MR. CORNWALL LEGHsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether the additional expense which Mr. Whitworth suggested with reference to the alteration of the rifles at Enfield to his principle, was not 5s. per barrel and no more. He asked this question because great stress had been laid upon the comparative cost of the two weapons.
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTsaid, that Mr. Whitworth had proposed that an attempt should be made to apply his principle to the metal used at Enfield for the purpose of manufacturing rifles, the adoption of which course would entail, according to that gentleman's own calculation an additional cost of only 5s. per barrel. The House would not, however, fail to perceive that where a large number of rifles were to be manufactured a considerably increased expense would be thus entailed. There is no evidence to show that this principle of rifling could not be applied to the Enfield with the metal now in use; and being of that opinion he had given directions that the experiment should be tried.