Lewis & Clark Powder Cannister

[Whitworth]

Hmmmmmmmmmm. It seems from the illustration above that the lead canisters might have been more like lead boxes than lead canisters.

Would make packing more efficient.

 

[TFoley]

Would make packing more efficient.

Making them hexagonal might would be even better, according to Herr Staedtler....

 

[springfield art]

wonder where they stored the powder when they started melting the lead? just a wonder.

I thought that, too. I guess they started out with lots of already-made balls, then when those were shot with powder in the "first" canister, that left the canister empty to be melted down, etc.

 

[FishDFly]

The powder was moved via boat, horse back and on foot. Weight would be a consideration for the container.

Also, why open a container that had more powder than what was needed at the time. A lot of the powder was cached for the return trip, so concealment would be an issue..

 

[Whitworth]

The weight of the container or the equivalent weight in ball would have to carried regardless so it was brilliant to make the containers of lead and turn it into ball. With as many as 45 in the party 8 pounds isn't that much to open and divvy up so resealing may not have even been necessary. It however would've been easy to remove a wax sealed stopper, replenish those in need, replace the stopper and re-seal it with the same bee's wax.

 

[BP Addict]

Courtesy of Kristopher Townsend.

View attachment 81229

You'll find one such container on display at Fort Clatsop in NW Oregon. I did.

And another at Fort Mandan in North Dakota!

 

[BP Addict]

The weight of the container or the equivalent weight in ball would have to carried regardless so it was brilliant to make the containers of lead and turn it into ball. With as many as 45 in the party 8 pounds isn't that much to open and divvy up so resealing may not have even been necessary. It however would've been easy to remove a wax sealed stopper, replenish those in need, replace the stopper and re-seal it with the same bee's wax.

The ones I've seen did not have a stopper. The powder was pored in and sealed with lead. I'm not sure which is more accurate. It seems that those running the Interpretive Centers believe it was the latter.

 

[BP Addict]

It's my understanding that the powder sold to the Trappers at the Rendezvous were stored the same way, inside a lead container. I didn't know until recently that it was Merriwether Lewis' brain child.

 

[Shotgunblast]

Cool

 

[springfield art]

And another at Fort Mandan in North Dakota!

Wow!

 

[stephenprops1]

As Jake noted, just the one, made by Girandoni. The owner of Beeman Airguns, Dr Robert Beeman, owned it for a long time. I bleeve that he donated it to the NRA Museum - here you can see it on youtube being demonstrated to the USAWC.



There are also a couple of skilled craftsmen in America who make replications, as you can see on YT. Mr Martin Orro?

To be honest, they would scare the almighty bejabbers out of anybody used to seeing a muzzleloading musket in use. Twenty shots in twenty seconds? Holeeeeeeeee smoke!

Of course, the indigens didn't know that they had only the one such rifle, but they were, by all accounts, impressed enough to leave that for the next tribe to find out.

I guess that rifle would be considered "FULLY AUTOMATIC" by today's liberals.

 

[BP Addict]

I believe it was somewhere around 30 cal. It took 1500 pumps to charge the air reservoir. It was never used against a human being.

 

[jcs266]

Hmmmmmmmmmm. It seems from the illustration above that the lead canisters might have been more like lead boxes than lead canisters.

Yep, that's probably it. Easier to stack them that way also. A very clever way to do it though. Thanks to the OP for bringing up this topic. I started reading the Journals of L & C and need to get back to it and finish it. I really found it fascinating, what an amazing adventure!

 

[BP Addict]

Yep, that's probably it. Easier to stack them that way also. A very clever way to do it though. Thanks to the OP for bringing up this topic. I started reading the Journals of L & C and need to get back to it and finish it. I really found it fascinating, what an amazing adventure!

Was reading the Journals recently while travelling the Lewis and Clark Trail from the east coast. Stopped at Fort Mandan (where they spent their first winter) in North Dakota and the Interpretive Center in Great Falls Montana (where they portaged the dugouts past the falls). I need to get back to reading it, myself.

 

[TFoley]

I believe it was somewhere around 30 cal. It took 1500 pumps to charge the air reservoir. It was never used against a human being.

11.5mm or so - that's almost .50cal..........................and the Austrians certainly used them against the Fro- French, hence Napoleon's edict of death by field execution to the users.

I'd agree, from struggling my way through the somewhat adventurous spelling of Merriweather Clarke, that their airgun was used to show the indigens the errors of attacking the expedition.

 

[Brokennock]

Brilliant idea all the way around. Why carry packaging for both lead/balls and for powder?
Also, if things are really hairy, poke a hole, stick in a fuse, and let your attackers have it all at once....

 

[tenngun]

Brilliant idea all the way around. Why carry packaging for both lead/balls and for powder?
Also, if things are really hairy, poke a hole, stick in a fuse, and let your attackers have it all at once....

I understand it was four pounds of powder and eight pounds of lead. If you can toss twelve pounds in that half gallon size, far enough that your out of danger, you won’t have any thing to fear from a few dozen Indians

 

[eggwelder]

Making them hexagonal might would be even better, according to Herr Staedtler....

those have “lead” in them too…..

 

[TFoley]

I guess that rifle would be considered "FULLY AUTOMATIC" by today's liberals.

Well, not unless it had a 'shoulder thing that went up'. And just in case you're left with the impression that the USA has the biggest ignorant bigots, let me introduce you to the head honcho of the European Firearms Consultative Committee - the people who ultimately decide on the next level of restrictive lunacy to inflict law-abiding European citizens - now EXCLUDING those who live in the UK, where we have our own set of loons.

I'm quoting from memory, so I might be forgiven for getting it a mite wrong, but according to this gentleman, 'each magazine holds three rounds of ammunition - that's a total of thirty-one bullets in all.' Obviously, math is not his strong point. But telling law-abiding citizens that they are going to suffer more and more restrictions on their legally-held firearms is.

 

[BP Addict]

11.5mm or so - that's almost .50cal..........................and the Austrians certainly used them against the Fro- French, hence Napoleon's edict of death by field execution to the users.

I'd agree, from struggling my way through the somewhat adventurous spelling of Merriweather Clarke, that their airgun was used to show the indigens the errors of attacking the expedition.

You're correct. My Research shows it to be .46 cal. Don't know why I thought it was smaller.

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2016/12/13/lewis-and-clarks-girandoni-air-rifle/