A Conversation for An Introduction to Military Small Arms Evolution

Calibre

Post 1

Uncle Ghengis

From my (incomplete) understanding of the matter...

Calibre has a few different meanings. In the case of small arms I believe it means diameter of the bore of a gun measured in 100ths of an inch.

(In larger artillery pieces it can sometimes be a reference to the length of a gun expressed as multiples of the guns bore. So for example the US Naval 5-inch 38cal gun is 38x5" = 190 inches long) (15ft 10ins)

Is this correct ? Does this make sense >




Calibre

Post 2

pedrocortes

There are indeed many ways of expressing bore or internal barrel diameter. Caliber in smallarms is typically expressed either in 100ths of an inch or millimeters, but historically it was also expressed as the number lead balls of a given diameter required to equal a pound. So, for example, a 32 bore would be a .54 caliber arm while a 12 bore would be a .75 caliber arm.

I'm not familiar with naval gunnery nomenclature, consequently, someone else will have to address that portion of your comments. Historically, I believe artillery, whether naval or field, bores were expressed as the weight of the cannon ball in pounds.


Calibre

Post 3

Who?

The method of describing barrel length as 'calibres' refers to the rifled part of the barrel or from the end of the case or charge seat to the muzzle for smooth bores. (Bofors 40/70 = 40mm calibre x 70 length)

The Minie bullet was expanded by a wooden plug blown into the base cavity by the charge. It wasn't until later (the Enfield system of 1854) that the hollow base was expanded by the carge alone.


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