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I can find info relating to time pieces for horse races and astrological movements (early 1800’s) but not much on ballistics. Hoping someone might have some info when the first ballistic chronographs came out.
Erin
Erin,
In 1742 Benjamin Robins was the first to measure the speed of a bullet by measuring the momentum of the bullet with a device he designed and then he divided the momentum by the bullets mass to come up with velocity.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
The other way they did that was with a spinning wheel with paper on both sides. They know the speed of the wheel and when you fire the bullet through it the two hole are off set a certain distance and then they can figure the time it took for the bullet to go through both pieces of paper.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Thanks Bob, Interesting methods to say the least. Any Idea what Winchester used in the early days?
Erin
Erin,
Don’t know what Winchester used but in 1865 a guy invented a means of recording the speed of the bullet through multiple station to figure out the affect of air slowing the bullet as it traveled down range (ballistics) . With the use of a battery and a recording device like the early phonograph that has a cylinder, as the bullet past through each station it cut a string causing a the weight to fall releasing a spring loaded switch momentarly interrupt in the current which was recorded on the cylinder. There was multiple switches all wired in series with them being less than the diameter apart. I would assume Winchester would of adopted this technology. All that would be required to reset for the next shot is to replace the strings and weights of the ones cut and the recording cylinder depending on how fast the cylinder turned.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
Chuck said
Interesting topic.
What would be really interesting is to have access to the old “chronographs” and compare the accuracy of the readings against a modern version. Remarkable inventions for the time period. The mechanical engineering of the time period still never ceases to amaze me.
Thanks so much Bob for sharing your knowledge on the different concepts of early Chronographs.
Erin
Winter 2020
- Early Records From the WRACo Ballistics Lab by Brad Dunbar & Daniel Shuey
A nice article in the Collector regarding Winchester’s use of chronographs and their ballistics lab. Interestingly T.E. Addis snatched one up while in Europe in 1886. I don’t know what they used prior to that one.
Sincerely,
Maverick
WACA #8783 - Checkout my Reloading Tool Survey!
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-reloading-tool-survey/
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