Wild Beasts and their Ways, vol 1 | Page 5

a hardened
bullet; nevertheless I never heard of any failure.
At a short range the velocity and penetration of an ounce spherical ball,
with the heavy powder charge, were immense, but beyond 50 yards the
accuracy was imperfect.
I believe I was the first to introduce rifles into Ceylon, which were then
regarded by the highest authorities in the island as impractical
innovations, too difficult to sight, whereas an ordinary gun could be

used with ball more quickly in taking a snap-shot.
The rifles which I had provided were heavy, the 3 ounce already
mentioned, 21 lbs., and a long 2 ounce by Blisset, 16 lbs. The latter was
a polygroove, the powder charge only 1 1/2 dram when I originally
purchased it. It was wonderfully accurate at short ranges with the small
charge, which I quickly increased to 6 drams, thereby losing accuracy,
but multiplying velocity.
Twelve months' experience with elephants and buffaloes decided me to
order a battery of double-barrelled rifles, No. 10, two-grooved, with 6
drams of fine grain powder, and spherical-belted bullets. These were
most satisfactory, and they became the starting-point for future
experiments.
Shortly before the Crimean War, the musket was abolished, and about
1853 the British army was armed throughout with rifles. The difficulty
of a military rifle lay in the rapid fouling of the barrel, which
necessitated a bullet too small to expand sufficiently to fill the grooves;
this resulted in inaccuracy. Even if the bullet were properly fitted, it
became impossible to load when the barrel began to foul after a few
discharges.
At that time I submitted a plan to the authorities which simplified the
difficulty, and having left the pattern bullet at Woolwich, it quickly
appeared with a slight modification as the "Boxer bullet." My plan
designed a cone hollowed at the base. The bullet was a size smaller
than the bore, which enabled it to slide easily down the barrel when
foul. The hollow base fitted upon a cone of boxwood pointed at the
insertion, but broad at the base, which was larger than the diameter of
the hollow in the bullet. It may be easily understood that although this
compound bullet was smaller than the bore of the rifle, a blow with the
ramrod after loading would drive the conical bullet upon the larger
diameter of the boxwood cone, which, acting like a wedge, would
expand the lead, thus immediately secured within the barrel. The
expansion when fired drove the boxwood into the centre of the bullet,
which of necessity took the rifling.

The Boxer bullet superseded the boxwood plug by the use of a piece of
burnt clay, which was less expensive and equally serviceable.
Before breechloaders were invented, we were obliged to fit out a
regular battery of four double rifles for such dangerous game as
elephants, buffaloes, etc., as the delay in re-loading was most annoying
and might lead to fatal accidents.
In hot damp climates it became necessary to fire off and clean the entire
battery every evening, lest a miss-fire should be the consequence upon
the following morning from the condensation of moisture in the nipple
during night. This was not only great trouble and a wasteful
expenditure of ammunition, but the noise of so many loud reports just
at the hour when wild animals were on the move, alarmed the country.
Trustworthy gun-carriers are always difficult to procure, and it was by
no means uncommon that in moments of danger, when the spare rifles
were required, the gun-bearers had bolted from the scene, and the
master was deserted.
The introduction of breechloaders has made shooting a luxury, and has
obviated the necessity of a large battery of guns. For military purposes
the breechloader has manifold advantages--as the soldier can load while
lying down, and keep up a rapid fire from a secure cover. It was
remarked during the Crimean War that a large proportion of wounded
men were struck in the right arm, which would have been raised above
the head when loading the old-fashioned rifle, and was thus
prominently exposed.
It is not my intention to enter into the minutiae of military rifles, but I
cannot resist the satisfaction with which I regard the triumph of the
small-bore which I advocated through the columns of the Times in
1865, at a time when the idea was opposed by nearly all authorities as
impracticable, owing to the alleged great drawback of rapid fouling.
There can be no doubt that the charge of 70 grains with a small-bore
bullet, '303, will have a lower trajectory (higher velocity (equivalent to
long range)) than a heavier projectile, '450, with the additional
advantage of a minimum recoil.

The earliest in the field of progress was the old-established firm of
Purdey and Co. Mr. Purdey, before the general introduction of