What gun did Lewis and Clark carry?

[Pork Chop]

Mike, are you sure? I thought it was an one of those synthetic stocked, stainless barrel, 209 primered magnum inlines. I just wonder where they got the Pyrodex pellets... :rotf:

 

[Mike Brooks]

 I just wonder where they got the Pyrodex pellets...

They got them from the Pyrodex tree of course. :youcrazy: :winking:

 

[Pork Chop]

I thought maybe that they were the droppings of the rare Fire Rabbit (Pyro Rodenticus) which is of course now extinct...

 

[RC]

john, i wish you could have attended a seminar at the '05 eastern. unfortunately,my "name" memory is terrible,the rest of my memory ain't real good but, there were two rifle builders there, and they had made an exact copy of the air gun l& c carried, all hand made.found after disassembly of a airgun loaned to them to copy the loaner was indeed the same air gun carried across the U.S.by L&C three things on the loaner pointed to this fact, 1. was the mainspring had been replaced w/ one made from a file, 2. the second of 3 "clicks" on the hammer was broken and 3. the stock had been repaired and replaced w/ american walnut,while original stock was european walnut All were verified in the journals found,hand written by l&c...I wish they had done another seminar that week,cause i'd have been there again..lotta info! and one of the builders recreated the blackpowder rifle that was carried too...boy i wish i could remember it all... i'll check and see if i have the booklet w/ their names in it... i'll never forget it,they actually let us shoot the air rifle and gave us a ball from it...what a great story!! wish i could be of more help,i'm pretty sure that the owner of the original air gun has alot to do w/ bemus(?) air guns.. older gent,has had the gun for 30 years and didn't know it was the original... RC

 

[benvenuto]

might the gunsmith have been Dennis Quackenbush?
http://www.quackenbushairguns.com/

sadly it looks like he's stopped making the HC replicas because of lack of demand

 

[LSU TIGER]

It stands to reason that the 1792 rifle was used, since L&C left in 1803 and the 1803 HF rifle was only adopted that year.

 

Rabbits aren't rodents, Pork.

 

[mikelange]

I agree. Prior to the research being done that seems to have established the 1792 as the correct Lewis and Clark rifle, a couple of theories that attempted to reconcile the almost-conflicting dates (Model 1803 rifles were in short supply in 1803, the year Lewis and Clark headed west) were that Harper's Ferry modified the civilian longrifle to Lewis' specifications, and liked the result so much that they standardized what began as a small run of custom guns; and that Lewis requisitioned a number of prototype 1803's for the expedition. With stockpiles of 1792 rifles already on hand, none of the above seems overly likely. Lewis was having difficulties with his boat builders and trying to absorb a "sampler" of all the sciences and skills relevant to the success of the expedition; it just doesn't stand to reason that he'd fool with designing a new rifle or take a chance on a prototype that was, at the time, a distinct departure from accepted rifle design (unless other halfstocks of which I'm not aware were in common service by 1803).

 

[3 stinky dogs]

Neet looking guns and it seems like a type that is not produced alot either. Track of the Wolf sells a kit as well. And a company called village recreations sells a rifle ,Horn ,shooting bag set for about $2,000 +. Nice looking guns and verry distinctly military looking.

 

[RC]

well, found name of one of the speakers at the eastern,lewis and clark gun seminar. name is ERNIE COWAN,, one of the two copied the air rifle, the other did the blackpowder rifle.. I'm wish i could get ahold of either man,there's a wealth of info they researched and it's a great story! if any of you know of ernie cowan and how to get ahold of him please let me know...both men are gunbuilders in the n'east somewhere...any info?? RC

 

[flintriflesmith]

Here is a link to a very detailed study of the Lewis & Clark air rifle.
[url] http://www.beemans.net/lewis assault rifle.htm[/url]

For the research supporting the contract rifles being carried see an article by Frank Tate in Man At Arms about three years ago.

 

[RC]

FRS, THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WAS WRITING ABOUT! GREAT READING FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN EITHER THE AIR OR 1800 RIFLES L& C CARRIED, ALSO EXPLAINS THE 1803 RIFLE DEBATE PRETTY WELL.. but still, the "live" version of the seminar is much better! I'd go again in a heartbeat! Thank You Again Kind Sir!!!! RC

 

[paco97]

I"m in the process of rereading Undaunted Courage, and just got to the point where he discusses the rifles used by Lewis & Clark. He says Lewis purchased several rifles from Harpers Ferry Arsenal and he nicknamed them "short rifles" because they were shorter than the normal rifles of the day. This would be the 1803 or the 1792 Short Rifle. His rifles were delivered in late july but the official 1803 was finished until october.

Then he later went to Lancaster and purchased several more rifles from a local gunsmith, because he realized he need to expand the size of the expedition. They were probably typical Penn Style Rifles.

I'm inclined to believe the 1792-94 short rifles were modified and used by Lewis, then the arsenal used these modifications for the 1803. I'm no expert and don't really know the differences bewtween the short contract rifle or the 1803, so maybe someone else can shed light on that.