Machined Rifling is a Technology in Empire: Total War.
Description[]
Thanks to precision machinery, barrels can now have very accurate grooves for rifling, without troubling a master gunsmith to do the work.
Rifling in a barrel imparts a spin to a projectile, making it fly with greater accuracy once it leaves the barrel. Grooves are cut in a spiral helix pattern on the inner surface of the barrel, and this twist is what makes the bullet spin as it is fired. A lead bullet is actually distorted by the gunpowder explosion, and forced into the grooves.
Making such a barrel was a task for a highly skilled gunsmith, meaning that rifling was reserved for hunting rifles for the extremely wealthy and the nobility. A machine tool that can do the job means that rifled barrels can be turned out in some quantity, and that they will be the same time after time. This machine cuts one groove at a time, meaning that at least six or seven passes are required to properly rifle a barrel.
Historically, only the British fields a large force of riflemen, armed with Ezekiel Baker's outstanding weapon.
General Information[]
Machined Rifling unlocks the last of the infantry: Riflemen. These units have 125 range, outclassing even their Light Infantry counterparts.