1792 harpers ferry rifle

We can be certain of this since they made it a point to trade back the full length short rifle taken by Drewyer and Shannon on June 18 as noted in Ordways journal above. Due to the lateness of the shipment these guns may have carried an inspector mark. type of weapon in stock, in which case it was not necessary to specify His rationality can be better understood if we look at our early history, historical documents and surviving weapons. It will match the other assembly numbers found on the stock and barrel. Land claims given to veterans of the Revolutionary War were in this new area, but the Indians were not ready to peacefully give up their ancient lands to encroachment. (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. 567. It was there that he became fast friends with his new commander during their short time together. If we take a closer look at riflemen of the period, knowing Lewiss secret gathering of supplies for a larger exploring party than first projected, the journals themselves and the structural aspect of the rifle, this theory can be dispelled. This was all prompted by our shaky relations with France over their ongoing conflict with England (with who we continued trade after a 1794 treaty, which France claimed violated their 1778 Alliance with us) that came to a head with the XYZ Affair of 1798 when France insulted our delegates. Anticipating an extended trip into an uncharted wilderness, Lewis wisely requested a supply of spare locks, perhaps as many as 15, to be used as needed, either in whole or part to keep his rifles serviceable. SN 94, (2)14 and 359 are pre-Dec 1803 military production, both with December,1803 requested upgrades (front band and sight change) except for the upper ramrod pipe. No rifles left Harpers Ferry without at least SOME of the requested alterations. (3) Viz. Pryor & Drewyer were both out of order. In an arti- cle in a similar vein that Tait published in Man At Arms,4he stated that several hundred of the Contract rifles were known to have been stored at Harpers Ferry in 1803. Hamilton, Pioneer Press, 1987. he should weigh his powder, and note the difference of effect with a greater or less quantity of powder, and how far the quantity of powder affects the shot.. sum of $2,500.00 to fund a small expeditionary group, known as the 337, 347 & Appendix 5. Second is a the very long-standing misplaced faith in the 1822 reconstructed Bomford records indicating that no short rifles (even prototypes) were made in 1803. Harper,s Ferry M1800 Rifle serial number 15. It is not unreasonable to surmise that part of Colters settlement would have included a rifle and the rifle of choice would have been the one he carried on the expedition. He delivered 106 rifles on the Feb 7,1794 (second contract placed) order of 2000. All rights reserved. We hope this article will put to rest the mystery of what type of short rifle was carried on the expedition. Old manuals on the rifles list a 218 to 219 grain ball. ************************************************************************, The Lewis and Clark Harpers Ferry Short Rifle, Manufactured by Richard H. Keller & Ernest E. Cowan, Great War Militaria, Chambersburg, Pa. 17201. 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. Left and right views of M1792/94 Gumpf rifle. The new heptagonal rifling allowed more shots between cleaning, making it better than the English Baker Rifle. A 65-grain charge of SDS (fine rifle) powder with a 215 grain .520 calibre ball produced a muzzle velocity of 1450 feet per second. It rules out the Model 1803, which didn't enter production until the fall. Harpers Ferry Model 1803 | Military Wiki | Fandom January 4, 1792, the Secretary of War, Henry Knox wrote a letter to General Hand in Lancaster, Pennsylvania authorizing him to get with the area gunmakers and contract with them to make 500 to 1000 rifles as quickly as possible. It was Coxe (for whom Whelan worked) who placed an order for 1000 of the 1794 rifles. cit., Pgs. Lewiss took 50 pounds of Best Rifle Powder from Harpers Ferry and purchased 176 pounds of English Cannister Powder from Beck & Harvey in Philadelphia, who made the best rifle powder in the world. The closest powder on todays market equal to the 18th century SDS is Schuetzen black powder. All M1792 & M1794 contract rifles were basically of an identical style, varying in barrel lengths, calibers, patch box styles, and possible inlays and carving, all being made by various gunsmiths in the York and Lancaster County areas in Pennsylvania. Neither Lewis nor Jefferson could act openly upon this change of plans for the safety of the expedition, plus, by making it a military venture, additional funding could come from the War Department. Our first official Rifle Corps was raised by act of Congress on April 12, 1808 consisting of 849 men. Front sight was a silver blade instead of brass found on all rifles produced after his special 15 rifles. The barrel was not protected by a wood stock (soft iron barrels were easily bent by soldiers misuse) and it did not mount a bayonet or carry a sling which became important for the mounted infantry concept. 1054 (U) 1805 lock/ See Olson article, American Rifleman. (16) This confirms that by 1803 the need for a standard rifle was fully recognized by the Army. It meant that one person used a pattern piece of some sort to make them interchangeable. All 1814 and into about mid-production 1815 used left over barrels from the first production run. It is not impossible to believe that Lewis proposed these changes to Dearborn since the inletting appears to be old, especially after having the rifles in his hands for many months. We are especially looking for a rifle over SN 4000 as it would tell us if they started serial numbering at 16. The stock has many wood fillers (of various types and age) applied over the years for preservation with the patch box replaced by a wood covering held in place by handmade square cut nails. 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. Loss of a mold meant the loss of a rifles use. Build Track's 1792 Contract flintlock longrifle parts set, with 15/16 C. (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. Most long rifles will shoot well with a charge slightly greater than the ball diameter viz. All second contract guns were delivered by November of 1794. Locks are somewhat interchangeable on the early rifles but in all cases they will display traces of fitting, either in the lock mortise or the lock itself (sear bent, mounting screw holes are enlarged, or some other noticeable work). So, the first thing I did was get the Moulton 13 volume set on his expedition (borrowed it from Phil Schreier on a permanent type loan) and spend one whole summer reading all of them cover to cover. The War Ministry secretary, Timothy Pickering, suggested the French musket to start production with, such to use some of the parts stocked in the Springfield's warehouses since 1794 assigned as deposits and gunsmithing for the guns repairs. Unfortunately he died May 7, 1812, not at hostile hands, but by jaundice (another term for blood poisoning). The full 90-grain charge had excessive recoil and did not group quite as well (but all stayed on the black). Clarke added in his entry the additional comment that the guns were Complete in every respect. Another remarkable letter exists from Secretary Dearborn to Superintendent Perkin dated May 25, 1803. The Gumpf (Johan Christopher Gumpf 1760-1844) common long rifle pictured above meets all the criteria for an M1792 contract rifle and, with its added inspector cartouche is probably the closest example we will ever get to a true 1792/94 contract rifle. This has been an error that has persisted since books were written on this subject. Probably bored with being stuck on a farm, in 1812 he enlisted with Nathanial Boone to fight in that war. This highly skilled work force was in place when Lewis arrived on the scene in March of 1803. US Contract Rifles 1792 & 1807 1800 US Short Rifle (Lewis and Clark Rifle) (935) 1803 - 1819 Harpers Ferry Rifles (500 A) (500 B) (500 C) History, Facts and Descriptions of 1803 Harpers Ferry Rifles 1814 Common Rifle (516 A) 1817 Common Rifle (516 B) US Common Rifle Cleaning Set (537) 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. of the Harpers Ferry Arsenal Joseph Perkin, and the 8 July 1803 letter He is credited in Arms Makers of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Woods & Whisker, Pg. It has also been generally agreed that a lot of imported (factory purchased) locks were used on these rifles to speed up the process. The highest serial numbered 1803 rifle we could confirm is 318. 98). When that supply was exhausted, they went to the round-bottom rifling with 36 barrel for reasons also explained in the story. (7) Official surviving correspondence relating to the short rifles is almost non-existent (at least to this date) other than the few letters from Henry Dearborn thus we are left with a puzzle with many missing pieces. Dearborn's letter specifies in great detail the type of rifle the armory All of the above are estimated 1803 production SN ranges based upon the earliest serial number of a confirmed 1804 dated rifle (as done with each year block). (51) John Colter returned to the West as a mountain man. Historians (writers) are out of step with gun collectors in this area, relying upon OLD & incorrect production information. All military production 1803-1806 rifles have the heptagonal flat bottom rifling (Dearborns special rifling reference). It required the building of firearms for testing purposes. It is known that Peter Getz and Thomas Palmer inspected guns contracted by him. British soldiers returning to England after our American Revolution spun tales about the unerring accuracy of our long rifle that are hard to dispel even today. Since the Army ordered only 4,000, the additional 15 were Lewiss rifles. Napoleon reestablished peace with us in 1799. I have such convincing proof of the advantage the short rifle has over the long ones (commonly used) in actual service as to leave no doubt in my mind of preferring the short rifle, with larger Calibers than the long ones usually have and with stiff steel ramrods instead of wooden ones the great facility which such rifles afford in charging, in addition to their being less liable to become foul by firing, gives a decided advantage to an equal skill and dexterity over those armed with the common long rifle.(13). The Lewis and Clark "short rifle" Harper's Ferry "short rifle" SN 15, built in 1803 was used as a pattern for our rifle project once we verified its authenticity. These are good serial numbers to help determine correct lock plate dates with serial numbers. There were no .530 calibre U.S. military round ball molds (for a .54 bore) to be found. Only by studying the documents surrounding the origin of a weapon and original specimens themselves can a production timeframe be concluded. Vol. We can choose to cling to the past but to do so is an injustice to historians and collectors who want the truth. (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. from Congress for an amazing endeavor. Whelan may have also been the inspector for Tench Francis, Purveyor of Public Stores from 1795-1800. This single fact alone is enough to show the inaccuracy of the Bomford records since he shows no short rifles, pattern or otherwise, produced in 1803. This was his terminology for shooting it in again. 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. He shows up on the Lancaster County tax lists for 1785-1840. These were usually applied in three visible areas stock, barrel and lock to reassemble a rifle after cleaning. Eleven different gunsmiths took the contract on, delivering 1,476 rifles between April 1792 and December 1792. with the short rifles Lewis had the armory make for the expedition that For decades arms writers have tried to explain away the many inconsistencies in his numbers on other types of early Harpers Ferry arms without challenging them, perpetuating our belief that his records are not the gospel on the subject. The new heptagonal .530 caliber bore of the 1803 rifle has wide flat lands with narrow grooves instead of the concave lands and grooves found in many of the second production (1815-1819) rifles. and Don Stith and represents a replica crafted on the features Only if a pattern lock, complete with pan and mounting holes, was furnished to a gunsmith prior to production (such as was obviously done with the 15 extra locks made for Lewiss rifles)could any degree of interchangeability become possible.(15). *********************************************************************** 1804 dated rifles, 373 (U) Buffalo New York History Museum, 708 (C) (Lowest confirmed rifle), 909 (C) (highest confirmed 1804 rifle). Colter moved to Missouri, married and settled down near Daniel Boone at Dundee, Missouri, fathering one son. The Secretary of War, Henry Knox began procuring rifles for the army. The rifle is in almost relic condition, weathered, sun bleached and exhibiting an extremely hard life in the outdoors. There is the possibility that a few rifles may exist with an 1807 lock but none have surfaced as of this writing. Every Collectors Guide on U.S. military firearms has the calibre of these very important rifles wrong (as well as other flintlock government contract rifles to follow but that is another story) because no one took the time to properly gauge the bore. List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces, "Papers of the War Department, Authorization to Contract with Manufacturer for Rifles", "Corps of Discovery Rifles of the Expedition". Some locks were marked on the edges with straight cut lines. 21 . A full 90 grain would easily reach the 2,000 FPS mentioned by Sawyer. (4) Despite the above information, a few people still do not accept that Lewis carried fifteen Model 1800 short rifles on his expedition, based upon old beliefs that we can now dispel: First is the misconception that Lewis waited for 15 rifles from the first U.S. Government contract (2,000 rifles) placed on May 25, 1803. There was another good reason to increase the size of the party in secret. This error came from measuring the bores of the rifle at the muzzle, not considering that the muzzle is swamped to allow insertion of the patched ball with the thumb. It was from this chart that Dearborn chose 76 officers for removal during the Army reductions of that year. Perhaps some of the journals were lost. Henry Leman built a classic plains rifle, and Henry Deringer (of pocket pistol fame) also built sturdy rifles for the Fur Trade. It was far superior to the previous long rifle that was unwieldy for his various modes of travel and varied in calibers, requiring each rifle to have its own bullet mold and powder charge. The prior proof that Dearborn refers to may have come directly from Lewis himself after his March 1803 visit to the arsenal, but whatever convincing proof he had was enough to place the May,1803 order for the Army. IP stock cartouche in oval is for Joseph Perkins, final inspector of ALL 1803 dated rifles and some early production 1804 dated guns. Unknown to the United States, The Treaty of San Ildefonso (October 1, 1800) ceded Louisiana back to France but Spain basically ignored the treaty, most likely due to Spains reluctance to give up her forts along the east bank of the Mississippi river land that was ceded to the United States by England in the Treaty of Paris. The .520 calibre round ball also meets Dearborns specification for 30 balls to the pound. He also had the gunsmiths add swivels to these weapons, Workmanship varied considerably from poor to professional, however, each gun WILL give up its secrets if disassembled and studied in detail. the first was repared with a new lock, the old one having become unfit for uce; the second had the cock screw broken which was replaced by a duplicate which had been made prepared for the lock at Harpers ferry where she was manufactured. 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. At 200 yards we could keep all shots on a man size silhouette. Note inspector marks IW on left barrel flat of Gumpf rifle in the same configuration of inspector marks on the M1803 rifles. Bullet molds had to be supplied with each rifle, requiring the soldier to cast his own balls for his rifle and work up a proper powder charge with whatever powder was supplied at any given time. (13) Major James E. Hicks, U.S. Military Firearms/ 1776-1956, (James E. Hicks & Son, 1962), Pg. This leads to the conclusion that the arsenal had 14 & 68. 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. In addition, for this mark to be applied, the weapon passed some sort of inspection process by an arsenal inspector. Harpers Ferry Rifles for sale - Guns International 10 & Pg. They were unique as explained in the text, therefore only Lewiss 15 rifles would fall into this category. The arms race was very much alive at that time and our fear of having to face British troops armed with a superior rifle forced the U.S. Army to come up with one equal to or better rifle than theirs. 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. In correspondence with Dave Kennedy at Cody, Wyoming museum, the 1803 rifle SN 94 is attributed to the Pugsley Collection. This practice would not have been confined to just one arsenal. The first contract was issued January 13,1792, requesting 44-1/2 barrels with 45 balls to the pound (.47 caliber bore). His use of the word glaized is interesting since it was a term used in British correspondence (spelled glazed) when referring to the fine rifle powder (SDS)used during the American Revolution in both the Ferguson and British Pattern rifled carbines (P76 rifles).(41). The stock displays four sun shaped inlays filled with pine resin that can be seen in the above stock photos. Under Dearborn's direction, the war department issued an order for the new rifle on May 25, 1803. It has begun to let loose from hard use. A short review of the known facts can lead to no other conclusion: 1. This is the subject of this section, to talk about riflemen and their special weapons. The date of this passage and the use of the term short rifles is very important since it is still before any rifles were shortened by Shields. The rear sight is a buckhorn long rifle style (see appendix I), favored for using Kentucky windage by frontiersmen for long range shooting, stamped with the assembly number on the underside to match with the assembly number stamped in the dovetailed slot on the barrel (no other assembly number appears on the barrel, which is unusual since government rifles are marked on the underside, indicating perhaps a special run of guns. John Potts, another expedition member, was killed in this encounter. May,1985. We have only his account of events for this survival story, with the known fact that he arrived at Ft. Remon almost naked with sore feet and starving. Hopefully more confirmed (C) 1803 dated rifles can be found and examined. The available inspectors of that period were very limited.

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1792 harpers ferry rifle

1792 harpers ferry rifle