Thornycroft-Farquhar Carbine (Model 1907)

[Graham1973]

An interesting 'road not taken', the basic story of this weapon, the first bullpup firearm intended for military use, goes back to the second Boer War and the criticism of the 'long Lee-Enfields' a process that ultimately ended in the creation of the Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield (aka SMLE).

Industrialist James Thornycroft and firearms designer Moubray Farquhar came up with a radical solution, relocate the magazine and the bolt into the stock and retain the original barrel lengh.

The first iterations of the gun appeared around 1902 and as the patent (linked below, the patent drawing is attached to this posting) shows what they came up with, the most distinctive feature being an inclined stock.

By 1907, following some informal trials, they produced the third and final iteration of the design. This was shown on the Forgotten Weapons channel and shows the steps the designers took to make the weapon more palatable to the powers that be. Interestingly the version shown in the video is partially configured to look like a service weapon, though ultimately that was never to be.

1901 Patent.
https://worldwide.espacenet.com/pat...17/publication/GB190114622A?q=pn=GB190114622A

Forgotten Weapons: Thornycroft - A Victorian Bullpup Rifle.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MF6f21kbi2g

 

[fortrena]

One has to wonder if the fact that Moubray Gore Farquhar (1862–1948) served in a mounted infantry unit, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, during the Boer War can be linked to his interest in a relatively short rifle.

Incidentally, the founder of that unit, British Army officer Alexander Whitelaw Thorneycroft (1859-1931), was a younger brother of inventor and Deputy Lieutenant of Ayrshire James Baird Thorneycroft (1851-1918).