Warrior-era guns illustrate one route from smoothbore cannon toward rifled naval fire. A spherical projectile could carry projecting features that engaged the lining or grooves of the bore and imposed spin. The idea promised more controlled flight, but those projections also complicated robust handling and muzzle-loading. A feature intended to improve flight could therefore create new problems before the shot left the gun.
Notable Point · 34:29-35:20
Warrior-era rifling experiments complicated loading
Projecting features on spherical shot could engage a rifled gun, but the same shape created practical handling and loading problems.