well into the era of the self-contained cartridge.
by garry james | photography byjillmarlow
april 2015 G&A 79
THE SUCCESS of the Westley Richards capping breechloader is all the more fasci-nating when one realizes that its perfec-tion came at a time when it really should have become instantly obsolete.
Such was not the case. This percussion, paper-cartridge rife really hit its stride during the ascendance of self-contained metallic ammunition when other arms of its ilk were being converted or sold sur-plus, and it continued in service virtually to the close of the end of the 20th century.
The Birmingham, England, frm of Westley Richards (which is still in oper-ation) was founded in 1812 by William Westley Richards. In 1840, the company’s helm was turned over to William’s son, Westley Richards, and under his man-agement the company thrived. While never enjoying the caché of some of the better-known London makers such as Purdey and Holland & Holland, none-theless Westley Richards produced a large number and variety of highly regarded sporting arms, along the way amassing a
goodly quantity of important and valuable patents.
Military interests were not forgotten either, perhaps one of the most important being WR’s patent number 633 of 1858 for a percussion breechloading rife/carbine of unique design. The action involved a spring-loaded lever that extended across the top of the stock over a portion of the wrist. Attached to the forward under-part of the lever was a fore-and-aft sliding breechblock that incorporated a brass plunger at its front. The lever, when in the open, upright position, was responsible for the arm’s nickname, “Monkey Tail.”
The effectiveness of this clever mechanism was attendant upon
a special cartridge that involved a conical projectile, charge and paper wrapper, at the base of which was a greased felt wad designed to completely seal the breech.
The round was ignited by a musket-size percussion cap and standard external hammer.
The rear inside of the action body was cut with a sloping opening into which a correspondingly angled lug on the rear of the breechblock nestled when the lever was closed. When the gun fred, the block moved slightly rearward, effectively locking the action. Due to the force of the explosion, the felt wad is pushed back, expanding against the plunger, preventing gases from escaping.
Initially, the plunger was equipped with a hook to draw out the wad, but this proved unsatisfactory, and, similar to the Callisher & Terry Carbine, which also employed a wadded cartridge, it was found more effective to push the used wad forward with a subsequent round, where it provided a cleaning function with the next fring.
At the time of the Monkey Tail’s introduction, the standard British cavalry carbine was a short variant of the 1853 Enfeld rifed muzzleloader. This does not mean that authorities were not looking to the future, and almost concurrently with the Pattern 1856 Cavalry Carbine, which was only meant to hold a space until something better came along anyway, improved breechload-ers such as the 1855 Sharps, Starr, Callisher & Terry and Greene were being studied, some being issued in limited quantities to selected units for further evaluation.
The lever, in its upward position, shows how the Westley Richards breechloader gained its nickname, “Monkey Tail.” The brass plunger, mounted on its steel sliding block — a feature integral to proper seal-ing of the breech — can also be seen.
As befts its superior status, the sporting Monkey Tail is more fnely ftted out and fnished. The barrel is longer, and details are simply more elegant. The shorter Por-tuguese carbine is virtually identical to the British No. 5 with the exception of sling swivels instead of a sling bar and a beefer front sight to accommodate a bayonet lug.
It is thought that the ring bar was deleted and that the stud-ded band and swivels were added after purchase by the Portuguese.
80 G&A april 2015 | tAle of the monkey tAil
Some, such as the Sharps and Terry, fared better than others, but they still had perceived shortcomings. Enter the Monkey Tail. As well as its unique action, the WR Carbine employed a variant of the Whitworth polygonal rifing (earlier on, Westley Richards, along with famed British engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, had much to do with the development of Sir Joseph Whitworth’s system), which, unlike the usual hexagonal bore seen in Whit-worth target and military muzzleloaders, was eight-sided and not extremely angular.
The frst pattern WR Carbine was submitted to the British Ordnance Select
Committee in 1860, beginning a series of byzantine changes and requirements (typical of most government selection processes, I suppose). In short form, the Monkey Tail’s progress from wan-nabe status to justifcation goes thusly: The premier submission was rejected because of complaints about a substandard fnish. In that same year, an improved model was offered, which eliminat-ed the hook on the plunger and a central spike that had been subsequently incorporated in the design in an attempt to help expand the greased wad. Both were felt to be superfuous. This one, too, was rejected, so a third version was presented, which was grudgingly, provisionally accepted.
In 1861, a fourth pattern was sent to the Committee, and this was adopted and produced in some quantity, though there was
still some carping about various features including the chamber length. The prob-lems were duly addressed, and the gun was formally approved in early 1862. A number of the carbines were issued to the 10th and 18th Hussars and the 6th Dra-goon Guards, members of which regiments made it known that they were wholly satisfed with the arms, resulting in an order for 20,000 more.
Still, there were some diffculties, especially when it was discov-ered that the new guns could not handle the old-pattern cartridg-es. Finally, in 1866 the ffth and fnal pattern was prepared and accepted. As the carbine fnally appeared, it had a 20-inch barrel;
an overall length of 2 feet, 117⁄8 inches; and a weight of 6 pounds, 8 ounces. Caliber was .450- .451 and rifing twist 1:20 inches.
Tests proved that the Monkey Tail was reliable and rugged and that the breech system provided a virtually perfect seal.
As good an arm as the Monkey Tail was, by the time of its appearance (1865 to 1866), the British had already decided to like the carbine itself, the lock of the
Portuguese-contract Westley Richards breechloader mimics that of the Pattern no. 5 British-issue arms in all but the markings. the sporting lock features the refnement of a push-on safety. Both have their date of manufacture within the distinctive WR triangle trademark.
the tops of both Portuguese and sporting monkey tail levers have the Westley Rich-ards patent iD and logo.
Barrels are marked, though in different places, signifying the carbines’ Whitworth Rifing system, which is unlike that of the more famous hexagon style used in muz-zleloading target and military rifes in that it is octagonal.
Both carbines are stamped with serial numbers, British proofs and bore size
“52” (.451), though the military piece also has a Portuguese-contract designation.
Stock storekeeper markings on the Portu-guese monkey tail indicate that this piece was still in service as late as 1880, though the carbine was manufactured in 1867.
“fA” stands for Forcas Armas (Armed forces).