William Soper's Direct Action Breech Loader
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William Soper of Reading, England designed this "Direct Action Breech Loader" and attempted to have it tested for British military adoption - but he was one day too late to have his rifle included in the tests and the Martini-Henry was ultimately adopted. The intent of Soper's system was to have the fastest possible rate of fire for a single-shot rifle, and what he came up with is quite interesting.
A single lever just above and behind the trigger (intended to be operated by the shooter's right thumb) operated all aspects of the action, pressing the lever down recocks the hammer, opens the breech, extracts, and ejects the empty case. All that need be done is to drop a new cartridge into the breech, and press the lever up to close the action. Soper had an assistant who was reportedly able to fire the rifle at a rate of 60 rounds/minute - very impressive for a gun designed in 1868!
Many thanks to the anonymous Dutch collector who provided me access to this rifle to bring to you!
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Did Jerry Miculek's grandpa work on this rifle? 60 shots in 60 seconds with no magazine is amazing.
No, but my great great great great grandpa did. It was a rifle too far ahead of its time and so the British Army selected a simpler and cheaper alternative. Sadly our family company went bust soon after.
@@nsoper19 Cool!
@@nsoper19 yea that's pretty awesome. My many many generations ago grandfather was a minor king in Wales.
William Soper was the son of my Great great grandfather who originally owned the business. I was lucky to acquire a similar rifle to that shown # 251 to add to my collection. The business went bust around 1881 owing my great grandmother a considerable amount of money. The rifle I think was too complicated and expensive to produce but is a lovely rifle to shoot and won many prizes with the Volunteer movement in the 1870’s .
Even at 45 rounds in 60 seconds, that would almost be like having an entire firing line per man. When you are coming from an era where you could get 3-6 rounds per minute with a trained shooter.
Although, there might be the slight problem that the clouds of smoke from all that burnt gunpowder would make the high rate of fire moot because you couldn't see wht you were shooting at.
Jeff NME True, but with a huge line of enemy in front of you, you are looking at almost a volley sights situation. Shooting for an area, not an individual target.
Imagine that, even trained british soldiers in WW1 were known for their marksmanship in the era ala the "Mad Minute" but 45 rounds per man out of a single-shot rifle when expert riflemen could barely get 30 aimed shots out of a 10-round bolt action magazine? Even if they aren't aimed fire and you're firing through the fog of war from the gunpowder smoke that would scare the absolute hell out of anyone. going from an opponent with 5-6 shots a minute a good day to 40+? It would seem like a lead wall of death.
Somehow i feel that *navy* might have been interested in this. Keeping that clean would not have been an issue and that rate of fire would have been appreciated when closing in on another ship and volley firing. Besides, they have always been more open to knew and weird weapons :D
Damn, i always feel sorry for those talented guys who just got less luck/money and time than others to apply their inventions.
Problem is that in 1868 the time was not right for such a complicated gun. If you would field this in larger quantities your average soldier would probably break it alot and all those parts are difficult to manufacture, supply and install. They usually needed hand fitting as well, so their actual military use is limited.
Plus I wonder how long that side lever would last before it or something inside would break or wear down.
Gotta agree with Axel there. I can't imagine this thing holding up well to battlefield conditions of its time. A fast rifle that breaks just as fast isn't as useful as a slower rifle that keeps functioning when you need it to.
i don't understand why you're all assuming that it would be unreliable or that it would outright "break", this is an impressive piece of engineering and most certainly doesn't look weak in construction.
you may well be jumping the gun and wildly underestimating it's sturdiness.
To answer questions posed by previous comments, there is a lever on the right, above the trigger, which allows the action to be opened when the hammer is cocked. This lever is lifted with the knuckle of the right index finger, while the operating lever is pushed down with the right thumb. If you watch the video closely, you will see this lever.
Sgt Warwick fired 60 rounds in one minute by lying on his back with the sling round his foot to hold the rifle steady. He had a cartridge bag, holding 60 rounds, strapped on his chest and fed cartridges into the breech with his left hand, while operating the action with his right hand. The secret of the rapidity of the Soper action is that it is not necessary to close the breech by raising the operating lever; it is only necessary to pull the trigger once a cartridge has been inserted. Pulling the trigger closes the breech and drops the hammer. This is perfectly safe, as the hammer will not drop till the breech is fully closed. My Soper is serial number 286 and is the same calibre as the Martini Henry, .577/.450.
What a fascinating design, and it's a handsome gun too. My already massive list of 'guns I wish there were replicas of' grows yet again.
Yeah, I am going to try to find the drawings for this and make one. This is pretty awesome. Wish we got a look inside.
Goonygoon did you ever find the drawings?
Unfortunately I couldn't find them :/
60 shots in 60 sec!? God, this is amazing, interesting system
makes me think af all the anti gunners who's argument against the ar-15 assault bangsticks is that old timey guns couldnt shoot fast
Thats im ipossible with an single shot breechloader. I think sixteen rounds in sixtee seconds
J J It goes in this direction m8
That’s private woreck for you. Sorry if I mispronounced his name.
JJ :But if you actually listen to Ian he tells you on the video ( at 6.03) that an inexperienced shooter managed 45 shots/min against a clock , just try it yourself, you can use my Soper if you wish.
That's a very clever all in one lever.
A Type 2 Soper, serial #684, sold for $7,500 at RIA in 2014.
I'm actually rather shocked that this didn't catch on. It seems like a relatively simple action, compared to repeating rifles, with the possibility of being as fast as one while being far more rugged. I may be off the mark on that, but it does make a rather satisfying "Chunk" when opened.
Joseph Wood my guess is the complexity , agreed though satisfying sound
Might have been because of logistics. It's one of the reasons militaries around the world didn't immediately adopt machine guns when they were first invented. They thought the ammo would be too expensive and all that.
One of Her Majesty's Enemies saw this video, and was discomforted.
Seems they have called for reinforcements
That's a damn good gun for 1868, very cool.
Somehow when I saw the name "Direct Action" I expected some brand new gun even more tacticool than a Bren 10
I'm impressed that you pronounced Reading correctly.
Patrick Rumbol we are teaching him slowly. He still falls over birmingham.
What's so hard about it? Even i know how to pronounce it and english is not my native tongue. It's not rocket science you know ;)
Alaric Balthi because you can say it reeding or you can say it Reading. One is correct for the place
Alaric Balthi because reading the word and Reading the town are spelled the same but pronounced differently. The town is pronounced more like "Redding".
There is a university there called Reading university. People do a lot of reading in Reading.
The 60 aimed shots inside 1 minute is correct.
The shooter was shooting in the supine position. He strapped the barrel to his leg to aid target re-acquisition after firing. He did not manually close the breech after inserting a new round (with his left hand - his left hand did not touch the rifle at all, it was purely used to insert the next cartridge), he just pulled the trigger.
On these rifles the breech automatically closes an instant before the hammer drops.
That is one of the coolest arms you've featured in a while. Thanks for finding it Ian!
Thanks Ian, I have really wanted to see one of these for a while. Too bad you couldn't take it apart.
Thanks Anonymous Dutch Collector, you're the best!
Gorgeous craftsmanship
Thanks Gun Jesus, It´s so soothing to listen to you talk about guns, makes me want to fall asleep (in a good way)
I don't believe the 60 shot mad minute, but even half of that is amazing
That thing is just super slick looking.
60 shots in 60 seconds? That is crazy. I first thought you said 16 shots aimed and fired, which would have sounded more like it to an idiot like me, but if there was a guy who managed 45 then I suppose 60 isn't much of a leap. Still that is pretty amazing. A beautiful looking gun as well. I love antique guns of that era and enjoy the vids by British muzzle loaders as well which are well worth checking out if you are into these sorts of gun. Great vid. Keep up the fine work.
It's not that I don't believe *you* but I find it highly unlikely that anyone could fire 60 shots in one minute using this rifle. Maybe if there is someone standing next to you throwing cartridges in.
EDIT: 40-45 is still very impressive!
I thought that was the case (an assistant throwing cartridges in) to achieve 60 shots in 60 sec’s. No particular reason, it just seemed likely.
I think a good bet would be to have the cartridge box below the right hand, so you fire, open the action, and grab the cartridge in one motion. Then flick the action closed with your thumb while placing your finger on the trigger.
On the other hand if you're shooting it on a rest, you could just have your left hand doing all the reloading while your right hand operates/ fires it, if you want to game the system. I imagine 60 would probably be doable that way
Perhaps just leaving the finger on the trigger, operating the action with the thumb, and reloading with the left hand? That's the quickest possible way I can think of.
Wonder if it would "slamfire" by holding down the trigger while operating the action
Cocaine was legal at the time.
So maybe 200 shots on a good day.
That would make this feat.... Soper doper.
That's freaking slick as hell.
That is an excellent rifle. Thanx for sharing.
This gun looks so steampunk. All of moving parts looks great.
Thanks for this video on a true forgotten weapon.
I’m not sure what the competition would’ve been like, but this looks fantastic
My great.great uncle I s. William. Soper and I just found out a few years ago that he invented the breech loading rifle that was considerd to be quite remarkable
That is a clever mechanism for a breech loader though the right thumb would hate you after a while. As always a good vid Ian.....
What a massive chunk of wood around the breech and trigger unit.
This trials would've been interesting, I love Martini-Henrys. The British Army Arms procurement, at this time, was inspired.
What a great design. I really wish far more of them had been manufactured.
Always interesting to learn about not-so-famous firearm pecularities like this one!
Love the mechanism in that one.
There was a guy, now sadly deceased, that used to shoot one regularly at the Bisley historical matches.. a very impressive gun, that did exactly what Ian says it did!
Very cool rifle action
Wow super nice Rifle . Crazy nice action. To bad he missed the trials.
I suspect as other people have said in the comments that the "60 shots in 60 seconds" was done prone, sitting or otherwise at rest with the rifle supported by a sandbag or something. With both hands available the "60 x 60" becomes feasible with some practice.
It was like that. A demonstration of a maximum ROF not a suggestion that this was what was likely in service.
That is such a unique and interesting rifle.
It's amazing how some designs back then were quite impressive despite not having any CNC machining available.
Really neat system.
The only amendment I could make to the design would be a modification to the lever such that it lies below the grip, similar to a Henry/Winchester system. With the lever set thusly it is operated by pressure from the rear of ones hand. This operates the weapon normally. The Hand is thrust into the motion necessary to retrieve the next cartridge. Upon the hands return to the weapons grip, the lever is easily grasped and returned to the closed position.
Verily I doth say, Gentlemen, with this easily implemented upgrade the Christy's Improved Soper rifle may keep our troops armed well and shall aid our beloved Queen Victoria to cast her glorious rule upon her empire with much greater efficiency.
It's like a lever action with the lever on the side that's awesome
Could you imagine this rifle converted into a repeater like with a henry style loading tube
Wow that was a really cool rifle.
I'm from Reading! We still have a Gun Street where the gunsmiths were traditioally located - true!
Pretty slick!
Any chance for a disassembling video? I would realy like to see how exactly this thing works.
Man that gun is extremely cool
amazing!!
Amazing rifle.👍🏼
What could have been! A very cool design.
That’s an awesome action.
very cool rifle
Just imagining an alternate reality where this was the go to british rifle in Zulu the movie
Out of all the single shot rifles my favorite is the rolling block... now this one is a tough contender, that action is rather amazing for its period. Considering it still works I suspect it was actually rather sturdy tbh
A pretty collectors item.
Very intresting rifle
Very cool gun, wouldn’t mind owning one
Fascinating! I would imagine that shooting this left handed might be a little uncomfortable because the operating lever would be right there in your face.
okay i want a replica of one of these
60 shots in 60 seconds? I could scarcely believe that... It's a clever and fast action but it's not *that* fast.
It's like those kids that solve rubik's cubes really quickly, after you get enough practice...
Also doesn't say whether anything landed within a mile of what he was shooting at.
Yeah, but we need to remember that sport and competition shooting was just as much a thing hundreds of years ago, as it is today.
How about this: shooting with a good rest, so that you can just load with the left hand, leave your finger on the trigger, and operate the action with your thumb
It might not have been that well aimed but the action looks like it could be done.
TheGoldenCaulk I suspect there was a bench to rest the rifle on, and line up ammunition.
The 45 rounds/ minute achieved by the collector is impressive enough by itself!
What a beautiful gun. I'd love to see the rest of the rifles that did make it into trials.
That many black powder cartridges in such a short period of time probably yielded an impenetrable wall of smoke.
Cool action
Why doesn’t anybody remake amazing old firearm designs?
Because the market for it is too small to justify investing for production as a manufacturer and the price of the product is too damn high for the consumer.
A lot of them are remade, it's just that only the ones that would be popular enough to be profitable are reproduced. Various companies make Colt SAA's, various reproduction lever action rifles, etc. I will admit though that I'd like to see a modern reproduction Luger.
It would cost a fortune. That’s why Ithaca M37 shotgun replicas cost $1000 usd
Maybe 3D printing will help at some point.
why doesn't anybody manufacture amazing old Corvettes?
That's super cool
There's a video on CZcams called rifleman all that shows a few of the other rifle entries to this trial, worth checking out
Man, I would love a reproduction of this gun!
So cool
There's a really cool 70s documentary on British rifles where they talk about this
New one on me, love it when that happens.
A Soper Type 2 Breech Loading Prototype rifle sold for $7,475 on a 5 December, 2014 RIA auction. While not as intricate as the rifle in this video, and lacking a bayonet lug, it is marked #684. RIA's description of the rifle lists it as chambered for .577/450.
1 shot per second is very fast from a rifle like that. Wow!
Great vid
Ethan Moon you comment 1 minute ago but the video is 6 minutes. are you a time traveller?
The Ordnance Select Committee looking for a new breech loader [1865] advertised for a calibre of .450 firing a 480 grain bullet using a charge not exceeding 70 grains of J2 Government powder preferably carrying its own means of ignition.
R.I.P. lighting
It looks like the locking mechanism in the Soper rifle is fairly strong with two locking lugs and could have been made to use with smokeless powder.
This thing is steam punk single shot perfection absolutely perfect.
You had a lot of interestion solutions in this era.
The mad minute extends much farther than the SMLE.
Thing is built like a tank cannon.
That reverberation tho...
Very cool rifle :)
What cartridge did it use? If proprietary, was it similar to anything else?
machintelligence the Imperial War Museum gives the Calibre as:450 Gibbs No 1
Thanks. I was able to find a picture of the cartridge and it looks quite similar to the .45-60 Winchester.
Interesting rifle.
Woaw dude radical thinking man
In the UK today a law is being passed banning "high muzzle energy" firearms. eg. .50 BMG, .338. etc No crime has been committed with such firearms, the government just feels like banning them.
Nice!
Very cool 'could have been' rifle!
It is very cool.
Can you show us a Bavarian Werder 1869 please. It’s actually my favorite single shot rifles of that period. Even a reproduction would be cool. Either way, great videos!
Realy cool realod style
60 in 60 is impressive for multi-shot rifles of the early 20th century.
That is cool
Something tells me that the camera wasn't set to take audio from the lavalier mic.
I think using the weight of the gun was intended to aid cycling the action quickly with sufficient force