British Rifle ahead of its time

Sorry @john fortune, I’m on a spectrum and quite literal, so have real problems with irony! Ammunition natures remained with Ordnance I believe. For firearms there was indeed control, I remember touring the Pattern Room and seeing the wax seals when it was at ROF Nottingham. The volunteers, yeomanry and locally raised forces seemed under fewer restrictions, as long as it was of serious type.

I am afraid your point eludes me. My reading of the article is certainly at variance to yours. Others may fare better.

Howe was not a fan of Rifles or Fergurson. He thought Light Infantry and bayonet charges would beat Riflemen. BTW Kings Mountain was more (ironically) Fergurson doing Bayonet charges than anything else This video on that battle maybe of interest https://youtu.be/qQIYduTLVqQ

Please yourself, although in truth you might find some difficulty. Fergusson's company was disbanded after the Philadelphia campaign and the surviving rifles apparently put in store. He himself was out of action for a year, recuperating from his wound. Whether or not some of his Loyalist contingent in the south were armed with breech loaders from store is a matter of speculation, as indeed is whether or not Fergusson himself carried one during his subsequent campaigning (the nature of his wound reduces the likelihood). What point would be proved either way is not easy to see, not least since Fergusson's command at King's Mountain was decimated by a rebel force armed with muzzle loaders firing from cover. As the article points out, the British light infantry battalions, supported by jager, did well enough in the field when armed with muzzle loaders, so access to experimental breech loaders was evidently not thought critical.

You'd have to take that up with Horse Guards. The supply difficulties in America, and problems with ammunition wastage are a matter of record.

An enduring concern in the British army with regard to rapid fire weapons was ammunition carriage and supply. Seven shots a minute was of limited value if soldiers found their pouches emptied in ten minutes, especially if they were at a distance from the main force. In the black powder age ammunition was bulky and awkward to manage, and operation of the logistic tail was complex as well as being particularly problematic in America. Being able to fire more easily from cover was obviously an advantage but the problem of keeping riflemen supplied as they burned through ammunition would have countered the utility of units equipped with the 'Fergusson' breech loader. As I understand it, Fergusson's contribution to the rifle identified with his name was limited to improving the screw mechanism by which the breech was opened.

Breech loading System Crespi

Girandoni Airrifle

But those were of Austrian invention - in my view of at least equal importance and ahead of its time

I won't mention the self priming pan in use for Prussian and Saxon muskets.

Also I agree - 7 shots a Minute is not that relevant for a gun where you only shot when you have a reasonable target.

The main advantage however which makes this rifle so outstanding is that you don't need a ramrod and could load relatively easy, in that case a dream for a Jäger.

There is this YouTube video https://youtu.be/5ODhQmE2OqY

I highly doubt the average soldier could fire 7 shots in a minute under battlefield conditions. More like 2 or possibly 3 for a highly proficient soldier.

Unfortunately they didn't have the manufacturing tolerances at the time to make it work reliably. It was also very expensive and fouled quickly. There's a great chapter on it in De Witt Bailey's British Military Flintlock Rifles. His conclusion is that it was a bit of a waste of time.