Hallé rifle



This early British self-loading rifle was the brainchild of Clifford Robert Hallé, son of the prolific conductor Sir Charles Hallé, and was originally patented in 1902. It was operated by the short recoil mechanism with an unusual series of scissor links in place of a return spring. The links would pull the bolt back towards the breech after it retracted upon firing. The system was innovative and reportedly pleasant to shoot, although it required high maintenance to preserve in working order. The gun used a 5-round internal box magazine which was loaded from the bottom rather than through the top. An additional 10 rounds could be fitted onto the Hallé via an “emergency magazine”, which, as the name suggests, was intended to be reserved as a last resort.



The rifle was publicly unveiled in 1904, when two prototypes were tested at Bisley. Soon enough a rival appeared in the form of the similar Rexer rifle, and the two were pitted against each other in a series of competitive tests. Contemporary publications were enthusiastic about the possibilities that the Hallé and the Rexer could bring to the army, hailing them as the future of infantry warfare. Actual military officials were harder to impress. The British Army’s Automatic Rifle Committee tested the Hallé in 1906 and found little to recommend in the weapon, describing the operation as awkward and criticizing the loading mechanism.

When the Hallé was demonstrated at the Liege Great Exhibition in 1905, it was advertised as both a military rifle and a civilian sporting gun. However, it seems that the weapon never made it to production, so it was never sold. Interest in the design fizzled out after military adoption was out of the picture, and by the time of World War I, the Hallé had not - as some had predicted - revolutionized warfare, but instead it had been relegated to the annals of history.

