Hall Breech Loading Rifle, Americas first breech loader

"The Hall Rifle was the first breechloader adopted by the U.S Military and the first rifle made with fully interchangeable parts. The 1833 Hall Carbine was the first new arm adopted that used a percussion cap." -Excerpt from NRA American Rifleman Nov/Dec 1998

A Little History - The United States was the first country to adopt a breech loading rifle, the Hall. Though little know today, the Hall rifles and carbines played a significant role in the development of our republic. On A general scale America tended to copy other country's rifle designs, for example the Springfield 1903 was patterned after the German Mauser. Taking the lead by issuing A breech loading rifle was a big step for the U.S. military. The weapon the Hall replaced was the Brown Bess Musket. As most people know, the only advantage to shooting a smoothbore musket, is that it was faster than the Kentucky Rifle to load. But the rifle was accurate from 300-600 yards.

How the Hall Works - And this is where the Hall Rifle came into play, being a breechloader it was able to load much faster than the older style Kentucky Rifle. And the Hall Rifle used a percussion cap rather than a priming pan. The breechblock was hinged at the back of the rifle, and the release was positioned under the rifle, in front of the trigger guard. Once popped up the ball and powder were rammed back into the tilted breech, then the breech was shut, a percussion cap applied to the nipple, and the rifle was ready to fire! If you are interested in buying one of these highly collectible Hall Rifles or carbines your best bet is checking Gunbroker.com

Fordyce Beals & Remington 24 Shot Revolver

Revolving cylinder percussion pistol. 24 shot cylinder has 2 banks of chambers. A double loading rammer is located beneath the barrel. The barrel pivots to fire either the outside or the inside bank of chambers. Design attributed to Fordyce Beals and possibly manufactured by Remington.

Owen Jones Two Barrel Revolver

Patented by Owen Jones, shoots either .22 Rimfire or .32 Rimfire. Extra cylinder stores inside of the handle. The barrel on this extremely unique pistol actually rotates rather than the cylinder! The second and third models were improved to tip up, then rotate. It's unknown where they were manufactured at, but the educated guesser's say that it was probably made by Deringer Rifle and Pistol Works of Philadelphia around 1875.

Unknown Deringer Style "Phild" Pistols

Deringer style percussion pistols in .40 caliber. Probably manufactured at about 1840. There are no markings on the guns except "Phild". Indicating that the maker was from Philadelphia and he didn't mark his work intentionally, to avoid trouble with the Deringer Company. Cap storage is in the butt.

M. Tidd Percussion Target Rifle

Target rifle by M. Tidd of Woburn MA made in the period of 1855-1858. 11 lb Rifle in .35/.36 caliber with adjustable sights. German silver "furniture" inlet and mother of pearl gambling chip on the cheekpiece.

John Derr Flintlock Kentucky Pistols

Flintlock Pistols by John Derr, fine examples of hand crafted pistols from around 1820. They are both .52 caliber

Dan B. Wesson Percussion Target Pistols "American Duelers"

Long barreled Target Pistols manufacture by Dan B. Wesson (founder of Smith & Wesson) in the shop of Ed Wesson during the time period of 1840-1845. These guns are affectionately named "American Duelers"

Kunz Air Rifle & Shotgun

Kunz of Philadelphia cased combination shotgun and air rifle. The shotgun has an external percussion hammer and the air rifle has an internal mechanism. Made during the early 1800's. The threaded rod is used as a brace to pump up the air reservoir.

Rodgers Brothers & Company Kentucky Pistol

Flintlock Rodgers Brothers & Company brass barrel Kentucky Pistol. Stock is made of maple, stained to resemble cherry. Circa 1810 in .46 caliber. Brass mounted with steel lock

Artemus Wheeler Revolving Carbine

Made by Artemus Wheeler, the Artemus Wheeler Carbine was the first patented revolving firearm (1818) to receive Government trials (1820), and the first to be accepted by the Government. The Navy bought two carbines and two muskets. It's a seven shot, .45 caliber flintlock with automatic priming.

Mershon and Hollingsworth Revolving Automatic Rifle

Mershon and Hollingsworth revolving cylinder automatic rifle. Patented in 1855. A spring mechanisim automatically fired and rotated the cylinder. The trigger could be locked in back position for full automatic fire. To wind up the spring, a ratchet lever is located just behind the receiver. Six shot percussion .40 caliber.

Waters 1836 Flint lock & Ames 1843 Percussion

Top Pistol is a Waters Millbury Model 1836 Flintlock Pistol made for the US Army.

Bottom Pistol is an Ames 1843 Percussion Box Lock pattern made for the US Navy.

Brown Bess Musket "Were the British nuts?"

Brown Bess Musket

The Brown Bess was the most popular musket of all time, it saw service as your everyday British laymans gun from early 1700's to mid 1800's. These smoothbore muskets were very, extremely, inaccurate. Have you ever wondered why the British armies stood toe to toe with their enemies and shot each other down like cows? This musket is the reason why! The Brown Bess, just like most other smoothbore guns, was designed long before rifling was discovered. Rifling is a fundamental part of accuracy that if done without will leave you with a group of 1 foot at 15 feet!

The Brown Bess musket was a flintlock musket. The flintlock musket was a much smarter design than the previous models such as the matchlock musket, and far easier to make than the wheel lock musket. The flintlock carried a piece of flint (a kind of stone) in the place of a where a hammer would be on a more modern rifle. When you pulled the trigger the flint would descend, striking a piece of steel on the way down and sparking the powder in the priming pan, which discharged the gun.

Even after rifles were invented (called rifles because of the rifling found in the barrel) some generals proffered the faster loading smothbore Brown Bess muskets. The newer muzzle loading rifles, like the Kentucky Long Rifle, took a much longer time to load because the shot had the fit in the barrel much tighter for the rifling to be effective, and underneath the ball would be the patch. So altogether it was a very tight squeeze to get that ball down the barrel. But the effect was well worth it. Kentucky Long Rifles were able to hit targets at 350 yards! And certain records show even better shots! Kentucky Rifles were made in both flintlock design and later, cap and ball.

So the British were not exactly "nuts" during Revolutionary War time period, they just lacked technology. And by the way many of the Americans at that time had smoothbore muskets too. But it is true that the British held to their mode of volleys longer than any other country.

Kentucky Long Rifle

Check Gunbroker.com if you are interested in finding one of these historical collectible guns.

Adam
Lynden, WA