Ferguson rifle

Ferguson Rifle
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 was designed by Major Patrick Ferguson (1744–1780). 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.