each other and can exchange information.

 

More Articles ...

  1. Whitworth Rearsights
  2. Army (Whitworth Guns)
  3. Whitworth 2 cwt Deck Gun
  4. Whitworth rifle of 1858
  5. Curtis’s & Harvey No. 6
  6. To Working Gunmakers, 1860
  7. Sir Joseph Whitworth & Company, 1888
  8. The Whitworth Guns: British Artillery at Gettysburg
  9. Miscellaneous Papers, 1870
  10. Joseph Whitworth

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