I acquired this intriguing small book at an auction, and I'm quite captivated by its insights into ballistics from the late 19th century. Perhaps we should begin with the title of the book. What does "Hythe" refer to?

In the context of musketry, particularly during the 18th and 19th centuries, a "hythe" refers to a specific type of target used in rifle practice. The term "Hythe" comes from the School of Musketry at Hythe in Kent, England, which was established in 1853 to train British Army marksmen.


A Hythe target is characterized by:

• Shape and Size: It's usually a rectangular target, although specific dimensions can vary.

• Scoring Areas: The target has multiple scoring zones, typically including a bullseye at the center surrounded by rings or concentric circles for different scores.

• Materials: Initially, targets might have been paper or cloth, but with the evolution of training methods, they could be made from materials like wood or metal, especially for close range or repeated use.

The term has become synonymous with any target used at the Hythe School of Musketry or in similar training scenarios, focusing on precision shooting under controlled conditions.


Training at Hythe was rigorous, emphasizing not just the marksmanship but also the discipline and tactics of musketry. This included drills, range estimation, and firing in various positions to simulate combat conditions. The school's influence made "Hythe" a term recognized in military contexts for exceptional shooting standards and training methodologies.

The School of Musketry at Hythe in Kent, England, was a significant military training establishment focused on improving the marksmanship and musketry skills of British soldiers.

Image of Officers at the School of Musketry, Hythe, 1862:

• Establishment: The school was founded in 1853 to address the need for better musketry training in the British Army, particularly following the introduction of the Minié rifle. This was a period when the effectiveness of infantry was increasingly being determined by their accuracy with firearms.

• Location and Purpose: Hythe, located on the coast of Kent, was chosen for its wide sandy beach, which was ideal for long-range shooting practice with bullets flying harmlessly out to sea. The school aimed to standardize and elevate the level of rifle proficiency across the army through rigorous training programs.

• Training and Curriculum: The curriculum included instruction in rifle mechanics, marksmanship, and tactics. Students underwent training in various shooting positions, range estimation, and the "mad minute," where soldiers were expected to fire 15-20 rounds accurately within 60 seconds. This training was critical in World War I, where the skills taught helped offset the German army's early advantage with machine guns.

• Notable Developments and Events:
  Maxim Gun Training: The school was among the first to introduce training on the Maxim gun in 1889, highlighting its role in adapting to new technologies in warfare.

• First World War: During WWI, Hythe was central to training machine gunners and marksmen, including those for the Vickers machine gun, which was a direct descendant of the Maxim.

• Post-War Evolution: After WWI, the School of Musketry was renamed the Small Arms School in 1919 to reflect its broader role in small arms training, including machine guns.

• Cultural Impact: The term "Hythe" became synonymous with high standards of marksmanship within the British military, and the school's influence was felt in competitions and the training of soldiers worldwide. The school's methodologies contributed significantly to military tactics and the broader understanding of combat effectiveness.

• Legacy: The School of Musketry was eventually moved from Hythe in 1968, and the site has since been repurposed, with much of the area now occupied by a supermarket. However, its legacy in military training remains notable.

The School of Musketry at Hythe played a pivotal role in the evolution of British military marksmanship and was instrumental in adapting to new firearms and tactics over time. Its methods and the culture it fostered helped shape modern infantry training techniques.

Great info! The Hythe grounds are now a supermarket?

Chapter 1:
The chapter begins with a summary how practice makes perfect. If you don't know what you are doing you are going to waste a bunch of lead trying. It also describes the confusing rifle purchasing landscape at that time and buyers unaware of the different barrel and rifling options.

There are two distinct classes of rifle:
1. the bullet, formed of the softest and purest lead, is expanded into the grooves in the barrel at the moment of the explosion (minie')
2. the bullet, for its form, is adapted by accurate mechanical fit to take the required revolution of its axis

To allow the facility in loading the bullet must be smaller than the barrel. They defined the term "windage" as the space between the circumference of the bullet and the sides of the bore.


This space is emphasized as it is apparent that it caused a considerable loss of propelling power from the escaped gas on one side of the ball.

The direction of the ball is based on the moment of its departure from the gun, entirely dependent on the side of the muzzle against which it strikes last. This results in a wild flight of a musket ball that could strike hundreds of feet apart during testing.

If possible to eliminate windage (optimal conditions of perfectly formed and hard musket balls) performance would be tolerable however after a few discharged the barrel would become foul from the products for combustion limiting the potential number of rounds that could be fired.

Rifling or Grooving the barrel was devised to resolve this challenge. Rifling was initially consisted with a number of straight grooves or channels. It was believed that adding degrees of rotation resulted in greater precision shooting was likely discovered by accident.

Theory translation: The axis around which the bullet spins is not based on chance but is aligned with the bullet's direction of travel. This means the air resistance that the front of the bullet faces is spread evenly around the center of gravity because it acts the same on all sides.

Furthermore, if there happen to be any imperfections on the bullet's surface, its rotation around its axis will expose these flaws one after another to the effects of both gravity and air. This action actually helps to counteract the deviations that these imperfections might cause.

The first production use of rifling was done by Germany in the latter part of the fifteenth century (1450 to 1499).

Early rifling evangelists:

Many people have have claimed to have invented the rifle but this book references a Koster, of Nuremberg as the father of rifling. There is no direct mention of a "Koster" from Nuremberg in broader historical contexts related to gunsmithing in the fifteenth century. Thus, there might be a confusion or misnaming with Augustus Kotter, or "Koster" might not be a well-documented or recognized figure in the context of historical gunsmithing in Nuremberg during that time.

Augustus Kotter is credited with introducing spiral-grooved barrels, or rifling, around 1520. This innovation allowed for increased accuracy and range of firearms by making the bullet spin as it traveled down the barrel. It's noted that this principle was possibly adapted from contemporary crossbows, which used a similar mechanism for precision. However, the exact relationship between Kotter's work and earlier crossbow designs is not clear. Given the timeline, Augustus Kotter's contributions would place him in the sixteenth century rather than the fifteenth.

Benjamin Robins, an early 18th-century mathematician, is renowned for his extensive research, which is regarded as one of the finest treatises on gunnery. "Treatises" refers to written works that deal extensively with a subject, providing a comprehensive and systematic analysis or discussion. These are often formal and scholarly in nature, intended to explore, explain, or argue a particular topic in detail. In academic or scientific contexts, treatises serve to compile, analyze, and sometimes advance knowledge on specific subjects.


Benjamin Robins (1707 – 1751) was an English mathematician, engineer, and military theorist, recognized for his significant contributions to ballistics, engineering, and mathematics

• Early Life and Education: Born in Bath, England, Robins initially aimed for a career in law but soon turned towards mathematics and science. His mathematical talents were recognized early, leading to his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society at the age of 20, in 1727.

• Gunnery and Ballistics: Robins is best known for his work on the science of gunnery, particularly with his publication "New Principles of Gunnery" in 1742. This treatise was groundbreaking because it introduced experimental methods to the study of ballistics. He was the first to use a ballistic pendulum to measure the velocity of projectiles, thereby providing empirical data to what was previously largely theoretical. His work laid the groundwork for modern ballistics by accounting for factors like air resistance, which were often overlooked or inadequately understood before his research.

I just ordered a copy of the book on ebay.

• Mathematical Contributions: Beyond gunnery, Robins contributed to various fields of mathematics. His interests included algebra, geometry, and the mechanics of solids and fluids. He worked on problems related to the calculus of variations, which has applications in physics and engineering.

• Military Engineering: Robins also made contributions to military engineering. He served as an engineer with the British East India Company, where he applied his knowledge to fortification design and artillery placement. His practical experience in India further informed his theoretical and experimental work.

• Philosophical Transactions: Robins contributed many papers to the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, covering a range of topics from mathematics to experimental physics.

• Legacy: After his death in 1751, his work continued to influence both military science and physics. His methods and insights into ballistics were adopted and expanded upon by later scientists and engineers, notably Leonhard Euler, who acknowledged Robins' work in his own treatises.

Benjamin Robins' approach to combining mathematical theory with empirical experimentation set a precedent for scientific inquiry that was ahead of its time, significantly impacting the development of both theoretical and applied sciences.

His observation finds that "that the degree of spirality, the number of threads, or the depth of the channels, is not regulated by any invariable rule, but differs according to the country where the work is performed and the caprice of the artificer"

I believe that means that at the time the twist rate, number of grooves, or how deep they are, wasn't set by a fixed rule. It changed based on which country the work is done in and what the maker felt like doing.

He the describes "in some parts of Germany and Switzerland an improvement is made by cutting a piece of very thin leather or fustian (a type of heavy, durable fabric, historically made from cotton, linen, or a blend of both), in a circular shape, somewhat larger than the bore; this being greased on one side, is laid upon the muzzle with its greasy part downwards, and the bullet being place upon it, it is then forced down the barrel with it. The riflings should for this purpose be shallow, and the bullets not too large."

His observations include detailed study of loading abilities and the introduction and limited use of breech loading firearms and their benefits.

"We have had them also without any groove, as in the case of the elliptie bore (Lancaster's) or as in the hexagonal bore introduced by Whitworth (a celebrated engineer)."

He goes on to describe his background in testing weapons from many countries identifying England as the top producer in terms of quality and accuracy.

"The Kentucky rifle, usually of small internal diameter, will, it is true, work admirably up to perhaps 300 yards. The German rifles may be met with, of still larger bore, that will send a ball, with tolerable precision, considerably further, and the Swiss and Tyrolese (inhabitants of Tyrol, a historical region in the Alps that spans across modern-day Austria and Italy) having adopted cylindro-conical bullets are gradually extending and improving their practice; but as yet I am very confident that they are for the most part considerably behind us (England)."

"The rifling, known technically as the 'gaining' or 'gathering twist' is said to be of American origin." He goes on to bash it "Having tried numerous rifles on this plan, I quite concur with General Jacob in his condemnation of the system, and would recommend no one again to waste money by experimenting in this direction. The principle in question is obviously unphilosophical, for, besides altering the shape of the bullet, it causes increased resistance at the muzzle, the very place where relief is wanted."

I sense much anti-American sentiment and we're only on chapter one. I suspect they were correct but I think this is the perfect point to shift gears and see how this quote holds up today.

In the post above the English mathematicians were clear that progressive twist rifling was nonsense. I did some research on how that position holds up today.

The "gaining" rifling pattern, also known as gain twist or progressive twist rifling, refers to a rifling configuration where the rate of twist increases from the breech to the muzzle of the firearm.

• Concept: Gain twist rifling starts with a slower twist at the chamber end of the barrel and progressively increases the rate of twist as the bullet moves toward the muzzle. This means the bullet rotates more quickly as it travels down the barrel.

• Historical Use: Gain twist rifling was used as early as the American Civil War. For instance, early Colt Army and Navy revolvers employed gain twist rifling. It was also seen in some military applications like the 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun used in fighter jets and the larger 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun in the A-10 Thunderbolt II.

• Advantages: Reduced Bullet Deformation: The gradual increase in spin rate is thought to be gentler on the bullet, potentially reducing deformation as the bullet engages the rifling.

• Pressure Management: In high-volume fire scenarios, like those from Gatling guns, gain twist can help manage chamber pressures, allowing for slightly lighter gun designs due to less stress at the breech.

• Manufacturing Complexity: Gain twist rifling is more difficult and thus more expensive to produce than uniform twist rifling. This complexity arises from the need to precisely vary the rate of twist along the barrel's length.

• Consistency and Performance: While theoretically beneficial, in practice, gain twist rifling hasn't consistently shown superior performance over uniform twist rifling for accuracy or other metrics. Some historical accounts suggest it was seen as a "flash in the pan" with mixed results in terms of actual improvement in shooting performance.

• Modern Application: Although less common today, gain twist rifling is still seen in some specialized firearms. For example, one modern handgun, the Smith & Wesson 460XVR, uses gain twist rifling to help minimize throat erosion due to its extremely high-pressure cartridge.

• Discussion and Debate: There's ongoing discussion among gun enthusiasts and experts about the real-world benefits of gain twist rifling. Some argue that the theoretical advantages don't always translate into practical shooting improvements, with many modern firearms sticking to uniform twist rates for simplicity and consistency.

In summary, while gain twist rifling offers an interesting approach to bullet stabilization and pressure management, its use is limited by manufacturing complexity and the lack of universally acknowledged performance benefits over standard rifling methods. I believe this indicates England's position to avoid was warranted but many of their findings and assumptions were inaccurate and potentially propaganda.

@Benjamin Robins, what do you think of progressive twist rifling now?

As written:
"With regard to the length of barrel, there will probably always be a great variety of opinion. It is palpable that the effect of all errors affecting the flight of the ball, ether on the part of the shooter or of his rifle, must be proportionate to the time during which the causes act; thus the effect of the recoil must be twice as great in a rifle forty inches long as it would be in one of twenty inches, for the gun mush have been acting on the shoulder, and the unsteadiness of the hand must have been acting on the gun, twice as long in one case as in the other."

Simplified:

People will likely always disagree on the best barrel length for rifles. It's clear that any mistake, whether from the shooter or the rifle itself, will have a bigger impact the longer the bullet is in flight. For example, recoil will be twice as significant in a 40-inch barrel compared to a 20-inch one because the gun is pushing back against the shoulder, and any unsteadiness in the shooter's hand affects the gun for twice as long.

As written:
"Being greatly averse to anything superfluous about a rifle, whether intended for military or for sporting purposes, I strongly deprecate a needless weight of metal at a part where it can be of little, if of any service; though too much solidity, too much iron, within reasonable limits, cannot well be given to the barrel in the vicinity of the chamber; while the lower part of the breech should be made at least of twice the usual thickness, if you wish to save your shoulder from the effects of recoil. As a general rule, the heavier the rifle (that is, from 7 to 10 lbs.) the steadier and firmer it can be held, and consequently the better it will shoot. There is no greater fallacy than to expect a light rifle to perform well at long ranges and with strong charges."

Simplified translation:
I'm against adding unnecessary weight to a rifle, whether it's for military or hunting use. Extra metal where it's not needed doesn't help, but you should make the barrel thicker near the chamber and the lower part of the breech much thicker to reduce the kickback. As a rule, a heavier rifle, weighing between 7 to 10 pounds, will be steadier, allowing for better shooting. It's a mistake to think a light rifle will shoot well over long distances or with powerful ammo.