Forums.NitroExpress.com

Some years ago we discussed the ballistics of early breechloading rifles and muzzleloaders as used for hunting in Europe. What we lacked back then was any original ballistic data

http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat....true#Post109978

Now I found a website discussing a rifle from 1843, giving plenty of ballistic numbers showing the state-of-the-art back then, which you also may find interesting. The technical data were taken from period articles.

http://www.waffensammler-kuratorium.de/buewild/babue1843ge.html

Here is the rifle, the Jäger rifle model 1843 as issued by the Grandduchy of Baden.

Caliber is 17.3 mm or .68“ or somewhere between 16 and 14 gauge.
Barrel length 75.2 cm or 29.6“
14 grooves
Weight 4.83 kg
Sights adjustable from 300 to 2400 paces

Here is my translation of the key facts, with some remarks in ().

The Jäger Rifle M 1843 from Baden – The Muzzle Loading System of Johann J. Wild
Text: Udo Lander

The perfect muzzle loader

Shortly before introduction of the various breech loading systems the patched ball muzzle-loading rifle should reach it's peak. The man behind this was Johannes J. Wild (or Wildi), an engineer and rifles officer, born 1814 in Richterswil, Switzerland. His invention received much attention from military experts, because it combined features that according to ancient knowledge and experience were absolutely incompatible.

The limits of the patched ball

Everybody knew that the patched ball rifle was an outstanding weapon with regard to precise shooting. It was equally obvious that this precision had to be paid for with serious disadvantages. The loading of loose powder, separate ball and patch, hammering the ball into the muzzle, need of constant cleaning and carrying all the necessary tools made impossible the general use of such a weapon for all infantry units, not even considering costs.
There was a further important disadvantage: the practical range of the patched-ball rifle was short and infantry wanted more range to keep the enemy's artillery at bay. In principle the range of rifles was shorter than that of smoothbore infantry muskets. Reason was that a powder load as in a musket would have caused the bullet to jump the rifling, and this is bad for rotation and for precision. In direct comparison: a smoothbore musket with loose ball reaches muzzle velocity of 390 to 420 m/s (1280 to 1380 fps), but the patched ball from a rifle is doing only 270 to 330 m/s (890 to 1080 fps). And because the range is in proportion to bullet velocity, the musket shoots a quarter farther than the rifle. (comment: still PRACTICAL range of the rifle will be farther!)
Based on these findings Johannes Wild postulated:
1. shall a rifle shoot at least a far than a musket
2. it shall be accurate with the highest load that has still tolerable recoil, meaning the ball shall not jump the rifling
3. it must be loaded with cartridges, without seater or hammer, so the ball shall be driven down only with the ramrod
4. it shall do 100 shots without cleaning....
5. it shall be light, max. 5 kg, shooting a ball between „40-50 to the kilogram“ (this is 20 to 25 grams or 300 to 375 grains, somewhere between 16 and 20 gauge)
6. equipment shall be as for an ordinary infantryman, only a cartridge bag instead of a heavy pack.

These requirements were almost phantastic for its time – today this might be called Science Fiction – but Wild introduced a gun that fulfilled all of them.

The rifle barrel revolution

In the center of Wild's invention was the patch. Ingeniously (???) Wild understood that a rifle can only be loaded easily if the bullet itself must not be pressed into the rifling, but that there is some softer material in between. Further he had seen that the building up of powder residues with every shot could only be prevented with continuous cleaning, so the patch had to fit precisely the rifling of the barrel.
The patch developed by Wild was made of linen and it had a tear resistance (or breaking strength) double than that of the bullet lead (???). This was necessary to assure proper guidance of the bullet in the grooves, without damage or even tearing of the patch. Further the density (Dichte) of the patch had to be high enough to prevent gasses blowing by the bullet ... (I think he means „Dicke“ - thickness here). Finally the patch was water-absorbent despite its high density, and this detail will be of decisive importance (I have trouble understanding the meaning of the density and weight numbers here: 0.6-0.7 g/cm3 and 100 cm2 weigh 3.25-3.5 g. At least its clear that fabric thickness is 0.55 mm).
For the whole system to work properly, the number of barrel grooves had to correspond to the number of folds that the patch made around the bullet. Wild had studied this correlation with mathematic formulas and practical tests, and he had found that depending on patch size and caliber the barrel should have between 12 and 14 grooves, with a depth of 0.23 to 0.27 mm and a twist angle of 3 degrees, this means one turn in 1019 mm. Width of grooves is 1.9 mm, with a relation of 3:2 between width of grooves and of lands. Free space between bullet and bore was 0.7 mm (I think he means the difference between bullet and bore diameter here), and this was the same for all calibers between 20 and 60 balls per kilogram (that's quite a range from about 8 gauge down to 24 ga).
This way it was assured that the patch neatly folded into the barrel grooves!
For loading the rifle the paper cartridge had to be bitten open as for an ordinary musket. Then the powder was loaded together with the paper cartridge, followed by the patched ball. The ramrod had a stopper that prevented the ramming of the ball into the powder charge. This gave a constant combustion volume and a quick start of the bullet, preventing the burning of the patch. Another benefit was was that the bullet was not deformed during seating.

With water against prejudice

The high point of the whole system was that the patch was not soaked with fat, but the patched bullet was loaded dry and only after loading the shooter squirted a dose of water in the barrel! For this he had a small bottle releasing a defined water volume, one tenth of the bullet weight. This softened the residues from the last shot, to be wiped out by the patch with the next shot. More than 100 shots could be fired that way without any further cleaning.
Regarding powder quality Wild wrote in a marketing treatise: „Powder for rifles should not be too flammable / combustible; the best is composed of 75 parts saltpeter, 13 parts charcoal and 12 parts sulfur, with particle size of 1 to 1.4 mm. If combustion is too quick then the whole load is burning before the bullet has moved noticeably. And then the patch will be burnt.“
Further Wild writes: „ A rifle that is built and loaded this way is shooting farther and more accurate than any other gun; because the ball can be fired with an initial velocity of 420-460 m/s and more, without jumping the grooves. On the contrary with conventional configuration only a velocity of 260-320 m/s is possible. With my rifle one can hit over 400 m as accurately as with a conventional rifle over 300 m, over 600 m as over 400 m respectively. And it is powerful, 7 g powder will drive a 24.6 g ball through 6 boards, each 22 mm thick, at a distance of 200 m. Over 700 m the ball still will penetrate a 30 mm board.“

„Water in a rifle barrel“ appeared like a sacrileg, and there were plenty of critics. Finally in 1841 Wild succeeded to have his rifles included in a trial convened by the Swiss canton of Basel-Land. These tests were done with 3 different rifles, shooting balls „24.5, 22.3 and 19.5 to the pound, powder load was 1/4 of bullet weight, loading with cartridges.“ Range was 600, 800 and 1000 paces. Results were „extraordinary“, fostering much interest in Switzerland and with several German war ministries (however the Swiss did not buy Wild's system, but adopted a more advanced muzzle loading rifle some years later, caliber only 10.5 mm , shooting elongated bullets:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eidgen%C3%B6ssischer_Stutzer_1851 )

The Wild Rifle of the Baden Shapshooters

The Greatduchy of Baden (this is the southwest corner of Germany, next to Switzerland and France) together with the states of Württemberg and Hessen-Darmstadt tested and adopted the Wild rifle in 1843. For Baden, app. 150 rifles were made at the Royal Württemberg Rifle Plant in Oberndorf (this plant was bought in 1874 by the Mauser brothers). The troops got the rifles in 1846. No mention of the number of rifles made for the other states.
Due to reorganisations of the Baden army starting in 1850, more rifles were needed for a new Jäger battalion, and it was decided to go with the newer Minie system. So the 150 Wild rifles were rebored and redrawn to accept the Minie bullet already in use for the infantry guns. This was done in 1855, again in Oberndorf.
Further app. 450 rifles were ordered from Suhl makers, because Oberndorf was too busy converting muskets to the Minie system. These rifles have the lines of the older Wild rifles, but they lack the patchbox.
...
This was the last chapter of the Baden muzzle-loading rifles. Already in 1864 a breech loader was introduced...