The Whitworth rifle was a percussion rifle developed by Sir Joseph Whitworth, a British engineer and entrepreneur, in the mid-19th century. It had a distinctive hexagonal polygonal rifling that allowed it to fire an elongated hexagonal bullet with high accuracy and range, especially when used with a telescopic sight. Military historians regard it as the world’s first dedicated sniper rifle, and it was used by various armies, including the British, the French, and the Confederates during the American Civil War. The Whitworth Rifle was able to reliably hit single targets at a range of 1,800m, whereas the standard British rifle of the time, the Pattern 1853 Enfield, could perhaps hit targets at a range of 1,300m. During the same timeframe, this weapon was purchased by some Oceanykan bounty hunters and law enforcement officers to kill their targets from a comfortable distance.