Joseph Perkin, superintendent of the recently created Harper's Ferry Armory, was placed in charge of the design of the new rifle. If we consider that the .525 ball weighs in at 219 grains, a charge of about 55 grains (1/4 the ball weight) would be enough for accurate shooting (man sized target) out to 300 yards. This is the only picture I have to work with of the entire rifle. Could serial number 15 have been the rifle that he initially took with him? Trade guns, with their octagon breech and round barrels were prone to burst at the muzzle if overcharged. This also tells us that each person received and was responsible for his own rifle and carried it throughout the journey. This was not cost effective; thus, we find Pre-DEC 1803 production rifles retaining the straight upper pipe, just as with SN 15. 337, 347 & Appendix 5. 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. 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. Straight upper pipe on SN 94, made pre-December 1803 (changes) in the Cody, Wyoming museum. In the 1950s, when gun collecting became big, many were converted back to flint. This combination allows the .520 calibre ball to be loaded with ease (as described in Dearborns letter) even when the steel rod gets slippery from use. All anyone needs to do, for their own satisfaction, is to professionally check it out for themselves. Throughout this article, to avoid confusion, we use caliber for bore size and calibre for ball size (as the French did in their early writings).(14). The more detailed information we can gather on 1803-06 rifles will help immensely. Louisiana Governor Claibornes return of arms for the years 1807, 1810 and 1811 show these arms in inventory at New Orleans. If any gun could talk, this would be the one that would tell some great stories. The condition of the rifle indicates very hard, long use. 1803 half-stock Harpers Ferry rifle ordered by Henry Dearborn just weeks after Lewis' rifles were readied for the "Corps of Discovery." S PECIFICATIONS: Per instructions of Secretary of War Henry Knox in 1792, and as modified by Meriwether Lewis in 1803. . 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. Whitehouse used she when describing the air gun on August 30, 1804, and Lewis uses it again on August 7, 1805 ..my air gun was out of order and her sights had been removed by some accedent.. This indicates that when Lewis writes where she was manufactured, he is not referring to the lock, but rather the rifle itself. Another remarkable letter exists from Secretary Dearborn to Superintendent Perkin dated May 25, 1803. This was his terminology for shooting it in again. A thread discussing the contract guns. Vol. too much to the right or left, so that he may correct his fire accordingly. Silver front sights were popular on long rifles for shooting in the dim light of virgin forests. According Our serial number research shows that all first production military contract rifles (4000) were completed by the end of 1806 (none have been recorded to date with an 1807 dated lock plate), for a total of 4015 and possibly 4 early (Ca. (1), Sawyers Model 1800 rifle theory was based upon the fact that on March 3, 1799, Congress passed an act authorizing the addition to the regular army of One Regiment and battalion rifles consisting of 1,840 privates, totaling 2052 men. 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). Lewis held Colter in high esteem, and he was well known among his peers as an honest and truthful man, adding credence to his encounter and story of survival. In recent years historians have tried to link the M1792 contract rifles to the Lewis & Clark expedition, but it had absolutely no connection as explained in our main story. Initially 908 rifles went to Ft. Pitt and 100 to Virginia. In such situations, a small group of well-trained riflemen would cause considerable demoralization and casualties within any grouped enemy ranks. It is interesting to note that those guns were marked with a U.S. on the top flat of the barrel and carry a P and C inspector mark. The Model 1795 was produced in about 85,000 units until 1814. Next is a center thimble placed two inches forward of any known military contract rifles. Over time they were issued to a variety of states and even Indian tribes (as many as 600 to the Chickasaws during the 1793/94 period), leaving 911 rifles in stores on October 1,1802. As it progresses it will become obvious as to which lock plate dates belong which guns by serial number blocks. He published an interesting table Appendix E on page 169, based upon two sets of 19th century bore gauges in the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers Proof House in London. 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. (10) Stephen E. Ambrose, Undaunted Courage, (Simon & Schuster, 1996), Pg. Without enough M1792 rifles in inventory to arm this new force, additional rifles were IMMEDIATELY needed. In all actuality, they could not have left us better evidence regarding their use of the new short rifles soon to be part of the Army inventory.(50). All military production 1803-1806 rifles have the heptagonal flat bottom rifling (Dearborns special rifling reference). It could be done, according to the manual, with a cartridge or loose powder from a horn and ball. The one thing found on this rifle that we have never seen on ANY long rifle is a cartouche on the upper left barrel flat near the breech where military markings of any type are always placed, especially an inspector cartouche in this case IW in a sunken half circle placed in the same manner as the later Model 1803 barrel markings upside down so it can be viewed from the top looking down on the barrel. The War Department expended $9520.49 in 1799 on new arms manufacturing yet manufacturing of muskets did not get well under way until 1801. In 1792 there was a need for rifles, and a contract was drawn up with Lancaster, Pennsylvania, gunsmiths to deliver rifles. This practice continued until the end of the 45-70 period with the only exception being the Civil War type percussion weapons that used the English musket nipple thread of 5/16 X 24. Gunsmiths This is the first part of our study on two important weapons carried on the Lewis & Clark expedition, the second being the Airgun. When this arsenal was abandoned in 1798, he was given the task of setting up the new government arsenal at Harpers Ferry. Considering the importance of an expedition authorized by President Jefferson along with Dearborns instructions to Perkin to make whatever Lewis needed without delay, his 17 production workers (some books indicate as many as 20) would have had ample time to manufacture his rifles with the raw materials available at the arsenal with only labor costs. Use and wear quickly changes this. This is the subject of this section, to talk about riflemen and their special weapons. About 5/8 has been removed from the muzzle of the barrel (perhaps it too had split). 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. A previous years work on the new Model 1800 rifle project would have been adequate to complete the prototype process with only the production phase halted. From the study of just Lewiss rifle (and other 1803 dated rifles we located) his records can conclusively be disputed. Until the end of 1838 the fiscal year was a calendar year. The journals are very specific about their movements at any time and in various places. (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. This list dispels all previously printed myths in many books on short rifle production. This practice would not have been confined to just one arsenal. 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. If you should be of opinion that any improvements may be made on the above construction or any parts thereof, you will be pleased to inform me of such improvements as you may think useful. It was under these clouds of potential war that the short rifle was born. 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. 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). It proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Harpers Ferry Arsenal made short rifles in 1803, going against all previous beliefs. 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. Perkin finished Lewiss Model 1800 rifles on schedule. Our ongoing study turned up a quantity of rifles that were unquestionably made in 1803 and bear some unique characteristics to prove that point. BOTTOM: Half-stock fowler made by BARKER in the 1775-1785 period. It is important to note that we only bought the rights to legally acquire full ownership from the inhabitants of the territory. This rifle had been inletted for the brass stock ferrule, but the band found with the rifle was a modern brass replacement making it impossible to ascertain exactly when it was attempted. In battle, they often provided advance skirmish support and as individual sharpshooters, inflicted casualties at long range upon opposing enemy officers. This is a very good theory since only Lewis had any real opportunity to field test the rifles and make such suggestions. Details of Serial No. 1807 was the year the Embargo Act was passed suspending foreign trade, so the government had to come up with its own brand of SDSfor the rifle powder. It is the first style American issue military horn. Few people realize that significant gaps exist in the journals that Lewis started on August 30, 1803. The first rifle designed exclusively for the US Army was made at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, site of the infamous John Brown raid. (48). 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. Napoleon reestablished peace with us in 1799. There is the possibility that a few rifles may exist with an 1807 lock but none have surfaced as of this writing. We can choose to cling to the past but to do so is an injustice to historians and collectors who want the truth. 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. not consistent with Army regulations, unless the arsenal had only one The .520 calibre round ball also meets Dearborns specification for 30 balls to the pound. Lewis (on his accidental shooting by Private Cruzatte), August 12,1806 the ball had lodged in my breeches which I knew to be the ball of the short rifles such as that he had. Issues continued to various states until an inventory of February,1805 showed only 5 serviceable and 94 unserviceable rifles in stores, indicating that some sort of inspection had been done to separate them (and so marked by the inspector since). One of these threats were the Indians on our new Western frontier (ending at the Mississippi river) in the area won from England after the Revolution. 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. They were often free to roam on the flanks and advance of an Army on the move, providing intelligence on the enemy. Right -1819 dated rifle, 36 barrel with 7 groove round bottom rifling with curved lands. Don is a wealth of knowledge, and his kits are top quality. (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. As noted, all 1803 and many early 1804 rifles have ROUNDED undersides at the breech end. Overall weights and lengths vary on the 1803-1806 series of rifles. Unfortunately he died May 7, 1812, not at hostile hands, but by jaundice (another term for blood poisoning). In 1807-1808, Colter explored over 500 miles of new country with only a rifle and a 30-pound pack, including the wonders of Yellowstone Park. (45), Among the invoice of items taken from the arsenal at Harpers Ferry with the 15 slings were 15 Cartouch box belts and 125 Musket flints. The amazing distances they were expected to shoot is also recorded .. it becomes necessary to aim lower than the level line when the objects are near and to aim higher when beyond a given distance. 36) Thus two reasons can be found in documents for the lengthening of the short rifle barrel but since it was not implemented until 1815, we believe, as stated previous, the desire to use DuPont rifle powder(FFFg) was more of an influence on the decision than any other reason. All short rifles found their way into state arsenals (and many other places) with two being held in each infantry regiment for hunting purposes for which they were unsurpassed. (19) George D. Moller, American Military Shoulder Arms, Volume 2/ From the 1790s to the end of the Flintlock Period, (University Press of Colorado, 1993), Pg. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. 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. The Harper's Ferry Model 1803 rifle was the first rifle made by an American armory. Lewis, April 12,1806 we caused all the men who had short rifles to carry them, in order to be prepared for the natives should they make any attempts to rob or injure them. 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. Small parts (such as screws) may be unmarked on later guns, but most early ones are. The best information on these first military contract rifles comes from George D. Mollers book American Military Shoulder Arms, Vol 2, 1790s to the end of the Flintlock period(1993). It must also be remembered that riflemen of the period did not use slings and thus were never a part of their accouterments. It rules out the Model 1803, which didn't enter production until the fall. For all powder charges, the following instructions were given Some hold that a quantity of powder equal to three times the full of the mould in which the ball is cast, is the proper charge; others four times the full of the mould; on this plan a ball of twenty to the pound would be fired with nearly a fourth the weight of the ball. All 1814 and into about mid-production 1815 used left over barrels from the first production run. We can be grateful for his diligence and time expended on this subject. The principal means of loading when ranging as individuals was with loose powder and ball. The .520 ball also meets Dearborns 30 balls to the pound requirement. Harpers Ferry production capabilities in 1803 was more than enough to make his rifles in the allotted time. he was much pleased with the exchange and shot his gun several times; he shoots very well for an inexperienced person.(32). But though there is some elevation of the rifle ball in its course, it is relatively so small that it is not required to aim lower than the object at any range though when at a considerable distance, say 500 yards to 700 yards, it is necessary to take a higher aim.
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