Developed by Major Patrick Ferguson, the breech loading Ferguson Rifle had the potential to eliminate the great disadvantages of the rifle. In tests at the
Woolwich Arsenal, Ferguson was able to fire as many as six rounds per minute, hitting targets at up to 200 yards and hitting a bullseye at 100 yards from a prone position. Although an impressive technical achievement, most of the concepts were not new, which along with expense helps explain why it was used only on an experimental basis. The British army authorized a 100 man rifle corps armed with the rifle and commanded by its inventor. In its first campaign, Ferguson himself got within his sights a high ranking American commander, thought to be George Washington, but the Scotsman couldn't bring himself to kill the brave man. In its debut battle,
Brandywine, the rifle corps took heavy losses and Ferguson was wounded. This undoubtedly hurt prospects for widespread use of the weapon, and after participating in the attack at
Paoli, the corps was disbanded. The replacement at the end of the year of the army commander, Sir William Howe, who had sponsored the weapon, perhaps put the final nail in the rifle's coffin. By the time of Ferguson's death at Kings Mountain in 1780, all hopes for adoption of the weapon were over.
A screw mechanism used multiple tapered threads, making a good seal which was still easy to open and close. A turn of the handle opened up the breech, allowing the infantryman to insert a bullet and powder. Another turn of the handle would close the breech and push excess powder into the pan, priming the rifle and making it nearly ready to fire. Some weapons historians speculate that fouling caused by expended gunpowder may have hindered the mechanism, making the weapon less practical on the battlefield. Indeed, breechloaders were only made practical by the invention of the metallic cartridge in the mid 1800s. As only 100 Ferguson Rifles were built, spare parts were unavailable when problems occurred, which perhaps explains why only two original rifles survive..
http://johnsmilitaryhistory.com/fergusonrifle.html
Bookmarks