Ferguson Rifle

The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech loading rifles to be widely tested by the British military. Other breech loaders were experimented with in various commands, including earlier versions of the Ordnance rifle by Patrick Ferguson when he was in the "Fever Islands" (Caribbean). It was often misreported by historians to be a .65 (.648 true) caliber rifle. However, it actually used a standard British carbine ball of .615 caliber. The use of an oversized ball contributed to some of the erroneous claims of fouling and inaccuracy. The Ferguson Ordnance Rifle was used by the British Army in the American Revolutionary War at the Battle of Saratoga (1777). It may also have been used at the Siege of Charleston in 1780 (Ref: Life of Washington, W. Irving, Vol. IV, Ch. 5, 1857). Its superior firepower was unappreciated at the time because it was too expensive, the Crown treasury was too low, the short-land pattern of the King's Musket, aka the Brown Bess musket, had just been approved and was beginning production, and so was too new (only 10 years into its 50-year lifespan) and the gunsmiths of England could not produce them fast enough for mass deployment during the American War. As such, Ferguson only ordered 1000 rifles to be made. The combined gunsmiths of England could produce 500 muskets a month, but the 4 gunsmiths making Ferguson's Ordnance Rifle could not make 100 in 6 months at 4 times the cost per arm of a musket.