Editing Rifle (section)

==Historical overview==
[[File:Marlin 35 rem 2.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Rifling in a [[.35 Remington]] microgroove rifled barrel]]
[[File:Girdled bullet and twin rifle groove.jpg|thumb|175px|right|Girdled bullet and twin rifle groove of the [[Brunswick rifle]], mid-19th century]]
The origins of rifling are difficult to trace, but some of the earliest European experiments seem to have been carried out during the 15th century. [[Archery|Archers]] had long realized that a twist added to the tail feathers of their arrows gave them greater accuracy.<ref name=":2" /> Early [[musket]]s produced large quantities of smoke and soot, which had to be cleaned from the action and bore of the musket frequently, either through the action of repeated bore scrubbing, or a deliberate attempt to create "soot grooves" that would allow for more shots to be fired from the firearm. 

Some of the earliest examples of European grooved gun barrels were reportedly manufactured during 1440, and further developed by [[Gaspard Kollner]] of Vienna {{Circa|1498}}, although other scholars allege they were a joint effort between Kollner and Augustus Kotter of [[Nuremberg]] {{Circa|1520}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.finedictionary.com/rifle.html |title=Rifle Definition, Meaning & Usage |publisher=FineDictionary.com |date=2012-02-09 |accessdate=2022-03-03}}</ref><ref>Greener, William Wellington (1885). ''The Gun and Its Development: With Notes on Shooting'', pp. 50 and 620. Cassell Books.</ref> Military commanders preferred smoothbore weapons for [[infantry]] use because rifles were much more prone to problems due to powder fouling the barrel and because they took longer to reload and fire than muskets.{{citation needed|date = June 2015}}

Rifles were created as an improvement in the accuracy of smoothbore muskets. In the early 18th century, [[Benjamin Robins]], an English mathematician, realized that an elongated bullet would retain the momentum and kinetic energy of a musket ball, but would slice through the air with greater ease.<ref>{{cite journal |author=<!--No by-line.--> |date=April 1860 |title=The How and Why of Long Shots and Straight Shots |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/68317/pg68317-images.html#The_How_and_Why_of_Long_Shots_and_Straight_Shots |journal=[[Cornhill Magazine]] |publisher=United Kingdom: Smith, Elder and Co. |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=505–512 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104021518/http://www.researchpress.co.uk/longrange/longshots.htm |archive-date=4 November 2010 |via=Updated URL provided for Project Gutenberg}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> The black powder used in early muzzle-loading rifles quickly fouled the barrel, making loading slower and more difficult. The greater range of the rifle was considered to be of little practical use since the smoke from black powder quickly obscured the battlefield and made it almost impossible to aim the weapon from a distance. Since musketeers could not afford to take the time to stop and clean their barrels in the middle of a battle, rifles were limited to use by [[Marksman|sharpshooters]] and non-military uses like hunting.{{citation needed|date = June 2015}}

[[Musket]]s were smoothbore, large caliber weapons using spherical ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Due to the high cost and great difficulty of precision manufacturing, and the need to load readily from the muzzle, the musket ball was a loose fit in the barrel. Consequently, on firing the ball bounced off the sides of the barrel when fired and the final direction on leaving the muzzle was unpredictable.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stanage|first=Justin|date=2000|title=The Rifle-Musket vs. The Smoothbore Musket, a Comparison of the Effectiveness of the Two Types of Weapons Primarily at Short Ranges.|url=https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/iusburj/article/view/19841|journal=IU South Bend Undergraduate Research Journal|volume=3|pages=84–89}}</ref>

The performance of early muskets defined the style of warfare at the time.  Due to the lack of accuracy, soldiers were deployed in long lines (thus [[line infantry]]) to fire at the opposing forces. Precise aim was thus not necessary to hit an opponent. Muskets were used for comparatively rapid, imprecisely aimed volley fire, and the average soldier could be easily trained to use them.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

In the [[Province of Pennsylvania]] USA, one of the most successful early rifles, the [[long rifle]], was developed over the course of the 18th century.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Reichmann |first=Felix |date=1945 |title=The Pennsylvania Rifle: A Social Interpretation of Changing Military Techniques |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20087726 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=3–14 |jstor=20087726 |issn=0031-4587}}</ref> Compared to the more common [[Brown Bess]], these Pennsylvania and Kentucky rifles had a tighter bore with no space between bullet and barrel, and still used balls instead of conical bullets. The balls the long rifle used were smaller, allowing the production of more rounds for a given amount of lead. These rifles also had longer barrels, allowing more accuracy, which were rifled with a [[helix|helical]] groove. These first started appearing sometime before 1740, one early example being made by Jacob Dickert, a German immigrant. By 1750 there were a number of such manufacturers in the area. The longer barrel was a departure by local gunsmiths from their German roots, allowing bullets to achieve a higher speed (as the burning gunpowder was contained longer) before emerging from the barrel.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Clark |first1=Brandon Louis |date=2011 |title=Effect of Barrel Length on the Muzzle Velocity and Report from a ''Mosin-Nagant'' 7.62x54R Rifle |type=Undergraduate honors thesis |publisher=University of South Florida |url=https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/honors_et/8 |access-date=2023-04-16}}</ref>

During the 1700s (18th century), colonial settlers, particularly those immigrating from Germany and Switzerland, adapted and improved upon their European rifles.<ref name=":3" /> The improved long rifles were used for precise shooting, aiming, and firing at individual targets, instead of the musket's use for imprecise fire.<ref name="npr.org">{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98578531|title=Book Explores History of the American Rifle|newspaper=NPR.org|access-date=2017-02-11}}</ref>  During the American Revolution, the colonist troops favoured these more accurate rifles while their use was resisted by the British and Hessian troops.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Reichmann |first=Felix |date=1945 |title=The Pennsylvania Rifle: A Social Interpretation of Changing Military Techniques. |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20087726 |journal=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=3–14 |doi= 10.5215/pennmaghistbio.141.1.0069|jstor=20087726 |issn=0031-4587 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525000000/http://www.jstor.org/stable/20087726 |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |via=Newly Available and Processed Collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania}} [http://dx.doi.org/10.5215/pennmaghistbio.141.1.0069 Alt URL]</ref>

[[File:Henry_Rifle.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|A [[Henry rifle]], the first successful [[lever action]] [[repeating rifle]]]]

By the time of the [[American Revolutionary War]], these rifles were commonly used by frontiersmen, and Congress authorized the establishment of ten companies of riflemen. One of the most critical units was [[Morgan's Riflemen]], led by [[Daniel Morgan]]. This sharpshooting unit eventually proved itself integral to the [[Battle of Saratoga]], and in the southern states where General Morgan commanded as well. Taking advantage of the rifle's improved accuracy, Morgan's sharpshooters picked off cannoneers and officers, reducing the impact of enemy artillery.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/longrifle.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070329165816/http://www.revolutionarywararchives.org/longrifle.html| url-status = usurped| archive-date = 29 March 2007| title = Those Tall American Patriots and Their Long Rifles}}</ref> This kind of advantage was considered pivotal in many battles, such as [[The Battle of Cowpens|the battles of Cowpens]], Saratoga, and [[Battle of King's Mountain|King's Mountain]].<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.breathittcounty.com/01-08023.html| title = A Short History Of The Kentucky Long Rifle}}</ref>

Later during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], the British [[Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)|95th Regiment (Green Jackets)]] and [[60th Regiment of Foot|60th Regiment, (Royal American)]], as well as sharpshooters and riflemen during the [[War of 1812]], used the rifle to great effect during skirmishing.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}} Because of a slower loading time than a musket, they were not adopted by the whole army. Since rifles were used by sharpshooters who did not routinely fire over other men's shoulders, long length was not required to avoid the forward line. A shorter length made a handier weapon in which tight-fitting balls did not have to be rammed so far down the barrel.<ref>{{cite web|title=Round Balls In Fast Twist Rifles {{!}} White Muzzleloading|url=http://whitemuzzleloading.com/article.php?id=27&title=Round+Balls+In+Fast+Twist+Rifles|access-date=2021-03-15|website=whitemuzzleloading.com}}</ref>

The invention of the [[Minié ball]] in the 1840s solved the slow loading problem, and in the 1850s and 1860s rifles quickly replaced muskets on the battlefield. Many rifles, often referred to as [[rifled musket]]s, were very similar to the muskets they replaced, but the military also experimented with other designs. [[Breech-loading weapon]]s proved to have a much faster rate of fire than muzzleloaders, causing military forces to abandon muzzle loaders in favor of breech-loading designs in the late 1860s. In the later part of the 19th century, rifles were generally single-shot, breech-loading guns, designed for aimed, discretionary fire by individual soldiers. Then, as now, rifles had a stock, either fixed or folding, to be braced against the shoulder when firing.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

The adoption of [[Cartridge (firearms)|cartridges]] and breech-loading in the 19th century was concurrent with the general adoption of rifles. In the early part of the 20th century, soldiers were trained to shoot accurately over long ranges with high-powered cartridges. World War I [[Lee–Enfield]] rifles (among others) were equipped with long-range 'volley sights' for massed firing at ranges of up to {{convert|1.6|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}. Individual shots were unlikely to hit, but a platoon firing repeatedly could produce a 'beaten ground' effect similar to light artillery or machine guns.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mull |first=Teresa |title=Setting the Sights on the British Lee Metford and Lee Enfield Volley Sight |url=https://gunpowdermagazine.com/setting-the-sights-on-the-british-lee-metford-and-lee-enfield-volley-sight/ |access-date=2025-01-06 |website=Gunpowder Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>

Currently, rifles are the most common firearm in general use for [[hunting]] (with the exception of bird hunting, where [[shotguns]] are favored). Rifles derived from military designs have long been popular with civilian shooters.<ref>{{cite book|title=Shooter's Bible Guide to Tactical Firearms: A Comprehensive Guide to Precision Rifles and Long-Range Shooting Gear| first= Robert A. |last=Sadowski|publisher=Skyhorse |year= 2015|isbn =9781632209351}}</ref>