Baker rifle
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| Pattern 1800 Infantry Rifle, a.k.a. Baker infantry rifle | |
|---|---|
 Pattern 1805 Infantry Rifle |
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| Type | Rifle |
| Place of origin | UK |
| Service history | |
| In service | 1801-1840s |
| Used by | UK and allies |
| Wars | Napoleonic campaigns, Indian wars, Texas Revolution |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1798-1800 |
| Produced | 1800-1838 (all variants) |
| Number built | 22,000+ |
| Variants | Cavalry carbine |
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 9 lb, 4.08 kg |
| Length | 45 3/4 in, 1162 mm |
| Barrel length | 30.375 in. (762 mm) |
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| Cartridge | 0.615 in. lead ball |
| Caliber | 0.625 in (15.9 mm) |
| Action | Flintlock |
| Rate of fire | User dependent |
| Muzzle velocity | Variable |
| Effective range | Variable |
| Feed system | Muzzle loaded |
The Baker rifle was the flintlock rifle used by the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. The Baker Rifle was first produced in 1800 by Ezekiel Baker, a master gunsmith from Whitechapel. The British Army was still issuing the Baker Rifle after the Baker was no longer in production.
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[edit] History and Design
The Baker rifle was the first standard-issue, British-made rifle accepted for the British armed forces. Previously, rifles had been issued on a limited basis and consisted of pieces of no set pattern, often purpose-bought from Germany. The war against Revolutionary France had resulted in the employment of new tactics, and the British Army responded, albeit with some delay. Prefatory to the formation of an experimental rifle corps in 1800, a trial was held at Woolwich by the British Board of Ordnance on 14 February 1800 in order to select a rifle pattern; the rifle designed by Ezekiel Baker was selected the winner. This is remarkable because he is not known to have produced military rifles before, being involved only in the repair and production of muskets. Indeed, it is not known how much of the rifle now commonly named after him was actually the result of his design work. Numerous parts used in the pattern were extant before the rifle was submitted for trial.
Colonel Coote Manningham rejected the first two designs offered; the third design gained his approval and became the first Baker rifle approved by the British Army. The specification for the first service Baker rifled musket was a .625-caliber rifle, a barrel 30-inches in length, fitted for a sword bayonet designed by the Birmingham sword cutler Henry Osborn, a standard 6-inch-long lock mechanism and ring-neck cock, a folding leaf rear sight, a scrolled brass trigger guard and a raised cheek-rest on the left of the butt for additional support when aiming. The completed Baker was 45-inches in length and weighted almost nine pounds. Ingeniously, and unlike the smoothbore musket, the cleaning equipment, essential to the weapons upkeep and therefore crucial to its success, was stored in the gun's butt ready for use wherever the gun went.
The rifle is now referred to almost exclusively as the "Baker rifle", but it was produced by a variety of manufacturers, sub-contractors, and gunsmiths from 1800 to 1837. Most of the rifles produced between 1800 and 1815 were not made by Ezekiel Baker, but rather under the Tower of London system, and he subcontracted the parts of the rifle with over twenty British gun-makers. It was reported that many rifles that made it to the British Army inspectors were not completed and may even not have had a barrel, since the rifle was sent on to another contractor for finishing. Baker's production during the period 1805-1815 was a mere 712 rifles, not even enough to be in the "top ten".
The Board of Ordinance, on its own and at the behest of field officers, ordered production modifications during the rifle's service life. Variations included a cavalry rifle with a safety catch and swivel-mounted ramrod, the Pattern 1801 West India Rifle (a simplified version lacking a patchbox), the Pattern 1810, which was musket (.75 inch) caliber, and the 1800/15, which was modified from existing stocks to use a socket bayonet. The most common field modification was the bent stock. Riflemen in the field found that the stock was not bent sufficiently at the wrist to accommodate accurate shooting; thus stocks were bent by steaming and bending. As this technique produces temporary results (lasting approximately five years), no examples today exhibit this bend.
[edit] Usage
During the Napoleonic Wars the Baker was reported to be effective at long range due to its accuracy and dependability under battlefield conditions. In spite of its advantages, the rifle did not replace the standard British musket of the day, the venerable Brown Bess, but was instead issued exclusively to rifle regiments. These units were employed as an addition to the common practice of fielding skirmishers in advance of the main column, who were used to weaken and disrupt the waiting enemy lines (the British also had a light company in each battalion that was trained and employed as skirmishers but these were only issued with muskets). With the advantage of the greater range and accuracy provided by the Baker rifle, British skirmishers were able to defeat their French counterparts routinely and in turn disrupt the main French force by sniping officers and noncommissioned officers.
The rifle was used by what were considered elite units, such as the various battalions of the 60th Regiment (Royal American Rifles) that were deployed around the world, and the three battalions of the 95th Regiment that served under the Duke of Wellington between 1808 and 1814 in the Peninsular War and again in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo. The rifle was also supplied or privately purchased by numerous volunteer and militia units; these examples often differ from the regular issue pattern. The British Army is recorded to have been issuing Baker rifles in 1841, three years after they had ceased production.
The rifle was used in a variety of countries during the first half of the nineteenth century; indeed, Mexican forces at the Battle of the Alamo are known to have been carrying Baker rifles, as well as Brown Bess muskets. They were also supplied to the government of Nepal; some of these rifles were released from the stores of the Royal Nepalese Army in 2004. Unfortunately many had deteriorated beyond recovery.
[edit] Performance
The Baker was fairly accurate at medium distances, though the chance of hitting anything at longer ranges would be a matter of sheer luck as opposed to skill. To increase the odds of a hit, massed ranks of 60-80 muskets were fired in a volley which increased the chances of some musket balls hitting the intended target, whereas the Baker rifle was used by skirmishers facing the enemies in pairs, sniping at the enemy from positions in front of the main lines.
The accuracy of the rifle is most famously demonstrated by the action of Rifleman Thomas Plunkett (or Plunket) of the 1st Battalion, 95th Rifles, wherein he shot the French General Colbert at an indeterminate, though non-trivial, range during the Retreat to Corunna during the Peninsular War. He then shot one of the General's aides, thus proving that the success of the first round was not simply luck.
The rifle as originally manufactured was not actually expected to be accurate much beyond 200 yards; that Rifleman Plunkett and others were able to regularly hit targets at ranges considered outside of the rifle's effective range speaks to both their markmanship and to the capabilities of the rifle.
The Baker rifle could not be reloaded as fast as a musket, as the undersized lead balls had to be wrapped in patches of greased leather, or more commonly greased linen, so that they would more closely fit the lands of the rifling. The mean time to reload is dependent upon the level of training and experience possessed by the user; twenty to thirty seconds is often given as normal for a proficient rifleman. Using a hand-measured powder charge for long range shots could increase the load time to as much as a minute.
[edit] References
- Military Heritage did a feature on the Baker Rifle (Kenneth Cline, Military Heritage, December 2005, Volume 7, No. 3, p. 10, p. 12, and p. 13); ISSN 1524-8666.
- Bailey, D. W. British Military Flintlock Rifles 1740-1840. Andrew Mowbray Publishers, 2002. ISBN 1-931464-03-0.
- Blackmore, Howard L. British Military Firearms, 1650-1850. Greenhill Books, 1994. ISBN 1-85367-172-X.
