author
William Greener
1806–1869
Best known as a pioneering British gunmaker, he also wrote practical books that helped explain firearms and gunnery to a wider 19th-century readership.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1806, he was an English inventor and gunmaker whose work ranged from firearms design to other mechanical inventions. He is especially remembered for developing an early self-expanding bullet in the 1830s, a design often described as a precursor to the later Minié projectile.
Alongside his workshop career, he wrote about the tools and science he knew best. His books include The Gun and Gunnery in 1858, works that reflect a hands-on, technical approach and helped establish him as an author as well as a maker.
He died in 1869. His family name remained closely tied to British gunmaking through his son, William Wellington Greener, who continued and expanded the business after his death.