Re: Re: [DL] Double Rifle?

["Daniel Gwyn" <dgwyn@colba.net>]

*snip*
The Whitworth rifles used a hexagonal bolt matched to a hexagonal bore.
They were perhaps the most accurate muzzel loading firearm ever made.  So
much so that the legend is that when Whitworth submitted his rifle for
British service it was rejected because the artillerists refused to allow
the average infantryman to have a weapon which could beat the range of their
cannons.  Thats the legend, the fact was that though accurate, the Whitworth
was slow to load for maximum accuracy.
*snip*

    One book on weapons in my collection describes the Whitworth as:  "One
of the most accurate muzzle-loaders, but successful as a target rifle than
as a weapon."

*snip*
Though I guess if you really want a small arm which will kill a character
DEAD, use a Nock Volly Gun. 7 barrels of size .46 inch caliber which fired
all at once.
*snip*

Of course, on the downside of the Nock volley gun was that it kicked like a
mule.  And that is not hyperbole.  The makers of the Sharpe's series of
TV-Movies built a reproduction as one of the main characters from the
original novel used one.  Apparently, when a reporter covering the show was
allowed to test shoot it into the ground, the recoil lifted him off of his
feet!
    I think a much better approach would be to look for early smokeless
powder weapons which very simply much more powerful without the side
effects.  Apparently a M1917 Springfield rifle (based on the German Mauser
rifle) could send a bullet through 34 inches of seasoned oak when fired at
point blank range.  Then again there are always shotguns.
          Daniel Gwyn
"The discrepancy between faith and the facts is
greater than is generally assumed."
From "The Bridge of San Luis Rey" by Thornton Wilder