I met with an expert on older guns today. I asked him about the "straight rifling." He informed me of something that was so obvious I should have seen it from the start.
It was to prevent or at least postpone fouling. Has nothing to do with trajectory or bullet rotation.
I wonder if rifled guns fouled less than smoothbores? I bet they did.
Richard,
So good to see you on this forum! From your posts on British Militaria, you have a LOT to contribute!
Thanks for your information. Would love to see the article on Howdah pistols.
Fernando,
Good to be here. I may be getting the Jaziel(?) Afghan rifle down down a little oiling.
Jim,
Yeah, I do feel like "tonight I am going to Africa." The Tsavo lion is in our bedroom. Though he is frozen in mid-leap, sometimes I catch a glimpse of him from the corner of my eye and he seems to be watching.
Sometimes Anne and I go around our house holding only one candle. Total darkness otherwise. I suggest doing this. You can see things by candlelight that are not there with room lighting.
I also have my eye on a store near me that sells powder, percussion caps, bullets and supplies. I WILL be working with an expert in old guns before firig it. He has some other people who want to go to the range.
He has suggested that I really do not want full power loads in the howdah pistol, or the Snider because it will hurt!
Last edited by Bill Marsh; 1st October 2008 at 11:25 PM.
|