Info: the Hall M1819 Breech Loading Rifle
- Thread starter marathag
- Start date
"Interchangable parts" in this era is not interchangable parts as we think of them now. It is more "file to fit" or "hammer in". You could not take a part from one rifle and put it on another and expect it to work immediately. It could work, but in general, industrial tolerance in that era meant that you needed to do a minute or two of work at a field workshop to get everything running smoothly.
Breechloaders were a thing in Europe too, with the Norwegian Kammerlader being the first one accepted for widespread army use. There were designs and suggested designs, and civilian breechloaders were if not common at least well-known.
Fast-firing is not the same advantage as you may think in this era. Generally, the gunpowder smoke would obscure the target to the extent that you could not see it if you tried to fire again right after firing, especially if standing in formation and firing a lot of guns at the same time. This is why the first repeating weapons and fast-reloaded breech-loading single shot guns were given to cavalry, as they were expected to fire one or two shots and then move elsewhere rather than stand still and continue firing like the infantry.
The second point is that gunpowder residue as well as leftovers of the lead ball and the paper cartridge will quickly foul the barrel - especially a rifled barrel. Modern re-enactors and hobby shooters of black powder weapons usually coat their cartridges in a big glob of lube, as it will stick to the residue and take it with it on the way out when fired, reducing that problem. But in general, muskets and rifles needed cleaning after firing 20 shots or so, and at 40 shots you ran the very real risk of the gun bursting in your face, and this is especially true with breachloaders as you would not be forcing residue down with the reloading process.
The Prussians were first to use breechloaders as general issue, with their 1848 Dreyse rifles, but those were fragile and had a low service grade over longer campaigns, but combined with their innovative Rifle Swarm tactics. Even with more nations using breechloaders earlier, without a change in tactics, it won't make that much of a difference, and there were not much warfare in Europe between 1815 and 1848 for a Hall rifle or a European counterpart to excel in.
Breechloaders were a thing in Europe too, with the Norwegian Kammerlader being the first one accepted for widespread army use. There were designs and suggested designs, and civilian breechloaders were if not common at least well-known.
Fast-firing is not the same advantage as you may think in this era. Generally, the gunpowder smoke would obscure the target to the extent that you could not see it if you tried to fire again right after firing, especially if standing in formation and firing a lot of guns at the same time. This is why the first repeating weapons and fast-reloaded breech-loading single shot guns were given to cavalry, as they were expected to fire one or two shots and then move elsewhere rather than stand still and continue firing like the infantry.
The second point is that gunpowder residue as well as leftovers of the lead ball and the paper cartridge will quickly foul the barrel - especially a rifled barrel. Modern re-enactors and hobby shooters of black powder weapons usually coat their cartridges in a big glob of lube, as it will stick to the residue and take it with it on the way out when fired, reducing that problem. But in general, muskets and rifles needed cleaning after firing 20 shots or so, and at 40 shots you ran the very real risk of the gun bursting in your face, and this is especially true with breachloaders as you would not be forcing residue down with the reloading process.
The Prussians were first to use breechloaders as general issue, with their 1848 Dreyse rifles, but those were fragile and had a low service grade over longer campaigns, but combined with their innovative Rifle Swarm tactics. Even with more nations using breechloaders earlier, without a change in tactics, it won't make that much of a difference, and there were not much warfare in Europe between 1815 and 1848 for a Hall rifle or a European counterpart to excel in.