I’ve often wondered about the popularity and unpopularity of Rifles. Rifles became on of Americas first home grown industry. Being largely confined to Pennsylvania at the end of the French and Indian war, they spread in a dozen years to all the colonies that had exposed frontiers.
It was almost universal issue to the fur companies employees.
Yet between 1787 and 1821 the us government had a hard time selling them to Indians. And trade rifles were never as popular as fusils as long as guns loaded from the muzzle
Rifles were known and the UK, and fine one’s were made. Many of the rifled barrels on American guns were made in British shops. Rifles were well known in Canada, but fusils remained the stock in trade.
Métis would build their economy on hunting. And they much preferred fusils.
An HBC official wrote for newbies of the gentleman class that rifles were a waste of time, this was in 1847, when getting an English hunting rifle was no biggie.
Gentlemen’s smoothies would be the primary gun the Dutch and English took to South Africa.
And ultimately smooth rifles were very common right off American rifle making shops
America became a nation of rifleman. And we still kick around the argument that if the zombies are coming and civilization collapsed what would you rather have.
Not a new argument for sure