Its 1776 patent describes it as, “an arm which unites expedition, safety, and facility in using with the greatest certainty in execution, the two great dessiderata [sic] of gunnery never before united." How is this revolutionary weapon related to a co-inventor of Post-it notes?

truefaithmom

Here's the background on these two: The Ferguson Rifle Great as Maj. Patrick Ferguson's success was as a soldier, probably his most outstanding achievement was the development of the first breech loading rifle to be used by troops in battle. This arm, which is known as the Ferguson rifle, was expected by its inventor to bring revolutionary changes to gunnery practices. In the patent, which was granted by the British Patent Office on December 2, 1776, Ferguson describes it as ". . . an arm which unites expedition, safety, and facility in using with the greatest certainty in execution, the two great dessiderata [sic] of gunnery never before united." This rifle corrected many inadequacies of earlier breechloaders. Its center of interest was the screw-plug attached to the trigger guard which passed directly through the breech of the barrel from the bottom to the top. This plug had from 12 to 14 rapid twist threads so that with one turn of the trigger guard the loading aperture in the top of the barrel could be opened or closed The single-screw thread on breech plugs of earlier breechloaders made it necessary to rotate the trigger guard three or four times to open or close the breech. The Ferguson screw-plug had the further advantage of being so designed that it never came completely out of its socket. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/22/hh22m.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Ferguson Co-Inventors of the Post-it Note: Art Fry and Spencer Silver http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blpostit.htm Aug 27 08, 7:15 PM

queproblema

...and Spencer Silver's middle name is Ferguson. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Silver Yeah, I was a little trigger-happy there. I'm just a little Post-It note stuck onto TFM's tome. I'm having visions of Ramona Quimby shooting words after being praised for her "word attack skills," and of Robin Williams shooting squirrels with a bazooka. I don't think I'm entirely out of my socket, though. Pow! Aug 27 08, 8:08 PM