When Roy Gibbins decided that an old rifle would look good placed above the fireplace he was building, he embarked on a history trail that was to prove both interesting and unexpected. After research, a visit to bespoke shotgun makers Westley Richards enabled the purchase of a P52 rifle musket. It was part of a batch that had arrived from India, dirty and in need of refurbishment. Manufactured in Enfield, Middlesex, it was the first rifle used by the British Army where the individual parts were interchangeable. It was the last muzzle loader; that is using powder and shot. One and a half million were to be made, and to speed up production Birmingham Small Arms shared the workload. Both establishments were custom built to turn out about 1,700 rifles a week. Journeymen craftsmen would be employed to work on batches to specific measurements and standards. Weighing nine pounds with a 39-inch barrel, rifled to increase accuracy, with three spirals, the musket had a 1.577-inch bore. It was the first to have a flip-up sight; it was capable of firing three rounds a minute, and had an accuracy of three and a half feet at 800 yards.

Being interchangeable with a walnut stock, it is said the expressions lock, stock, and barrel originated here; raising your sights when aiming at a long-distance target; and cartridge paper was used to hold the powder and shot. Both sides in the American civil war used the Enfield, but UK production was to end in 1863 the year of the cotton famine. Without doubt this rifle had given the British Army a significant advantage. Our treasurer volunteered to follow the elaborate instructions used to load the musket. What followed was a hilarious demonstration, but the enormity and danger when enacting this routine under enemy fire was not lost on members. Roy Gibbins had given us a history lesson and an excellent talk to which members responded with questions and applause. On Thursday, 12 April, Les Hardy will talk about the Air Ambulance.