Mont Storm Rifle
Braendlin & Sommerville · Rifle · Out Of Production · 1860
Also known as: Mont Storm Enfield, Mont-Storm breech-loading rifle, Mont Storm Patent Rifle, Montgomery Storm rifle
Overview
The Mont Storm Rifle was a mid-nineteenth-century British capping breech-loading rifle built around the self-sealing breech system patented by American inventor William Mont Storm (US Patent 15,307 of July 1856; British Patent No. 2933 of 29 November 1860). The design converted the muzzle-loading Pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket into a breechloader by fitting a hinged, tip-up breech block at the rear of the .577 barrel, into which a fully combustible 'skin' cartridge of animal intestine bound with silk cord was loaded; the existing nipple, percussion cap and hammer fired the round, and on firing an open-ended metal cylinder in the chamber mouth was meant to expand and seal against gas escape. The conversion retained the host rifle's 30-inch (762 mm) five-groove barrel, two iron barrel bands, fixed blade front sight, 1,000-yard folding ladder rear sight and muzzle bayonet lug. Built and later redeveloped by Francis Augustus Braendlin of London (1863-65), it was one of the leading contenders in the British Army's breech-loading conversion trials of the early-to-mid 1860s.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 4000 g (141.1 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1245 mm (49.02") |
| Barrel Length | 762 mm (30.00") |
| Action Type | Break Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Percussion |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 1 rounds |
| Muzzle Velocity | 330 m/s (1083 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 1690 J (1246 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 400 m (437 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 900 m (984 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 8 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Rifling Twist | 1981 mm (77.99") |
| Number of Grooves | 5 |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .577 Enfield · primary — also known as .577 Enfield combustible cartridge, 14.7mm Enfield
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Single Round Breech
- Safety mechanisms: Half Cock Hammer
- Features: Tip Up Breech Block, Muzzle Loader Conversion, External Percussion Lock, Combustible Cartridge, Ladder Sight, Bayonet Lug
Service history
Operators
- British Army (trials)
Production
Production years: 1860-1866
Produced in small numbers as a trials and conversion design (rifle, naval and carbine variants) by makers including Braendlin and Barnett of London; briefly favoured in the British conversion trials but never adopted as a general-issue service rifle
Origin
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Designer: William Mont Storm
Discontinued: 1866
Notes
A capping (percussion-fired) breech conversion rather than a metallic-cartridge design. The Mont Storm was actually the system first selected from the British conversion trials, but its fragile and complex animal-gut skin cartridges proved impractical for service, and by 1866 the simpler Snider trapdoor (which used a robust self-contained metallic cartridge) was adopted instead. Various makers (Braendlin, Barnett, others) produced trials and commercial examples in rifle, naval and carbine forms; overall length and weight are derived from the Pattern 1853 Enfield host rifle, as period figures specific to the Mont Storm remain sparse.
Background
When the British Army went hunting for a way to turn its huge stock of Crimean-era Enfield muzzle-loaders into breechloaders, American inventor William Mont Storm was an early front-runner, offering a tip-up breech block and a translucent skin cartridge of silk-bound animal gut grafted onto the existing rifle. His system was actually picked first - but the delicate gut cartridges tore and fouled too easily for field service, and Jacob Snider's rugged metallic-cartridge trapdoor stole the prize. The Mont Storm faded into obscurity as a footnote in the race that produced the Snider-Enfield.