12-pounder Whitworth rifle
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The 12-pounder Whitworth rifle was a medium caliber field gun deployed during the mid-19th century. Designed by Joseph Whitworth, the gun was most notably used during the American Civil War. The gun w
Whitworth Gun GNMP 03
Breechloader
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A breechloader is a firearm or artillery piece in which the user loads the ammunition from the breech end of the barrel. The vast majority of modern firearms are breechloaders.
12-pounder Whitworth rifle
…From a design standpoint, the weapon was unique. Like all of Whitworth's designs, the weapon had a distinctive hexagonally-rifled barrel and was a breechloader (though it could be loaded via the muzzle with modifications). The cannon was forged using a method in which iron plates would be overlapped and forced…
A Springfield Model 1888 rifle with its breech open.
Three-shot experimental breech-loading cannon (burst) belonging to Henry VIII of England, 1540–1543
15th and 16th century breech-loaders on display at the Army Museum in Stockholm
Replica of a medieval Swedish breech-loaded "cart gun" (Swedish: kärrebössa)