Whitworth Rifle Warnings

This information is the result of Bill Curtis and De Witt Bailey research concerning original Whitworth rifles.

Warning! - The Whitworth Research Project has identified problems with several rifles that have appeared on the open market from time to time. See notes below regarding the following original Whitworth rifles; numbers 449, B376, B678, C575.

Whitworth Rifle Number 449

This is a military match Whitworth (i.e., a full stocked target rifle, not equipped for a bayonet and having delicate sights unsuitable for military use. Not, however, as complicated as those of the later Match Rifles), serial number 449. The gun has a 36" barrel. The lock is marked Whitworth in front of the hammer with the Whitworth trademark (sheaf and crown over W) at the rear of the lock. The barrel is marked "Whitworth Patent". It has the original 52 bore proof marks on the left rear of the barrel. The buttplate is checkered, the trigger is checkered, the wrist and forearm are also checkered. There is a 'C.S.' stamped at the rear of the barrel and on the tang of the buttplate.

This rifle was sold by Christies in Australia in August 2001. Christies auction catalgue noted that the inside of the patchbox is inscribed 'Sgt. C.D.Grace 4th GA Regt. 1863'. Grace is (one of the marksmen) credited with shooting Gen. Sedgwick; who fell dead while reassuring his men that Confederate snipers "couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." The 'Grace' markings are most likely spurious.

This is a very early model made in about 1858/59 and right outside any serial number range or type associated with Confederate imports. It is remotely possible that the rifle was bought second hand and added to Confederate stocks, although there is currently no evidence to authenticate the 'C.S.' marks. These were expensive rifles and eagerly bought by the members of the new National Rifle Association.

The CSA series are in the upper B and lower C series and are good plain knock about rifles with simple sights apart from that proportion equipped with telescopes. All those known to have any provenance are marked 2nd QUALITY and nearly all follow a set pattern although a very few slight variations are known. 

The Mechanical Genius and Works of the late Sir Joseph Whitworth

Source: Manufacturer and Builder, June 1887

The following tribute to the memory of one of the greatest engineers that England has produced, was read at a late meeting of the Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia. We quote it in extenso:

Mr. John Fernie, C.E., member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, etc., of England, delivered a most entertaining and instructive address upon "The Mechanical Genius and Works of the late Sir Joseph Whitworth."

Full of years, of honors, of wealth, which he gained by the most unremitting toil and industry, there passed a way to the majority, on the 22nd of January last, one of the greatest of modern engineers.

I first made Mr. Whitworth’s acquaintance at Birmingham. Birmingham is one of the great manufacturing cities of England, standing on the edge of the 10-yard coal-bed, of what is called the Black Country. The abundance of cheap fuel and the energy of its people early developed it into a workshop of the most various industries, in iron, brass, silver and copper, principally known on this side for its guns, great manufactories of glass, of lacquered ware and electro-plate, of railway carriages and steam engines. Birmingham stands in the center of England, geographically; politically, it has a great voice in the affairs of the nation. It is a great liberal center, represented in Parliament by John Bright and Joseph Chamberlain; but to the engineer it has greater attractions, for here lived Matthew Boulton, who rescued James Watt from the clutches of Roebuck, and whose wealth and influence established the success of the steam engine; and here comes in a link which unites Pennsylvania to these old times. The Lunar Society founded by Watt and three other members; Dr. Darwin, whose name will never be forgotten, the genial progenitor of the greatest philosopher of our day; Matthew Boulton and Dr. Priestly, who discovered oxygen, who studied electricity in the light of Franklin’s discoveries, and who, when driven out of Birmingham by a rough mob, came over to the great State we live in and found a home and friends.

With these advantages and this precedent, it only seemed to follow in the natural order of things that some sixty years afterwards George Stephenson and a few kindred spirits should come to Birmingham to found an Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Our first presidents were the Stephensons, father and son. Our next president, William Fairbairn, was one of the most distinguished engineers of his day. He may very properly be called the Father of Experimental Mechanics. He was not much of a speaker, but he was an authority on almost every mechanical subject; on the strength and form of girders, steam boilers and tubes; on iron ships, on riveted joints, on the strength of cast and wrought iron; he was famous for his mill work; he gave us the first riveting machine, and his most famous design, the bridge over the Menai Straits, had been recently completed when he became our president.

Joseph Whitworth, who succeeded him, was one of a group of mechanical men who had done great work in their day - James Nasmyth, who invented and perfected the steam hammer; James Kennedy, who made the first inside cylinder engine with its crank shaft; Robert Napier, who made the first Cunard steamships; and John Penn, a great marine engine builder. All these men, except Mr. Nasmyth, became our presidents, and Mr. Whitworth, though physically the weakest in health, survived them all, except Mr. Nasmyth, who still lives in Kent at a good old age.

Whitworth Research Project

Hex Bore is a project by Research Press for the study of Whitworth rifles and ordnance. 

Through the Whitworth Research Project, Bill Curtis and De Witt Bailey established a database of 700 known Whitworth rifles. This database is now being managed by David Minshall of Research Press.