Hi,
I'm working on a project that requires information on the development of individual small arms in this time period. Sources containing good information about either the history of individual weapons (particularly looking for information about the Egyptian Rolling Block, the Beaumont rifle, or the Austrian Werndl currently) or on trends/overviews would be appreciated.
I have spent some time on this, and purchased a few books that whiff by only a few years (such as a volume on Dutch Firearms that stops at percussion or an overview of Military Bolt Actions during the period but with only the simplest of information/lack of further sources).
The only potential pieces (are on the list to acquire) I know of thus far are these:
The History and Development of Small Arms Ammunition (Volume 2 - Centerfire: Primitive, and Martial Long Arms)
A treatise on the snider: The British soldiers' firearm 1866-c.1880, development, manufacture and issue of the snider rifles and carbines from 1862-post 1900
Any help or direction would be appreciated.
For the USA, a very good source is The Breechloader in the Service by Claude Fuller. However, you likely already know that the US government was very slow in the development of small arms, after 1866. Though there was quite a lot of experimentation in the years leading up to the Civil War, the Springfield Armory ( that made most of the military small arms 1867-1886) concentrated almost entirely on achieving interchangeable parts in its guns ( from 1867-1890 the Trapdoor Springfield), which made it averse to design changes. US civilian arms makers, like Remington, Colt and Winchester quickly surpassed the Springfield Armory in design. The Remington Rolling Block was sold to a number of countries: at least Egypt, Denmark and Spain. I don't know sources for European guns, I'm sorry to say. Perhaps somebody else will say something about them.
However, you are right to pay attention to the ammunition, not just the gun designs. When the British attempted the relief of General Gordon in 1885-1886, they came up against the Mahdi's troops armed with Remington Rolling Block rifles, presumably similar if no identical to the 11mm Egyptian. The weak and complicated .450/577 cartridges failed quite often in the British Martini rifles, according to Admiral Charles Beresford , and jammed the guns, whereas the Mahdi's rifles seemed to work with no trouble.
It occurred to me that one useful source is Greener's The Gun and it's Development which has quite a lot about guns in this period- perhaps mostly sporting ones, but still has quite a lot on the technology generally. And it is just sitting there on GoogleBooks, which is convenient.