1792 harpers ferry rifle

Additionally, Lewis purchased replacement Receiver is marked with the usual 4 line markings "J H Hall-H. Ferry-US 1831". It may have been removed to make brass jewelry of the day. Many people believe that without these two special arms it may not have succeeded. We hope this article will put to rest the mystery of what type of short rifle was carried on the expedition. The fact that Lewis took 15 extra locks for his rifles is rather amazing. It has always been said that a good shot is born, not made, and it has been proven through history that the average soldier cannot be turned into a proficient rifleman. Pryor were both out of order. cit., Vol 1, pg. Note the slightly flared pipe. 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. Several ribs, previously mounted to finished barrels, let loose during subsequent work. Ordway writes for August 17,1806 John Colter one of our party asks leave of our officers to go back with Mr Dixon a trapping, which permission was granted him so our officers Settled with him and fitted him out with powder lead and a great number of articles which compleated him for a trapping voiage of two years which they determined to Stay untill they make a fortune.. One of the items given to him was a canoe. Whelan seems to be associated with Schuylkill arsenal where some of the 1792/4 contract guns were sent. From our experience and with the list above, we know that 1803 production may be as high as 567 (unconfirmed). One trick of a frontiersman used to find his maximum load was to shoot his rifle over a snowbank and then check for unburned grains of powder. Heating the brazing to change the pipe would have caused the solder (which melts at a lower temperature) to release the rib from the barrel. Unfortunately when Ernie passed away in 2018 I lost a lot of photos of this rifle. The ones I managed to find show up here and in Appendix I where we look at the difference in these 15 rifles and the military production. This continued until the end of production mid 1815 to 1819. . So if Getz was marking his guns as an inspector, Whelan probably adopted his initials IW in a cartouche to denote his work. Use of solid rib also begins with all military rifles. their firearms and accessories: "1 Pair Pocket Pistols, 1 Pair territory recently acquired from France in what became known as the The strength of the iron in the round section of the barrels was being stretched to the limits. Various spellings of his name are recorded. letter to Perkin supports this, especially when Dearborn states that Another remarkable letter exists from Secretary Dearborn to Superintendent Perkin dated May 25, 1803. Also, IBID, May/June 2016 story on Colter. (26)(24), Clark writes of the same event: The Guns of Sergt. Designed with rifling for accurate long distance shooting, this weapon could shoot 300 yards. [3], A second contract rifle has been identified, the 1807 Contract Rifle, which has different specifications than the weapons of 1792 and 1794. Sometime in 1804 breech contour became octagon rather than round (and continued to end of all production) to possibly reinforce this area. The standard service charge was 100 grains (in a rolled cartridge), allowing for 10 in the pan and 90 in the barrel. Later, the halfstock model, with full under rib, came to be recognized as a kind . It gave more bonding area for the soft solder. Gunsmiths from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, produced these. tons of supplies carried by the members of the Corps, including Lewiss men probably exercised this prerogative, especially the Kentuckians who grew up with a rifle in their hands. Even ramrods were marked somewhere along its length. The first rifle designed exclusively for the US Army was made at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, site of the infamous John Brown raid. If read in full context, noting the dates the rifles are mentioned by proper name, they are convincing enough to satisfy even the most skeptical about what type of rifles to which they were referring. Whelen also took delivery of 100 rifles from John Miles during April-June 1800 for an order placed by Tench Francis in Feb of 1800 (hinting that he was Franciss agent and thus regularly inspected guns). It was about this time we started giving talks on the short rifle and air gun as well as let a large audience shoot the air rifle at their National Convention. Perhaps some of the journals were lost. 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. The remaining 460 rifles of the first contract remained in store in Schuylkill Arsenal in Philadelphia and eventually augmented by those from the second contract. An 1812 publication The Handbook for Riflemen by William Duane, second in command of the United States Regiment of Riflemen from 1808 to 1810, states A rifleman is never supposed to leave his rifle unloaded, and contrary to the rule of the infantry, who always carry their arms on the left shoulder, the rifleman carries his, unless he shifts it for rest, on his right side, either trailed or at the advance.(47). It was Coxe (for whom Whelan worked) who placed an order for 1000 of the 1794 rifles. A letter from Samuel Hodgdon to Israel Whelan, dated October 14, 1800, requests him to purchase fifty pounds of thick & thin sheet brass for use at Harpers Ferry. Spain had not given their permission to cross into their territories beyond the Rockies, so to insure the safety of the party, the world at large was left to believe that the expedition would be only the planned 8 to 12 men as approved by Congress. Not understanding this causes a lot of errors even in the most modern books on British muzzle loading rifles. (What's with all these "Henrys"? We are extremely grateful to Mr. J. William Larues contribution of serial numbers gathered over a 25-year period from various sources (auctions, sales catalogs, collections and articles) and for his permission to print them with additional numbers of rifles we (and others) have located to date. Those lost records have never been accurately reconstructed. Almost all first contract rifles (1792) found their way into the hands of Waynes Legion and state troops between June and August at Fort Pitt. Over 300 of these rifles were stored at the Harpers Ferry arsenal when It meant that one person used a pattern piece of some sort to make them interchangeable. (4) Stuart E. Brown, The Guns of Harpers Ferry, 1968, (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1994, P10; National Archives Collection, papers of the War Department; Coxe and Irvine Papers, RG92. The Short Rifle of the Lewis & Clark journals. pairs of bullet molds, 15 wipers or gun worms, 15 ball screws, 26), for delivering 100 guns on the 1792 military contracts. Both men made sure that all short rifles would be readily available, being the most effective means of defending themselves should they be attacked. Only military horns have wood screw type base plugs as shown below. Our ongoing study turned up a quantity of rifles that were unquestionably made in 1803 and bear some unique characteristics to prove that point. They were often free to roam on the flanks and advance of an Army on the move, providing intelligence on the enemy. But for the precaution taken in bringing on those extra locks and parts of locks, in addition to the ingenuity of John Shields, most of our guns would at this moment be entirely unfit for use; but fortunately for us I have it in my power here to record that they are all in good order.. and fit them with new locks. These glaring errors send up big red flags for his yearly production records too many to be ignored. Lewis wrote Jefferson on April 20, 1803 from Lancaster, Pa., explaining the difficulty encountered in building the iron frame of the portable boat, and goes on to note, My Rifles, Tomahawks & Knives are preparing at Harpers Ferry, and are already in a state of forwardness that leaves me little doubt of their being in readiness in due time.(12). We have learned a great deal about 1803 rifles. Perkin had gained extensive knowledge in English arms production, having served his apprenticeship in the Birmingham gun trade before immigrating to America in 1774. Under Dearborn's direction, the war department issued an order for the new rifle on May 25, 1803. Henry Leman built a classic plains rifle, and Henry Deringer (of pocket pistol fame) also built sturdy rifles for the Fur Trade. The original example was unearthed in Ohio on a camp site occupied by Waynes Legions. This is also is true for the series of common rifles. Any man returning West would have coveted such a powerful weapon, as it was the fore-runner of the large caliber Hawkins type rifles that appeared later. We have taken much of this material from that book. The Model 1800-1819 series of rifles are one of the most tampered with rifles in the collecting world. Overall metal is generally VG with a light gunm .Click for more info. This would have been totally unacceptable to Lewis loss of a bullet mold resulted in the loss of a rifle. Many, having survived the journey, died at the hands of the Indians in those endeavors. They were so special that Harpers Ferry built the militarys first sniper rifle in 1814 specifically for the best of these men as the force was increased. This also tells us that each person received and was responsible for his own rifle and carried it throughout the journey. 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. His Model 1800 rifles, with a unique system of interchangeable locks, were ordered in March of 1803 and well into production two months before Secretary of War Dearborn placed that order. These consisted of the best marksmen in the regiment and were to be emulated by the others in the unit. [2] What distinguishes them from civilian rifles is that they were bought by the government under military contract. 106-107. (28)(((26), Clark writes of the same incident we Caused all the men of the party who had Short guns to carry them on the portage for fear of Some attempt on the part of the nativs to rob the party.(27). After that date barrels ofall lengths carried full octagon breeches to strengthen that area. Throughout the journals the feminine noun is used often when referring to weapons, especially the air rifle. . With such confusing instructions, the wide range of gunsmiths making the rifles assured inconsistencies especially when the changes were requested while guns were already in production. The embarrassing rout of the First, supported by Kentucky militia, at the Battle of the Wabash led to the formation of the Legion of the United States and also coincided with some of the first. With the discovery of Serial Number 15 Model 1800 rifle we have categorized, for the purpose of this study, the Harpers Ferry rifles into five categories for a clearer understanding. (38). If the barrel of a .405 Winchester became plugged with mud or snow, the chances are it would suffer the same catastrophic fate as the 1800 rifles, despite the vast improvements in barrel material. from Lewis to Jefferson, it appears that Lewis had the arsenal shorten Corps of Discovery, whose mission was to find and map a cit., Vol. In 1798 Perkin was appointed to set up the new government arsenal at Harpers Ferry. At that time it had no lock. Note inspector marks IW on left barrel flat of Gumpf rifle in the same configuration of inspector marks on the M1803 rifles. In 1808 he made his now famous 200 mile run for survival from the Indians. Model 1792 riflemans horn(our desination). The octagon barrel of the 1792 long rifles could never suffered a 13% failure rate at the muzzle (or any other area), completely ruling out that type of firearm. The center pipe was not placed at the center of the rib but about 2 forward of center. One thing to note on new rifles, all screw slots will point to the muzzle (horizontal with the rifle) when tightened, especially on the patch box. American riflemen have always been a subject of legend and myth, both in the years before our Independence from England and long after. It is held that they would be safe if they were 3 feet 2 inches; and if so much barrel, rod and stock were added, and 14 1/2. But it wasn't until October 1803 that the first of (3) Viz. Initially 908 rifles went to Ft. Pitt and 100 to Virginia. ((24)(19) From personal experience (working for the government), the same practice of delayed production reporting to meet budgeting constraints continues today within government production facilities. Both entries show that the locks and their components were indeed interchangeable. Led by Jefferson's secretary, Meriwether Lewis, Also, of interest on the gunpowder side of the short rifle story is that in 1815 Chief of Ordnance Colonel Wadsworth recommended the barrel of the Model 1803 rifle lengthened to 36 inches in order to more effectively burn the service charge of 100 grains. It is important to note the spacing of the numbers that all start the same distance away from the US cartouche which in most cases would not allow another number to be inserted between the cartouche and the first number. This list, with its confirmed serial numbers and lock dates, produces a relatively good chart to judge the authenticity of any rifles made between 1803-1806. It lays to rest any notion that the term short rifle used prior to or after July 2, 1806 was referring any type of cut down long rifles since both cut rifles disappear into history in the hands of two Indian guides. Whether Lewis had previous knowledge of the existence of the new rifle due to his close relationship with Dearborn, we shall never know, but he would have jumped at the chance to obtain the new short rifle for his expedition. The men Lewis recruited in 1803 were hardened frontiersmen and as such would not have even considered the use of a sling, but there is another very good reason why they could not have used slings the short rifle is structurally incapable of mounting one. They were carved into the stock and then filled with pine resin which hardened to a glassy apperance. In one incident, a rifleman left his tomahawk at a previous campsite and Lewis sent him back to retrieve it. The lowest numbered 1803 dated military rifle examined and confirmed was SN 318, the highest number SN 844, but unconfirmed. Left and right views of M1792/94 Gumpf rifle. Lewis wrote to Jefferson on July 7, 1803: Yesterday I shot my guns and examined the several articles which had been manufactured for me at this place; they appear to be well executed. if i drank the night before a breathalyzer, south carolina police chief jobs,
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