Jacob’s rifles and the Jacob Double Rifle,In the 1830′s the Brunswick rifle was the common rifle of

Jacob’s rifles and the Jacob Double Rifle,In the 1830′s the Brunswick rifle was the common rifle of British sharpshooter regiments. Invented before the development of the Minie ball, the Brunswick rifle featured a conical bullet with two studs, which fit into two grooves rifled into the barrel. An officer of the British Indian Army named Col. John Jacob felt the Brunswick rifle was not accurate enough. In the early 1850′s Jacob began designing an improved version of the Brunswick rifle bullet that would be more accurate and have greater range. Jacob rejected the newly invented Minie ball, believing it to be good enough for the common infantryman, but not good enough for a skilled sharpshooter. Jacob invented a new .524 caliber bullet and new gun to fire it. The bullet featured four studs, which in turn were fired from a rifle featuring four grooves. The bullet was also elongated more than other bullets of the time.Jacob had a fascination for double rifles, thus his new “Jacob rifle” was a side by side double barrel rifle which used a percussion-lock mechanism. With a very stout powder charge, It was found in testing that the rifle could accurately hit targets up to 1,200 yards away when fired by a skilled rifleman.  Sights were graduated for a maximum range of 2,000 yards. In addition, the Jacob rifle featured a bayonet mount, with which a special sword bayonet was mounted. Sword bayonets had always been a traditional weapon of the rifleman. To further the Jacob rifle’s capabilities, Jacob invented a special exploding bullet which featured an insert filled with fulminated mercury. The bullet was not meant to kill enemy soldiers, but as an anti-material rifle. Such targets of the exploding bullet included wagons transporting barrels of gunpowder, ammunition, explosive shells, it was even tested in disabling artillery caissons with precision shots.  Jacob conceptualized a long range rifle that would be able to deny the enemy of vital supplies, in essence it was a mid 19th century version of the .50 caliber long range sniper rifle.In 1858 Jacob raised a regiment of Indian sharpshooters, all of whom were armed with his double barrel rifle. John Jacob died unexpectedly mere months later, after which his regiment was re-issued with standard military arms. His rifles were sold as military surplus, mostly to big game hunters. -- source link

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