In 1858 Sir Henry Whitworth was commissioned by the English War Office to design a new rifle to replace the “Enfield Pattern 53”.

He began work on a .451 caliber rifle with a hexagonal internal barrel profile. The rifle exceeded all expectations of the British Rifle Association and impressed Queen Victoria during the 400 yard (366 m) shooting tests carried out in 1859. The snipers of the Confederate armies who were equipped with them during the American Civil War were given the name “Withworth snipers”.

The Withworth comes with a hammered, hexagonal barrel, an American walnut stock and a color-hardened lock.