The most important airgun in US History

[ztirffritz]

Apologies if this has been posted before. This is a short video about the Girandoni air rifle that Lewis and Clark took with them as they traversed the country. It's a pretty cool video that I think many people here would enjoy. The NRA believes that it could be the most important rifle in US history.

http://nramuseum.com Lewis and Clark's secret weapon - a late 18th Century .46 cal. 20 shot repeating air rifle by Girandoni , as used bin the Napoleonic Wars. A Treasure Gun from the NRA National Firearms Museum.

This could be the most important historical gun in the history of the U.S. It was used by Lewis & Clark during their Corps of Discovery expedition from 1803-1806. The illusion of superior firepower this single air rifle created — opponents never knew if there was one air rifle or 38 air rifles — enabled the small band of explorers to safely travel from east to west and back again and claim an area greater than one-half of the landmass of North America for the U.S. The Lewis & Clark Air Rifle can be seen at the NRA National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia.

 

[ztirffritz]

Here's another video about the gun:

 

[skygear]

awesome facts I was unaware of. Nice find

 

[Bob]

Great airgun History , I have seen it before but forgot about it , thank for reminding me of a part of how our country came about !

 

[FearnLoading]

Some really cool history there. Very informative. Thanks for sharing this. 

 

[Beach-gunner]

That is some kool shizel !! Now I wounder why was this technology was not expanded years ago? Did you guys notice how it was cocked and loaded? A resivoir that was pumped 1,500 times to get a full charge!!! Wow

 

[ztirffritz]

I'm guessing the development of cartridge charges made this gun irrelevant.

 

[Bstalder85]

Small shout out for the University of Nebraska in there.

How 'bout them HUSKERS!!!

Also, neat video.

 

[billydjann]

I often heard of this gun.... but never seen this rifle..... Thanks...
but I still get people laughing when I tell them what I hunt with...

 

[JohnL57]

I got to meet Martin and Hank, the gentlemen who created a replica of this rifle at the Pacific Airgun Expo in 2013. They gave a presentation and had the gun available for people to try! It really was pretty quiet considering the power it produces. If I recall they also recreated a Lukens airgun from that era. I am amazed by the amount of skill and dedication required to produce this functioning historic replica!
John

 

[linsfreak]

Wow, very intresting. Most important is not the word!!!!!! Life saving is the word.

 

[JohnL57]

The story that Martin told was that it took three generations to produce the original order for the Army, the guns were that labor intensive to produce. The air reservoir was soldered brass and took 3000 pump stokes to charge! The reservoirs were also prone to burst occasionally, usually killing whomever was unfortunate enough to be doing the pumping! 
John

 

[Caliber 22]