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Well hello again after a long hiatus away. I was discussing with a friend not so long ago about the invention of the rifle (not the gun the twisting effect that keeps the bullet travelling in a straight line for longer). I was wondering when the rifle came into being and when cartriges, closed gunpowder and shot encased in a single round. I know that they had them at the end of the 1800s and the Napoleonic wars were fought with muskets and cannon, but I just thought that someone else might have a website or some more accurate dates. Ta very much.
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Rifling was apparently invented in the early 1500's, and the first rifles issued to any English troops (as opposed to privately owned ones used in the ECW) were apparently 8 rifled carbines issued to the Life Guards in 1688.
Paper cartridges were introduced to the West by Gustavus Adolphus, who rpobaby bot them from the Poles, who possibly got them from Hungary or Transylvania some time in the early 1500's.
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Well ta very much. Paper cartridges? Sounds a bit didgy to me. Can you imagine the trouble they got in if even a vague speck of moisture got close to them?
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Greetings.
Try the two links below.
The sites may not be what you are looking for, but I hope they may be useful.
Guns and Cartridges.
Percussion Cap
