| Rook rifle | |
|---|---|
 Typical single shot rook rifle actions. | |
| Type | Hunting rifle |
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1883 |
| Manufacturer | |
| Specifications | |
| Action | Single-shot, with break-open or Martini versions |
The rook rifle, originally called the rook and rabbit rifle, is an obsolete English single-shot small calibre rifle intended for shooting small game, particularly rook shooting.
The rook rifle was designed to be light enough to be carried for a walk in the country, accurate and powerful enough to take small game and usually elegant in balance, fit and finish. [1] Almost always single-shot, various actions were used including break-open actions, but the miniature Martini, a scaled-down version of the military Martini-Henry, was a favourite due to its strength and accuracy. [2]
The first rook rifles fired .295 in (7.5 mm) calibre 80 gr (5.2 g) bullets, [3] [4] although subsequently a number of cartridges were developed for this purpose ranging in calibre from .22 to .38 in (5.6–9.7 mm) and firing 40 to 145 gr (2.6–9.4 g) bullets at the usual black powder velocities of 1,200 to 1,500 ft/s (370–460 m/s). [2]
The rook rifle was developed in 1883 by the gun-makers Holland & Holland as a breech-loading equivalent of the muzzle-loading pea rifle. [2] Holland & Holland made a particular specialty of producing rook rifles, reportedly selling around 5,000 of them in the late 1800s. Westley Richards and W.W. Greener were also noted for their rook rifles. [2]
Rook rifles were used extensively both in Britain and throughout the British Empire with large numbers being exported to many Commonwealth countries and colonial territories. [5]
The rise in popularity of the .22 Long Rifle cartridge in the United Kingdom spelled the end of the rook rifle and its cartridges; due to its combination of accuracy, lower noise, and economy, .22 LR superseded the various English centrefire rook rifle rounds in the early 1900s. [6] Over the same period miniature rifle target shooting moved towards shorter ranges and indoor competitions, again being better suited to the .22 Long Rifle round. [7]
Due to the increasing scarcity of rook rifle cartridges, many rook rifles were converted to smoothbore shotguns, usually to .410 bores, and many others were sleeved down to .22 in (5.6 mm) calibre. [8]
As indicated by its name, the rook rifle's intended quarry was small game including rooks and rabbits. [1]
The rook tends to live in colonies known as rookeries, which over time grow and become nuisances in country areas. In rural Britain it was previously the practice to hold rook shoots where the juvenile birds, known as branchers, were shot before they were able to fly. [5] These events were both very social and a source of food (the rook becomes inedible once mature) as the rook and rabbit pie was considered a great delicacy. [5]
Whilst usually limited to smaller game, the larger calibre cartridges are very capable for hunting larger game such as roe deer, smaller antelope and similar sized game. [1] [5]
A rook rifle features prominently in Agatha Christie's short story The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor .
The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of the British Armed Forces from its official adoption in 1895 until 1957.
The Martini–Henry is a breech-loading single-shot rifle with a lever action that was used by the British Army. It first entered service in 1871, eventually replacing the Snider–Enfield, a muzzle-loader converted to the cartridge system. Martini–Henry variants were used throughout the British Empire for 47 years. It combined the dropping-block action first developed by Henry O. Peabody and improved by the Swiss designer Friedrich von Martini, combined with the polygonal rifling designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry.
The term express was first applied to hunting rifles and ammunition beginning in the mid-19th century, to indicate a rifle or ammunition capable of higher than typical velocities. The early express cartridges used a heavy charge of black powder to propel a lightweight, often hollow point bullet, at high velocities to maximize point blank range. Later the express cartridges were loaded with nitrocellulose-based gunpowder, leading to the Nitro Express cartridges, the first of which was the .450 Nitro Express.
The double rifle, also known as a double-barreled rifle, is a rifle with two barrels mounted parallel to each other that can be fired simultaneously or sequentially in quick succession. Synonymous with big game hunting found primarily in Africa and Asia, the double rifle is a sporting weapon with very little military heritage.
The .577/450 Martini–Henry is a black powder, centrefire rifle cartridge. It was the standard British service cartridge from the early 1870s that went through two changes from the original brass foil wrapped case to the drawn brass of two parts, the case and the primer. The .577/450 Martini–Henry was introduced with the Martini–Henry, in service it succeeded the .577 Snider cartridge and was used by all arms of the British armed forces as well British colonial forces throughout the British Empire until it was itself succeeded by the .303 British cartridge after an unsuccessful trial of a .402 calibre.
The .600 Nitro Express (15.7x76mmR) is a large bore Nitro Express rifle cartridge developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co for the purpose of hunting large game.
The origins of the modern British military rifle are within its predecessor the Brown Bess musket. While a musket was largely inaccurate over 100 yards (91 m), due to a lack of rifling and a generous tolerance to allow for muzzle-loading, it was cheap to produce and could be loaded quickly. The use of volley or mass firing by troops meant that the rate of fire took precedence over accuracy.
The Martini Cadet is a centrefire single-shot cadet rifle produced in the United Kingdom by BSA and W.W. Greener for the use of Australian military Cadets. Although considered a miniature version of the Martini–Henry, the internal mechanism was redesigned by Auguste Francotte to permit removal from the receiver as a single unit. Chambered for the .310 Cadet cartridge, it was used from 1891 to 1955. They were also sold to the public thereafter, as the BSA No.4, 4a, 4b and 5 in other calibres like the .297/230 and .22 rimfire. The rifles will often chamber the similarly sized .32-20 Winchester and fire with some accuracy. However the 32/20 is actually 0.312 cal and the 310 is 0.323 cal. Due to this 10 thousandths difference the accuracy of a .32/20 round cannot be guaranteed.
The .310 Cadet, also known as the .310 Greener, or the .310 Martini, is a centerfire rifle cartridge, introduced in 1900 by W.W. Greener as a target round for the Martini Cadet rifle. Firing a 120 grain heeled lead projectile at 1350 ft/s the round is similar in performance to the .32-20 Winchester and some rifles may chamber both rounds with some accuracy. The full metal jacketed round was used in cadet rifles in Australia and New Zealand after early 20th-century Defence Acts. In New Zealand, after the start of the Boer War, a cadet corps had been started; by 1901 it was recommended that membership be compulsory. 500 Westley-Richards miniature Martini–Henry rifles were available by October 1902, and 5000 by April 1903 (Star). Such rifles gained popularity in Australia, New Zealand and the United States when thousands of Martini Cadet rifles were sold by the Australian government after World War II. A shorter version used as a humane killer was used in pistols. Known as the .310 cattle killer, invented by WW Greener, it was shorter in that a .310 cadet could not be accidentally chambered into the humane killer pistol.
The .400 Jeffery Nitro Express or .450/400 Nitro Express 3-inch is a medium bore, bottlenecked, Nitro Express cartridge designed by W.J. Jeffery & Co in 1902, intended for use in single shot and double rifles.
The .333 Jeffery and .333 Jeffery Flanged are medium-bore rifle cartridges developed by W.J. Jeffery & Co and introduced in 1908.
The .450 Black Powder Express, also known as the .450 31⁄4-inch BPE, was a popular black powder cartridge in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The .255 Jeffery Rook, also known as the .255 Jeffery Rook Rifle, is an obsolete small bore firearm cartridge.
The .300 Sherwood, also known as the .300 Extra Long and the .300 Westley, is an obsolete centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Westley Richards.
The .300 Rook, also known as the .295 Rook, is an obsolete centerfire rifle cartridge.
The .297/250 Rook is an obsolete centerfire rifle cartridge developed by Holland & Holland.
The .360 No. 5 Rook is an obsolete centerfire rifle cartridge.
The .380 Long [9.8 x 24mmR], also known as the .380 Rook rifle, is an obsolete centerfire rifle cartridge.
The ball and shot gun, often also known by the marketing name paradox gun, is a shotgun capable of firing both shot and solid projectiles. First built by Holland and Holland, the term paradox is a proprietary name applied to these guns by Holland and Holland.
The .297/230 Morris Short and .297/230 Morris Long are two obsolete centerfire firearm cartridges developed as sub-caliber training rounds for the British Martini–Henry rifle.
