William Soper's Direct Action Breech Loader
Britain
•
6m 38s
William Soper of Reading, England designed this "Direct Action Breech Loader" and attempted to have it tested for British military adoption - but he was one day too late to have his rifle included in the tests and the Martini-Henry was ultimately adopted. The intent of Soper's system was to have the fastest possible rate of fire for a single-shot rifle, and what he came up with is quite interesting.
A single lever just above and behind the trigger (intended to be operated by the shooter's right thumb) operated all aspects of the action, pressing the lever down recocks the hammer, opens the breech, extracts, and ejects the empty case. All that need be done is to drop a new cartridge into the breech, and press the lever up to close the action. Soper had an assistant who was reportedly able to fire the rifle at a rate of 60 rounds/minute - very impressive for a gun designed in 1868!
Many thanks to the anonymous Dutch collector who provided me access to this rifle to bring to you!
Up Next in Britain
-
Heavy But Effective: Britain's No4 Mk...
The main British sniper rifle of World War Two, and arguably one of the best looking military sniper rifles of all time, the No4 MkI (T) was something the British military knew they would want even before the No4 MkI rifle had gone into real production. The first No4 snipers were built on leftove...
-
Pritchard's 19th Century Precharged A...
William Pritchard was a Birmingham gunsmith in the mid 1800s who offered both firearms and air guns, and this particular ball-reservoir air gun is a fine example of the latter. Air guns have existed in Europe nearly as long as firearms, although they have never had the popularity of their powder-...
-
Enfield MkI Revolver: Merwin Meets We...
Adopted in 1880 to replace the Adams revolver, the Enfield MkI was based on an extraction system patented in the 1870s by Owen Jones of Philadelphia. This was similar in practice to the Merwin & Hulbert, with the barrel and cylinder hinging forward while the cartridge cases were held to the back ...
