Shortly after his return from America, Whitworth was requested by the government to design a complete plant for the manufacture of muskets. He disapproved of the Enfield rifle and declined to undertake the work until exhaustive tests were made to determine the best type of rifle. The government, therefore, equipped a testing plant and range near Manchester, and Whitworth began a series of tests which showed the Enfield rifle to be inferior in almost every respect. He then submitted a new rifle, designed on the basis of his experiments, which embodied the small bore, an elongated projectile and a rapid rifle-twist and great accuracy of manufacture. Although this rifle excelled all others in accuracy, penetration and range, it was rejected by the war office. Some thirty years later, the Lee-Metford rifle, which embodied Whitworth’s improvements, was adopted, but only after these principles had been recognized and used by every other government in Europe. His contributions to the manufacture of heavy ordnance were even greater, but they met with the same reception from the war office. In 1862 he completed a high-powered rifle cannon with a range of six miles, the proportions of which were substantially those in use today. He developed the manufacture of fluid compressed steel, about 1870, to supply a stronger and more reliable material for ordnance use. Few men in any country have had a greater influence on the design and development of ordnance and armor. His partnership with Sir William Armstrong resulted in one of the greatest gun factories in the world. Whitworth married twice but had no children. He acquired a great fortune. During his lifetime he established the famous Whitworth scholarships. At his death, large sums were distributed by friends, to whom he had willed them for the execution of his wishes, and they devoted nearly £600,000 ($3,000,000) to the foundation or endowment of the Whitworth Institute, Owens College, and the Manchester Technical Schools, and other public institutions. In 1874 he converted his Manchester business into a stock company, giving the majority of the stock to his foremen and making provision for the acquiring of further stock by his clerks and workmen. While he was slow in receiving recognition from his own government, he became universally recognized as one of the greatest engineering authorities in the world, and was honored as few engineers have been, being elected to the Royal Society, chosen president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, given degrees by Dublin and Oxford, the Cross of the Legion of Honor; and, in 1869, made a baronet.