RevolverNoFTF
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I have a chance to buy a Whitworth Military Target Rifle. What do you guys think. I have heard they require special bullets and are hard to load. Please give me some feedback on this..Thanks
Whitworth Military Target Rifle
- Thread starter RevolverNoFTF
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we talking repro...
or are you both lucky AND loaded (moneywise)??
Yes is if the gun has the "whitworth rifling" the bore will be 6-sided instead of round with lands and grooves. this mates up with a typicaly round nosed, i think boat-tailed ("taper base" maybe), bullet with an hexagonal main body and no grease grooves. there are sources for the proper Molds to make thew bullets, Dixie Gun Works sells a swaging die that turns any .50cal bullet into a .45 cal whitworth slug. Also there are a few more traditional grease-grooved NON-hexagonal slugs that are supposed to work decently with the whitworth rifling and at least used to be labled in catalogs for use in the repros.
as for the fouling (ie hard to load) that is at least part of the reason that the whitworth never really garnered more military interest than it did, after about 3-4 shots at most you're gonna HAVE to give it at least a once over to ease loading. the "rifling" design did not allow anyplace for the fouling to go other than out the muzzle.
or are you both lucky AND loaded (moneywise)??
Yes is if the gun has the "whitworth rifling" the bore will be 6-sided instead of round with lands and grooves. this mates up with a typicaly round nosed, i think boat-tailed ("taper base" maybe), bullet with an hexagonal main body and no grease grooves. there are sources for the proper Molds to make thew bullets, Dixie Gun Works sells a swaging die that turns any .50cal bullet into a .45 cal whitworth slug. Also there are a few more traditional grease-grooved NON-hexagonal slugs that are supposed to work decently with the whitworth rifling and at least used to be labled in catalogs for use in the repros.
as for the fouling (ie hard to load) that is at least part of the reason that the whitworth never really garnered more military interest than it did, after about 3-4 shots at most you're gonna HAVE to give it at least a once over to ease loading. the "rifling" design did not allow anyplace for the fouling to go other than out the muzzle.
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You don't have to spend $300 for a hexagonal bullet mold or get a swage set up to make your own hex bullets. Even in the Whitworth's heyday, it was found that cylindrical bullets were equally accurate. Some Whitworth shooters use a cylindrical .451 bullet mold (Lyman) with success. Both bullets (hexagonal and cylindrical) were used by the Confederate sharpshooters who carried the Whitworth.
Do a search at this forum and one of our members posted a virtual bullet board of Whitworth bolts. If he had more samples, I'd buy them myself for a home display.
BTW, fouling has nothing to do with the Whitworth but rather the small bore of any blackpowder gun. Blackpowder doesn't combust fully like smokeless powder and thus a dirty residue (fouling) is left behind. The smaller the bore, the easier it is to foul. Sir Joseph Whitworth developed a scraping tool to clean the bore.
If you want some good reading, drop into the library and get Joe Bilby's Civil War Firearms and he has quite a bit of info on shooting the Whitworth. Also go to http://www.civilwarguns.com and click on Joe's picture for some articles he has on them. Finally, do a search here for Whitworth info as we have some knowledgeable members who have posted.
Do a search at this forum and one of our members posted a virtual bullet board of Whitworth bolts. If he had more samples, I'd buy them myself for a home display.
BTW, fouling has nothing to do with the Whitworth but rather the small bore of any blackpowder gun. Blackpowder doesn't combust fully like smokeless powder and thus a dirty residue (fouling) is left behind. The smaller the bore, the easier it is to foul. Sir Joseph Whitworth developed a scraping tool to clean the bore.
If you want some good reading, drop into the library and get Joe Bilby's Civil War Firearms and he has quite a bit of info on shooting the Whitworth. Also go to http://www.civilwarguns.com and click on Joe's picture for some articles he has on them. Finally, do a search here for Whitworth info as we have some knowledgeable members who have posted.
I have not even seen a Whitworth for a good while, let alone seen one sell, but doubt very much that you can buy an original for $750 unless the thing is junk or the seller is not up on prices. Give us the markings and we will try to help. (Any "Made in xxx" marking is a tip off to a repro.)
Dixie and others have sold repros in that price range, and they are OK as shooters.
Jim
Dixie and others have sold repros in that price range, and they are OK as shooters.
Jim
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