Ferguson Rifle at the National Museum of American History
Type
Rifle
Place of origin
Great Britain
Service history
In service
British Army 1776
Used by
United Kingdom
Wars
American Revolutionary War
Production history
Designer
Maj. Patrick Ferguson
Designed
1770
Produced
1776–1778
No. built
200
Specifications
Mass
7.5 lbs (3.5 kg)
Length
various: 48 to 60 in (1,200 to 1,500 mm)
Barrel length
49 in (1,200 mm)
Cartridge
.615 in (15.6 mm)
Calibre
.650 in (16.5 mm)
Action
single-shot
Rate of fire
6-8 rounds per minute
Muzzle velocity
Variable
Effective firing range
200 and 300 yards (180 and 270 m) sights on the Ordnance Rifle
Feed system
Breech-loaded
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech-loading rifles to be put into service by the British military. It fired a standard British carbine ball of .615" calibre and was used by the British Army in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, and possibly at the Siege of Charleston in 1780.[1]
Its superior firepower was unappreciated at the time because it was too expensive and took longer to produce – the four gunsmiths making Ferguson's Ordnance Rifle could not make 100 in 6 months at four times the cost per arm of a musket.
^Life of Washington, W. Irving, Vol. IV, Ch. 5, 1857
The Fergusonrifle was one of the first breech-loading rifles to be put into service by the British military. It fired a standard British carbine ball...
American Revolution. Also in 1776, Major Patrick Ferguson patented his breech-loading Fergusonrifle, based on old French and Dutch designs of the 1720s...
time, he developed the Fergusonrifle, a breech-loading flintlock weapon based on Chaumette's earlier system. In 1777, Ferguson went to the colonies to...
Ferguson, used approximately 100 of them for his rifle corps; however, when the Major was mortally wounded the rifle production ended and Ferguson's unit...
ready-to load reusable cartridge. Patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Fergusonrifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Roughly...
The FergusonRifle (1973) is a novel set in early 19th-century America, written by Louis L'Amour. The main character, Ronan Chantry, who is of Irish ancestry...
breech-loading rifle to be adopted in large numbers by any nation's army, but not the first breech-loading military rifle – the Fergusonrifle was used briefly...
The double rifle, also known as a double-barreled rifle, is a rifle with two barrels mounted parallel to each other that can be fired simultaneously or...
a racecar constructor FergusonrifleFerguson Marine Jack Ferguson Award, Ontario Hockey League ice hockey award Fergie Ferguson Award, University of Florida...
and Mk II** (1907) with two solid lugs, similar to a Mauser 98 The Fergusonrifle used a tapered screw plug inserted perpendicular to the axis of the...
noted for his flintlock pistols and for his company's production of the Fergusonrifle. Egg was apprenticed in Solothurn and Paris before establishing his...
two rotating screw breeches, which function like the breech of the FergusonRifle. When the trigger guard is turned, the breeches descend and the rear...
Austrian Army became the first military force in the world to adopt a bullpup rifle, the Steyr AUG, as a principal combat weapon. Since then the militaries...
spots. The carronade cannon: Robert Melville (1723–1809) The Fergusonrifle: Patrick Ferguson in 1770 The Lee bolt system as used in the Lee–Metford and...
reader, "This was 1630...") The FergusonRifle – Ronan Chantry – 1805 (The FergusonRifle was named after Major Patrick Ferguson who was a real person who was...
The M16 rifle (officially designated Rifle, Caliber 5.56 mm, M16) is a family of military rifles adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15 rifle for the United States...
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The Ferguson unrest (sometimes called the Ferguson uprising, Ferguson protests, or the Ferguson riots) was a series of protests and riots which began...
attempts to create non-muzzleloading firearms. Early attempts such as the Fergusonrifle proved to be too complicated for regular soldiers. By 1836 a German...
of the United Kingdom (d. 1820) 1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scottish soldier, designed the Fergusonrifle (d. 1780) 1754 – Miguel de Azcuénaga, Argentinian...
muskets or the Pattern 1776 Rifle. The British army also conducted limited experimental use of the breech-loading FergusonRifle, which proved too difficult...
lit. 'self-loading carbine of the Simonov system') is a semi-automatic rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov in 1945...
Services, 2014) "Ferguson, Jonathan, 1979-". Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 August 2021. "Gun amnesty: Second Boer War era rifle surrendered in Wales"...
Global Information
Great Britain