Pattern 1776 infantry information

[StarnesRowan]

Hey guys doing reseach for a pattern 1776 infantry rifle and can't find much. Would anyone who knows anything post some info or give me some accounts of theses things being used.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

I made several some years ago.

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
You need to buy copies of De Witt Bailey's "British Military Flintlock Rifles" and "Small Arms of the British Forces in America". About 1,000 or so of the rifles were made and quite a few loyalist units such as the Queen's Rangers were issued some. Also they were issued to select light infantry soldiers within several regiments during service in America. There were many more used in America than the Ferguson rifle.

dave

 

[Mattox Forge]

Hey guys doing reseach for a pattern 1776 infantry rifle and can't find much. Would anyone who knows anything post some info or give me some accounts of theses things being used.

The De Witt Bailey books Dave mentioned are the best resources. I have looked at a John Simcoe's personal account and some published regimental histories and have not found any actual references to the use of rifled arms in them.

That does not meant that they weren't used. There is no mention of any specific pattern weapon in them.

This, to me, indicates the attitude of the writers towards technical details rather than their presence on the battlefield. The primary source writers were the gentry of England and Scotland. As such they were not genererally concerned with reporting the types, i.e. make and model, of the weapons that were used in any given action. Perhaps they even believed that the more important factor in winning a battle was the class of the man in the fight, rather than what ingenious weapon his minions used. To admit that the use of a certain new piece of weaponry in the hands of the lower ranks would be more important than the social class of the leader of a unit would undermine the basis of their society. Which in fact is exactly what technology was doing: leading to the eventual collapse of the British aristocratic system post WW2.

I apologize for going off on a socio-economic structure discourse, but this just occured to me as I was writing the response.

Anyhow, no account exists that I am aware of that would be analogous to the Napoleanic era book "The Recollections of Rifleman Harris" describing the adventures of a P1776 armed British light infantryman in the American War of Independence, which is too bad. I am sure that their experiencebetween 1776 and 1781 led some thinking individual officers in the British army to push for a body of rifle armed light infantry to be incorporated into the regular forces, ultimately leading to the development and fielding of rhe P1800 Infantry rifle.

Mike

 

[FlinterNick]

Hey guys doing reseach for a pattern 1776 infantry rifle and can't find much. Would anyone who knows anything post some info or give me some accounts of theses things being used.

I have a few patterns and am waiting on a kit.

Its pretty much a jaeger styled rifle.

Some tidbits i’ve learned, the loading rod is often miss understood, the button end is not for the bore, the button end is more like a handle for the shooting to grip while ramming.

There’s a long rammer spring / guide that is riveted between the front and middle thimble, many builders have it reversed but it’s supposed to be facing the opposite direction, while it sounds odd, it mechanically works extremely well.

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Yep, with that big steel rod on a swivel , a stuck ball from fouling isn't going to be an issue. Might be awfully hard on the muzzle rifling though.