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British Firearms (Pre. 1914) >> Muzzle Loading - Sporting Guns and Rifles >> A Typical original Whitworth Hex Mould
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Message started by Bill_Curtis on 03/18/06 at 11:24pm

Title: A Typical original Whitworth Hex Mould
Post by Bill_Curtis on 03/18/06 at 11:24pm

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v711/whitworth451/WhitHexMould112.jpg

Attached is a picture of my Whitworth Hexagonal Mould.

Weight of mould with handle and cut off plate is 12 ounces (343 grammes)
Base plug and handle is 4 ounces (114 grammes) and push out rod for the bullet is 3.3 ounces (95 grammes).

Inscription reads WHITWORTH / MANCHESTER / 112 and on the other side
530.G. C .470 / F .440

These last refer the measurements across the corners and flats.

This mould is part of a cased set from 1859.

No mould serial number ever agrees with rifle serial numbers.

Title: Re: A Typical original Whitworth Hex Mould
Post by dbm on 03/19/06 at 8:46am

Thanks for posting the picture Bill. Do you know, were the moulds only made available with the cased sets or could they be purchased seperately?

I have heard anecdotal comment that the original hex bullets were made from extruded wire to the right twist, then cut to length and nose and base machined to shape. Does any evidence of this still exist - either documentary or even machinery?

David

Title: Re: A Typical original Whitworth Hex Mould
Post by Bill_Curtis on 03/19/06 at 11:23am

Surviving invoices for Whitworths detail each accessory supplied item by item including the case itself. This suggests that if anyone wished to buy a mould by itself then - no problemo ! (other than having to pay for it). The completely separate numbering sequence for moulds confirms this.
I, too, have heard that the bullets were machined from extruded hexagonal wire but, on balance, I favour the the production by Anderson's Bullet Machines as being more likely. The absence of original factory records makes life very difficult.
When one looks at the mass production by automatic lathes in the period of boxwood plugs for the cavities of P/53 bullets, it is easy to imagine that such facilities as bullet turning could have been done.