What becomes immediately apparent is that Dearborn is describing an existing rifle, in hand, in order to have such a detailed description for Perkin. It also proved that Lewiss short rifles mentioned in the journals were one and the same rifle. According to tradition his body was returned to his wife who buried him on a bluff overlooking the Missouri river near New Haven, Missouri. 1792 contract rifle - Wikipedia ). The term loaded for bear came from the practice of double charging rifles. Harpers Ferry M1803; 1792 contract rifle for the earlier process for producing firearms; M1817 common rifle; Rifles in the American Civil War; References 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). As mentioned previous (in the 1808 riflemans manual) it was normal practice to assign each man a firearm to become familiar with it and maintain it in good order. In 1792 there was a need for rifles, and a contract was drawn up with Lancaster, Pennsylvania, gunsmiths to deliver rifles. Each new writer simply took the word of a previous author without checking for themselves. It was from his post in Pittsburgh that he enlisted in Waynes Second Sub-Legion in May of 1795 and joined the Chosen Rifle Company of elite riflemen-sharpshooters commanded by William Clark. These were divided into smaller sections (called divisions, sub-divisions, twenty platoons and forty sections) for field maneuvers. The brass patchbox was removed and replaced with a wood cover nailed into place with square cut nails. 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). 3. 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. The adoption of the full stocked common rifle (now the Model 1817 in .530 caliber and fitted with sling swivels for use by mounted riflemen) two years before the completion of the second run of short rifles tells us that the military Model 1803 rifles had some serious shortcomings. After Harpers Ferry Arsenal was established in 1799, their first task was to make a new rifle on a standard pattern becoming the Model 1803 short rifle. (5) To begin to unravel the controversy surrounding the type of rifle carried on the Voyage of Discovery, we need to examine how the short rifles appeared on the scene. Most saw hard use and abuse, with minor parts being replaced as needed and thus may not be marked to the gun. Gump signature on M1792/94 contract rifle . It could be done, according to the manual, with a cartridge or loose powder from a horn and ball. 1803 Harpers Ferry Rifle - National Park Service https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1792_contract_rifle&oldid=1093724859, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 18 June 2022, at 13:01. Whelan seems to be associated with Schuylkill arsenal where some of the 1792/4 contract guns were sent. (37) Just for a comparison to a later 19th century rifle, the Model 1895 Winchester rifle in .405 caliber firing a 300-grain bullet produced a muzzle velocity of 2,000 FPS with 3,000 foot-pounds of energy. 30. Guns of the Grunt: 1813 :: Guns.com All second contract guns were delivered by November of 1794. (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). 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). [2] What distinguishes them from civilian rifles is that they were bought by the government under military contract. 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). Caliber 52. This would have been totally unacceptable to Lewis loss of a bullet mold resulted in the loss of a rifle. Joseph Perkin, superintendent of the recently created Harper's Ferry Armory, was placed in charge of the design of the new rifle. 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. When we decided to build a Lewis and Clark rifle I too thought they carried a long rifle of some sort, perhaps even the M1792. Probably bored with being stuck on a farm, in 1812 he enlisted with Nathanial Boone to fight in that war. Front sight was a silver blade instead of brass found on all rifles produced after his special 15 rifles. The remaining unclaimed land would be acquired by treaties, negotiations and conflicts lasting well over 100 years. The Harper's Ferry Model 1803 rifle was the first rifle made by an American armory. It is believed that many of these rifles were these 1803 rifles was finished. If an itemized list of goods sold at auction in St. Louis (September 23, 1806) could be located, we would know how exactly how many rifles were sold, giving us the number kept by members. The steel ramrod, even when greasy from use, is heavy enough to push the ball down the bore if the proper combination of patch and ball used. Could serial number 15 have been the rifle that he initially took with him? Brass was a scarce commodity in the West of that day. President Jefferson would not have left Lewis in the dark about the upcoming deal with France. 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. These rifles are identical to M1803 second type III but WITHOUT serial numbers. mention the specific type of weapon Lewis obtained. There is really no mystery as to the type of rifles Lewis took for his expedition. We can only guess what happened to the patch box cover. Don is a wealth of knowledge, and his kits are top quality. It is important to remember that when shooting at longer distances, their target would consist of an enemy cannon crew, a group of officers, or an infantry line of battle. Another remarkable letter exists from Secretary Dearborn to Superintendent Perkin dated May 25, 1803. Original 32-1/2 inch barrel with 16 groove rifling. e-WV | Harpers Ferry Armory and Arsenal - wvencyclopedia.org Pedersoli's Shop website offers the sale of muzzle-loading pistols and rifles and related accessories, of historic cartridge rifles and modern rifles with lever loading system. It was there that he became fast friends with his new commander during their short time together. 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. In this manner they were able to produce the much-needed rifles in the remarkably short time allotted. 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). It is obvious that the gunsmiths in York and Lancaster took the opportunity to clean out old inventory of rifle parts, even to the point of forming cartels to this end, sharing patch boxes, locks and other mountings. He shows up on the Lancaster County tax lists for 1785-1840. Small parts (such as screws) may be unmarked on later guns, but most early ones are. (17) Many collectors contributed information on existing military contract short rifles in the 1803 & 1804 range. (49) James Kendall Hosmer, ed., Gasss Journal of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, (Mansfield Centre: Lone Wolf Press, 1999, Reprint of 1904 edition of Gasss Journal), Pgs. 75-76. The barrel bursts recorded probably brought this about. The conclusion was that 1/3 of the entire lot of 1,779 rifles would burst if proved, so they were condemned. Many of the guns examined had unmatched locks. U.S. Harpers Ferry Model 1842 Percussion Musket - NRA Museum