noticed there's a nice whitworth thread ongoing. i'm curious, is the whitworth any more accurate than the volunteer? i know the history of the whitworth. was the volunteer model also used during the american civil war, or is it a recreation of a general target rifle?
whitworth vs volunteer
- Thread starter m1978
- Start date
I have had both rifles in the past, the Whitworth in my opinion is a PITA ,unless you spend stupid money on the correct bullet mold. The Volunteer rifle is or was a more user friendly rile the bullet mold is more common to find , load development is straight forward...The biggest problem with these rifles are the standard issue sights, they are not the best for target work. The rifle has no tang for mounting a sight , most serious shooters inlet a steel plate for a tang sight but then you devalue the rifle. I sold both rifles because of this, they were great fun to shoot ,both were Parker Hale Mfg in Birmingham England low 3 digit serial numbers rifles and they were very accurate.
The Volunteer movement in UK came about from the sabre-rattling of Napoleon III after the end of the Crimean War, in which England was allied with France against the Russians.
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the Territorial Force in 1908. Most of the regiments of the present Territorial Army Infantry, Artillery, Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units.
Members of many of the Volunteer units were equipped by local aristocracy, but the rank and file were relied upon to make their own provision for uniform and arms. The direct result of this was the foundation of the National Rifle Association, and the stated aim to provide a high standard of excellence in musketry. to that end, members of many Volunteer units bought their own, higher grade, rifles to shoot in the many competitions. The Military Match Rifle was often called a Volunteer rifle, and were often made by the best makers of the day - Beaseley, Rigby, The London Small Arms Company and many others.
The military match rifle was shot with open sights at 900 yards, was of three-band style and usually in .577" or the newer .451" calibres. The likes of Whitworth, Rigby and Metford all produced their own solution to accuracy in their rifling formats, something that is carried on to this very day with the various rifling styles found on the firing line at MLAGB and international shoots.
The shorter ranges were the province of the shorter rifle - and the two-band came into fashion for shooting up to 600 yards.
Whereas the Whitworth ruled the roost in the military match, technology was improving and finally produced the Creedmore-style splinter forend rifle, and the likes of Metford and his shallow rifled paper-patched shooting rifles moved accuracy up another notch.
The Volunteers left their mark on British history - many pubs in UK are named after the county volunteer units. The present day Reserve Armed forces are also deeply indepted to the history of their forefathers in the Volunteer movement, as, in deed, are many of the county regiments still in existence..
tac
The Volunteer Force was a citizen army of part-time rifle, artillery and engineer corps, created as a popular movement throughout the British Empire in 1859. Originally highly autonomous, the units of volunteers became increasingly integrated with the British Army after the Childers Reforms in 1881, before forming part of the Territorial Force in 1908. Most of the regiments of the present Territorial Army Infantry, Artillery, Engineers and Signals units are directly descended from Volunteer Force units.
Members of many of the Volunteer units were equipped by local aristocracy, but the rank and file were relied upon to make their own provision for uniform and arms. The direct result of this was the foundation of the National Rifle Association, and the stated aim to provide a high standard of excellence in musketry. to that end, members of many Volunteer units bought their own, higher grade, rifles to shoot in the many competitions. The Military Match Rifle was often called a Volunteer rifle, and were often made by the best makers of the day - Beaseley, Rigby, The London Small Arms Company and many others.
The military match rifle was shot with open sights at 900 yards, was of three-band style and usually in .577" or the newer .451" calibres. The likes of Whitworth, Rigby and Metford all produced their own solution to accuracy in their rifling formats, something that is carried on to this very day with the various rifling styles found on the firing line at MLAGB and international shoots.
The shorter ranges were the province of the shorter rifle - and the two-band came into fashion for shooting up to 600 yards.
Whereas the Whitworth ruled the roost in the military match, technology was improving and finally produced the Creedmore-style splinter forend rifle, and the likes of Metford and his shallow rifled paper-patched shooting rifles moved accuracy up another notch.
The Volunteers left their mark on British history - many pubs in UK are named after the county volunteer units. The present day Reserve Armed forces are also deeply indepted to the history of their forefathers in the Volunteer movement, as, in deed, are many of the county regiments still in existence..
tac
This is a good potted history of the Volunteer movement in UK - http://www.britishcarbines.co.uk/Volunteers.pdf
Well-worth a read, IMO.
tac
Well-worth a read, IMO.
tac
freedomintheskies
CGN Regular
- Location
- On a sand bar in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Whitworth and the Volunteer rifles were intended to be used by British Militia as tacfoley has mentioned. Because of their superior accuracy, the Whitworth was imported in limited numbers by the Confederate States (and word is, at least 50 to the Northern States). I'm not sure the Volunteer rifle was, but it would be surprising if they were not.
The high price tag (around $1000.00 vs $7.50 for an Enfield military rifle) of the Whitworth was likely the deciding factor on how many were imported into the Confederate States Army not to mention there was a blockade of southern ports by the US Navy.
As far as which one is better? I have heard that the Whitty edges out the Volunteer rifle at longer ranges but I suspect that the user has the biggest influence on accuracy. Bullets are easy to cast and there are a number of mainstream molds available for $70.00 +/-. You can shoot conical bullets of the same type and weight as used in the Volunteer and they tend to bump up and take on the hexagonal shape of the bore in the Whitty when fired.
Cheerz!
The so-called 'Volunteer' rifle is the fabrication of Parker-Hale as a marketing ploy. At the time of the American Civil War, England was sending thousands of Enfield rifled muskets to BOTH sides, but the kind of rifle that was later to be called a 'volunteer' rifle by Parker-Hale was too expensive.
No doubt other versions of Whitworth rifles, named those made by Kerr, joined the Whitworths, but to find a common Enfield Pattern 51 or 53 that was NOT made at Enfield Arsenal would be like finding the crown jewels in a pawn shop.
I've not heard about Whitworth rifles going to the North, either - that's a new one on me.
tac
No doubt other versions of Whitworth rifles, named those made by Kerr, joined the Whitworths, but to find a common Enfield Pattern 51 or 53 that was NOT made at Enfield Arsenal would be like finding the crown jewels in a pawn shop.
I've not heard about Whitworth rifles going to the North, either - that's a new one on me.
tac
- Location
- West coast of Vancouver Island
Tac, thanks for the link. My brother, iirc, has an "Inn of Courts" marked Brunswick Rifle.
Cheers
Cheers
Last edited:
freedomintheskies
CGN Regular
- Location
- On a sand bar in the Atlantic Ocean.
Tac,
There was an article I read a while ago that mentioned there was an offer to sell 50 Whitworth rifles in Boston or New York during the Civil War. Perhaps they were captured by a privateer en route to the South and then sold in the north. I dunno.
Whooohooo! That's a new one on me, and, I suspect, Dr DeWitt Bailey and Bill Curtis, the two historians who have been putting together the Whitworth in North America history for the last blibbleblibble years.
Do you mind if I pass it on?
That figure of 50 guns, BTW, is almost HALF of the assessed total number that ever got there [120-ish in total]. At around a thousand dollars apiece that is some deal of money - easily enough to outfit an entire cavalry regiment from head to foot with everything needed including horseware.
tac
Do you mind if I pass it on?
That figure of 50 guns, BTW, is almost HALF of the assessed total number that ever got there [120-ish in total]. At around a thousand dollars apiece that is some deal of money - easily enough to outfit an entire cavalry regiment from head to foot with everything needed including horseware.
tac
