Queen Victoria fired the inaugural shot at the first NRA(UK) Annual Rifle Meeting in 1860, by pulling a silken cord attached to the trigger of a Whitworth rifle in a mechanical rest.

The rise of the Rifle Volunteer movement and establishment of the NRA(UK) in 1859 did however create a new market of discerning riflemen seeking an accurate long range rifle. The Whitworth rifle did though see limited use by sharpshooters during the American Civil War. Other issues though such as fouling, suitable military ammunition and cost ultimately outweighed improvements in accuracy, and although issued for troop trials the rifle was never adopted for service use. Trials at Hythe School of Musketry in 18 demonstrated the far superior accuracy of his system against that of the Enfield. Notably, and famously, his rifling was of hexagonal section and fired a mechanically fitting bullet. 577 bore and 1 in 78 twist of the P.53 Enfield. 45 bore and 1 in 20 twist rifling were optimum, compared to the. Whitworth’s trials resulted in his determining that a. Powder charge (70 grains) and bullet weight (530 grains) had been set by the Government – based on military thinking of the time. Before completing the design however it was agreed that Whitworth would conduct experiments to determine the best form of barrel these were conducted in a 500 yard indoor range. Whitworth, the foremost machine tool maker in the country at the time, agreed to design machinery for manufacturing rifle barrels. In 1854 the British Government asked Joseph Whitworth to examine problems associated with the production, performance and supply of the Pattern 1853 Enfield rifle musket.

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