The 70-pounder Whitworth naval gun was designed by Joseph Whitworth during the 1860s. It was a rifled muzzle loader and used his hexagonal, rifled-bore design.
Gun from Princess Royal, in Willard Park at the Washington Navy Yard. Notice the hexagonal bore.
On a coastal carriage in Rio de Janeiro
Rifled muzzle loader
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A rifled muzzle loader is a type of artillery piece invented in the mid-19th century. In contrast to smooth bore cannon which preceded it, the rifling of the gun barrel allowed much greater range, acc
70-pounder Whitworth naval gun
…The 70-pounder Whitworth naval gun was designed by Joseph Whitworth during the 1860s. It was a rifled muzzle loader and used his hexagonal, rifled-bore design. The gun used polygonal rifling, a principle invented by Whitworth in 1853. The concept was to use the hexagon…
A rifled muzzle loader in the forecastle of HMS Gannet (1878)