Lewis & Clark Expedition Rifles

[STinSC]

I am intriqued by Lewis and Clark's Expedition and curious about the type of rifles they used. I have read that Lewis picked up 15 US Model 1803 rifles at Harpers Ferry. These were .54 caliber rifles. He then stopped off in Lancaster, PA and bought additional rifles, but I don't know the specifics of the Lancaster rifles.
I would like to find out more about both of these rifles and if similar ones are being manufactured or custom made today. I would love to get one for hunting. If anyone has any info to offer, it would be greatly appreciated.

Scott Taylor

 

[Many Klatch]

I think everybody else would like to know what they carried as well. There seems to be a lot of discussion about them and not a lot hard facts. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

Many Klatch

 

[Bountyhunter]

I have found a lot of wannabe writers who have written a lot of garbage which is obviously not correct, or cannot be verified. That tends to complicate things also.

 

Great debate there.

Best speculation is that they carried the 1792 contract rifle in .49. Lewis referred to them as 'short rifles' so they may have been shortened from the standard 42"bbl. He never mentioned the actual length.
The Lancaster rifle (s?) he purchased as a personal weapon, and note that it was Lewis that won most of the shooting comps. with the natives and his corps ( 211yds with the nez perce specifically mentioned)
The sign-ups from kentucky probly carried their own rifles and the recruits carried the issue musket (forget at the moment :redface: )based on the French Charleyville in .69.

Mostly they were paddling, or pulling, that big boat upriver. The fifteen rifles that Lewis picked up probly went to the men that used them most, specifically the hunters. (Remember Clark too brought is own weapons, a beautiful fussee, and his John Small longgun in .36,,which btw,makes some interesting tales in the narrative;imagine a .36 against elk :hmm: or bear :hmm What an ADVENTURE that was!

A great read on this is Devoto's work, and later, Ambrose, who gives a good perspective. If you want to read the actual journals then Moulton. make your own conclusions.
:v

 

[mudd turtle]

Get in touch with Don Stith-He makes a kit for the Lewis and Clark expidition rifle. garrisone.

 

[wwpete52]

I think it would be cool to have one of the air rifles they took on the expedition.

 

[Bweltkrieg]

I was lucky enough to actually shoot a reproduction of the Lewis and Clark Air Gun made by my friend Master gun maker Ernie Cowan of PA a few years back. It has a twenty two round tube magazine on the side in 46 cal. It is actually a repeater . 22 shots a minute was unheard of at this time in history. The air gun of this type would be difficult or impossible to build by the average gun maker. It takes the percussion of a watch maker to build this gun. He only built four at a cost of around 30K a piece. So chances of owning one is going be pretty slim .
Bob
Check out this link for the story of the air gun http://www.beemans.net/lewis-assault-rifle.htm

 

[cable]

i am GREEN with envy at your getting to shoot one of those ! I also talked to the maker and the rifles were about 25,000 and an additional 5000 for the bag with accessories which as i recall included two additional air reservoirs to be carried along in that pouch, so as you said 30,000!! but worth it, i suspect, except the divorce that would result would cost me a lot more! what a wonderful outfit and you really would be ready for bear, or anything else!

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I watched the PBS documentary on the Corp awhile back. upon being warned of the 'digging bear' (the grizz) by the NDN's they took the admonition lightly, they had the latest, most powerful rifles and were unpleasantly surprised when the .54's weren't effective when they encountered Ephraim. they had several close calls with narrow escapes from maulings.
IIRC the log of the Corp had this in detail.

 

[bingo1952]

Here is a link for the L&W airgun. The one they carried on the expedition was a .32 caliber. The .46 mentioned above was probably a Girondoni. http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9WEsILY92o

 

PBS Documentary??
i guess that settles it then. :grin:

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I saw the documentary and was amazed that there wasn't a hint of an anti-gun message in it. It was actually pretty good. Most likely it wasn't produced by PBS...

 

[srspicer]

This is a really cool subject. I have often wonderd about the air rifle mentioned by Ambros in his book about the corps."Undaunted Courage". I have the un-abrideged book on tape, and have listened to it several times! Thanks for posting the youtube link, awsome to see the gun loaded and fired. :thumbsup:
Scott

 

[crockett]

I agree Thank You. I always wondered about that gun.

 

[Don Robertson]

I saw the documentary and was amazed that there wasn't a hint of an anti-gun message in it. It was actually pretty good. Most likely it wasn't produced by PBS...

It was Ken Burns that did the series.

 

[wwpete52]

Most of the docs I've seen that are produced by Ken Burns are great.

 

[wwpete52]

Wow! $30K for an air rifle. I guess the Sheridan that my dad bought me back in '64 will have to do!

 

[Bweltkrieg]

Yep 30 K for and air Rifle.
Ernie doesn’t use modern machines when he builds these things they are all built by hand. The old fashion way . He is not get rich off any off of any of them. He figures he’s making about 10 bucks and hour for the amount of time it takes to build. He has tried to train apprentices but it seems all the ones he found wanted to use modern machines and make short cuts. They were let go. He is also known for building Ferguson rifles. I had a chance to buy one when he first started the build at $3,500 but like a fool, I didn’t . If you see one for sale today they will go $12,000 and up. He is currently back logged several years.
Bob

 

[Grenadier1758]

Most everyone tends to agree that the 1803 rifle wasn't authorized to be built until after Lewis left with his boat, his 15 rifles, accessories and 15 locks.

It is interesting to note that the Corps of Discovery display at Harper's Ferry shows the 1792 contract rifle with the 1803 lock. Most likely Lewis had the 1792 guns that were stored at Harper's Ferry refurbished for the Corps.

 

[crockett]

I agree about the 1792 Contract rifles but I have always wondered about the 1803 rifle. That rifle wasn't produced in a day, some one was probably working on the design for a while and the L & C Exp. was that day's NASA space launch- they would have used the most modern, best gear available- I think. Maybe they had special, proto-type 1803s. So, the 1792 contract was likely the gun but then you never know for sure.