Baker Rifle

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Baker Rifle (1801-1837), Caliber - 0.625 inch (15.9 mm)

Error creating thumbnail: File missing

Sean Bean holds a Baker at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, for History Channel's documentary Sean Bean On Waterloo (2015). Bean remarked that it was the first time he had handled a genuine Baker (a carefully preserved Napoleonic relic), as all of the weapons he handled in the Sharpe series were replicas.

The Baker Rifle (officially designated the "Infantry Rifle") was a flintlock rifle issued to the Rifle regiments of the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. It was the first standard-issue rifle of the British Army.

History

The Baker was issued to the specialized Rifle brigades of the British Army, who were tasked to act as skirmishers and scouts rather than regular line infantry. The weapon was prized for its long-range accuracy but slow to reload, since ramming a lead ball down the muzzle of a rifled barrel was more difficult than doing the same with a smooth-bore musket. Furthermore, the rifling was even more effective if the balls were first wrapped in small leather patches, which increased reloading time even further. Because of this disadvantage, smooth-bore muskets remained the standard-issue weapons for the majority of Napoleonic-era armies, and Napoleon Bonaparte refused to issue rifles to any units of the French Army.

British rifle units used the Baker in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars and in Canada during the War of 1812. Bakers were also supposedly carried by Mexican soldiers at the Battle of the Alamo, and the Nepalese government has recently released stores of Bakers that were previously supplied to its army.

Probably the most famous shot fired by a Baker was by Rifleman Thomas Plunket during the retreat to La Coruna, which flew an unmeasured but incredibly long distance (estimated as much as 800 yards) to kill French General Auguste Colbert (a short while later, just to prove that it wasn't a fluke, Plunket scored another hit on one of Colbert's aides).

The Baker has enjoyed a resurgence of historical and public interest thanks to its extensive use in the Sharpe series, based on the books by Bernard Cornwell.

The Baker Rifle has been used in the following films and television series:

Film

Title	Actor	Character	Note	Date
Sharpe's Rifles	Sean Bean	Lt. Richard Sharpe		1993
	Daragh O'Malley	Private Patrick Harper
	Michael Mears	Private Cooper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Paul Trussell	Private Isiah Tongue
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
Sharpe's Eagle	Sean Bean	Capt. Richard Sharpe		1993
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Michael Mears	Private Cooper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Paul Trussell	Private Isiah Tongue
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
Sharpe's Company	Sean Bean	Capt. Richard Sharpe		1994
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Michael Mears	Private Cooper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
Sharpe's Enemy	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1994
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Michael Mears	Private Cooper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
		60th Regiment Riflemen
Sharpe's Honour	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1994
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Michael Mears	Private Cooper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
Sharpe's Gold	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1995
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Michael Mears	Private Cooper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
Sharpe's Battle	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1995
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Lyndon Davies	Private Perkins
Sharpe's Sword	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1995
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
Sharpe's Regiment	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1996
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
Sharpe's Siege	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1996
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
	Philip Whitchurch	Capt. William Frederickson
Sharpe's Mission	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1996
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Jason Salkey	Private Harris
	John Tams	Private Daniel Hagman
Sharpe's Revenge	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1997
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
	Philip Whitchurch	Capt. William Frederickson
Sharpe's Justice	Sean Bean	Maj. Richard Sharpe		1997
	Daragh O'Malley	Sgt. Patrick Harper
Sharpe's Waterloo	Sean Bean	Lt. Col. Richard Sharpe		1997
	Daragh O'Malley	Patrick Harper
	Jason Salkey	Sgt. Harris
	John Tams	Sgt. Daniel Hagman
The Alamo	Patrick Wilson	Lt. Col. William Travis		2004
Sharpe's Challenge	Sean Bean	Richard Sharpe		2006
	Daragh O'Malley	Patrick Harper
Sharpe's Peril	Sean Bean	Richard Sharpe		2008
	Daragh O'Malley	Patrick Harper

Video Games

Game Title	Appears as	Mods	Notation	Release Date
Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3			Not usable	2017