Note the hollow rib on rifle SN 15. [2] What distinguishes them from civilian rifles is that they were bought by the government under military contract. The fact that the heptagonal rifling was dropped during the second production indicates that the added production time and expense was not justified. I am almost certain, knowing Colter, he would have taken the opportunity to keep his rifle. These are two important points to consider when looking for a REAL 1803 production rifle. This is respectable shooting for a rifleman using the 1803 rifle. It would not have changed the size of the ball. From ALL original guns examined, serial numbers were placed in a manner to the right of the oval US cartouche without leaving enough space to insert another number. Vol. After picking up his rifles and shooting them at the arsenal in July of 1803, he may have influenced Dearborns December,1803 changes to the gun, but other than that possibility, his connection with the rifle ends. (22) The term long rifle is not found in any journals of the expedition. The .520 calibre pure lead cast balls used for test shooting the Model 1800 rifles weighed in at 208 grains (pure refined modern lead). Springfield 1795 Rifles, replica Springfield 1795 Rifles - Davide Pedersoli (44) A thorough inspection of this early Model 1800 rifle revealed that all assembly numbers matched, making it a very important gun for both the collector and the historian. At these pressures, just as in modern firearms, any obstruction in the muzzle, such as snow or mud, would have caused them to burst in that area. 38-40; Pg. Article by Edward R. Flanagan discussing the 1792 and 1807 contract rifles. The most convincing evidence of the use of the new Model 1800 short rifle on the Voyage of Discovery comes from entries in the various journals kept on the expedition by Lewis, Clark, and his Sergeants. Model 1814 common rifle - Wikipedia Windsor birst his gun near the muzzle a few days since; this Shields cut off and I exchanged it with the Cheif for the one we had given him for conducting us over the mountain. All rifles that I have examined that come even close to a 1792/94 contract rifle have set triggers which was fairly common on all civilian long rifles of this period but not many with a fly. He shows up on the Lancaster County tax lists for 1785-1840. from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, produced these rifles. were the prototype for the M1803 rifle. Writers today lump these rifles into basically one class Model 1803, but the story is not that simple and needs to be told for future collectors and historians. Straight upper pipe on SN 94, made pre-December 1803 (changes) in the Cody, Wyoming museum. BOTTOM: Half-stock fowler made by BARKER in the 1775-1785 period. Adopted in 1803, this premier rifle (and the only flintlock rifle) built by a national armory at Harpers Ferry was, as stated earlier, a handsome gun, measuring some 49" overall. His first known mention of the short rifle is in March of 1806. For two centuries the distinctive half-stocked rifle manufactured at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), has been regarded as perhaps the most handsome and historically important U.S. military long arm ever designed. Caliber 52. (47) Col. B.R. Since this bore size conflicted with Dearborns specifications of 30 balls to the pound (a smaller size than a .540 bore would require), we decided to gauge the bores of as many original short rifles as possible. The barrel bursts recorded probably brought this about. John Newman, expelled from the party and sent back with the large boat in 1804, also returned to the mountains, to be killed by the Sioux. (40), Lewis now has in his hands, at the minimum, 108 pounds of best rifle powder, more than enough to retrace his footsteps again. Second is Lewiss acquisition of 15 slings of unspecified type taken from Harpers Ferry. Since we could not personally examine all the guns serial numbers submitted, we had to acknowledge them as either confirmed (examined and assembly numbers matching) or unconfirmed (unexamined and unknown if assembly numbers match). Arsenal inspection of weapons prior to release was ordered to begin in the 1797-98 period. We hope the information in this article will enlighten all who admire and collect these first military rifles as well as assure they take their proper place in history for the role they played in a major event in early 19th century American history The Lewis and Clark Expedition. This would allow the round to grip the barrel's rifling as the weapon was fired, and the rifling would impart a spin onto the round which would . Breech markings on SN 15 rifle. If someone did manage to rig a homemade sling on a rifle, it would block the sight picture. It required the building of firearms for testing purposes. 30. The standard service charge was 100 grains (in a rolled cartridge), allowing for 10 in the pan and 90 in the barrel. It was obvious that we were copying a British style weapon when designing the new M1800 rifles. Both men made sure that all short rifles would be readily available, being the most effective means of defending themselves should they be attacked. It is agreed that they followed the same basic shop patterns used for their civilian market. Not only have we found many military rifles made before December of 1803, but we have irrefutable government correspondence placing a prototype in Dearborns hands by December of 1803. Fifteen Harpers Ferry Model 1792 rifles are believed to have [4] The Army refers to modern speculation that the changes Lewis had made to the contract rifles (adding sling swivels, shortening the barrel further to 33-36 inches and reboring them to a larger caliber),[4] led to the design of the US Model 1803, created six months later.[4]. If any gun could talk, this would be the one that would tell some great stories. If we are real romantics, serial number 15 may have been the one given to John Colter (and subsequently lost to the Indians) who went back to the West and become a legend in his own right.(51). Before the United States military used standardized weapons with interchangeable parts, it bought rifles that are difficult to distinguish from their civilian equivalent. Another goal was to find the mythical North West passage, a water route to the Pacific. 26. In the 1950s, when gun collecting became big, many were converted back to flint. A second contract for the same weapon took place in 1794. His rifle was never unloaded and always carried at the trail or advance on his right side. The Harper's Ferry Rifle With stocks of the 1792 Contract Rifle (see above) growing pretty thin, and the musket revealing the weaknesses in its maximum 75-yard range for aimed shots, the. The term short rifle, coined by Dearborn 1803 to make a distinction between it and the old pattern long rifles, appears throughout the journals kept by different members and it means just what it is was intended to mean the new Model 1800 rifle. It is believed that the Model 1792 Contract Rifle was quite possibly the rifle issued to the Lewis & Clark expedition from the Harper's Ferry Arsenal for the Expedition of Discovery. Lewis, U.S.A., Early U.S. Military Riflemen, (The American Rifleman, December,1958), Pg. May 2006, Vol 32, No.2, written my Jim Merritt from our research. We can only guess what happened to the patch box cover. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. letter to Perkin supports this, especially when Dearborn states that In the February 4th letter the tumbler on the lock was to have a fly (to keep it from catching on the half cock) and a 4-piece patch box with button release. (11) Merritt Roe Smith, Harpers Ferry and the New Technology, (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1977), Pg. The first observation of this document is the amazing detail of the rifle, right down to actual measurements. We discovered during the production of his rifles that this was a weak spot on the rifle. If we look at what Lewis took from Harpers Ferry, we can see he planned for exactly 30 men 15 with short rifles and 15 with muskets. (13) Major James E. Hicks, U.S. Military Firearms/ 1776-1956, (James E. Hicks & Son, 1962), Pg. A letter from Secretary Dearborn, written on Lewiss behalf and addressed to Arsenal Superintendent Perkin, dated March 14, 1803 states You will be pleased to make such arms & iron work, as requested by the Bearer Captain Meriwether Lewis and to have them completed with the least possible delay.(8). The only place a front sling swivel could be mounted was through the fragile front rib, which, being hollow on the first 15 rifles (based upon serial number 15 rifle), makes it incapable of bearing the weight of the rifle without an extra barrel mounted loop for this purpose. (Above two photos) M1792 original riflemans axe (top) and reconstructed M1792 axe with original M1792 horn below as we believe were carried by Lewiss 15 riflemen. Unfortunately, other listed 1803 dated rifles (U) from various collections, auctions and sales catalogs could not be examined in greater details for straight or flared upper pipe. Flint - Dixie Gun Works What is important is that Dearborn was well enough informed of the benefits offered by the new rifling design to make note of it in his letter. The Model 1816 was first standardized U.S. martial arm to be manufactured at both Harpers Ferry and Springfield. These assembly numbers are found on almost every part of the gun and are important when checking the originality of any rifle. They received special privileges and exclusion of normal camp duties. It was caused by measuring across the muzzle of the rifle where it is swamped (tapered) to allowed a ball to be started into the muzzle with the thumb a characteristic found on our early long rifles but most adopted from British Pattern 76 rifle that was undoubtedly examined during the initial design phases of out M1800 rifle. The fiscal year 1804 was the same as the calendar year until 1838, so storekeeper production reporting of new weapons built in 1803 may simply be the result of Harpers Ferry exceeding their new production budget for the year 1803, forcing them to delay production reporting until fiscal year 1804. This is also is true for the series of common rifles. Those lost records have never been accurately reconstructed. Thus, you rarely (if ever) see a sling on a long rifle. 98. Both men were aware that not only was there no weapon in our arsenal in 1800 to meet the need, but, due to the limitations of interchangeability of gun parts in their day, the ONLY way this requirement could be met was to build 15 locks with very strict tolerances rules out the retrofitting of locks to a finished rifle. To date, no short rifle from the Expedition has been specifically identified and no attributed specimens have ever surfaced, but this all changed in 2005 when Serial Number 15, 1803 dated Harpers Ferry rifle found its way into our shop for examination. NOTE ALL 1803 dated rifles were final inspected by Joseph Perkins (IP in circle on wood opposite the lock). 1792/1794 Lewis and Clark Contract Rifle - Don Stith (17,19) Dating was important because weapons had a serviceable shelf life, which, when expired or obsolete, were usually turned over to State Militia Arsenals as part of their yearly arms allotments. It could be done, according to the manual, with a cartridge or loose powder from a horn and ball. A short review of the known facts can lead to no other conclusion: 1. The strength of the iron in the round section of the barrels was being stretched to the limits. Probably bored with being stuck on a farm, in 1812 he enlisted with Nathanial Boone to fight in that war. Unfortunately when Ernie passed away in 2018 I lost a lot of photos of this rifle. He brought with him 15 of his most highly-skilled workmen. Periods where Lewis made no entries are September 19 to November 11 of 1803, May 14, 1804 to April 7, 1805 (almost an entire year) and August 26, 1805 to January 1, 1806.(23). Designed with rifling for accurate long distance shooting, this weapon could shoot 300 yards. the 200 rifled carbines purchased by the British from Germany (Germanic Pattern 1776) and the 800 rifled carbines that followed (British Pattern 1776) based upon the Germanic rifle and the 100 plug guns (Ferguson Rifle). Next is a center thimble placed two inches forward of any known military contract rifles. Above is a 10-shot group at 65 yards with Rifle SN 1, using 65 grains of SDS powder, 6 bulls-eye. IP stock cartouche in oval is for Joseph Perkins, final inspector of ALL 1803 dated rifles and some early production 1804 dated guns. Joseph Perkin, superintendent of the recently created Harper's Ferry Armory, was placed in charge of the design of the new rifle. cit., pg. Under pressure to deliver the guns, it is no wonder the final product varied considerably in caliber and barrel length. (2) We had no rifles to arm this new unit. The explanation may be very simple. The original example was unearthed in Ohio on a camp site occupied by Waynes Legions. At Harpers Ferry, Captain Meriwether Lewis obtained 15 rifles built It is interesting to note that in 1802, 500 rifles were sent to the Mississippi territory (to William S. Hollings, U.S. consul in New Orleans) and may have been in the hands of riflemen at the Battle of New Orleans. ABOVE: The buckhorn style rear sight found on Lewiss 15 rifles and ALL pre-December, 1803 manufactured rifles. it becomes clear that the Secretary of War was convinced that the Army (7) Sawyer, op. The highest serial numbered 1803 rifle we could confirm is 318. Lewis was also no stranger to the use of rifles. Thus, if any notes or journals exist for those lost periods, there is a good chance the rifles were mentioned in one form or another. Dearborn had experience with rifles in the American Revolution. (46) These two items put the slings into perspective all would be needed to fully equip the 15 additional men he would recruit at the various frontier posts carrying muskets with bayonets, a formidable weapon for defense. The early Harper's Ferry Rifle thought to have been carried by some of the members of the Lewis and Clark expedition might have played a part in the development of the early Hawken model.
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