Barrel profiles were round at the breech for all 1803 dated rifles. 1060 rifles were in stores by 1797, 923 were still there in April of 1801, 911 in 1802. The English system of averdupois uses 453.6 grams per pound, and they used the term caliber to denote bore size, not ball size. Old manuals on the rifles list a 218 to 219 grain ball. Surprisingly we found that this rifle had been known since 1996 but, due to its relic condition, had never been properly examined in detail. We have taken much of this material from that book. 53. A note accompanying this find remarks that in every instance, the measurement was .002 smaller (making it a .519 ball for a 30 bore) than a gauge list reputed to have been adopted by the London Proofing Company in 1883 (which is used in many books today). Eleven different gunsmiths took the contract on, delivering 1,476 rifles between April 1792 and December 1792. Guns of the Grunt: 1813 :: Guns.com After examining a prototype rifle, he gave approval on February 4th, 1792 for the first small arm designed specifically for the Army of the United States. The late 1790s was still a dangerous and unsteady period in Americas growth and assured independence, with enemies and threats from many sides. In the day when an average soldier could only dream of hitting an X on a wood block at 30 paces, a good rifleman in action was something to behold as he placed shot after shot into it. This was common practice in riflemens ranks, allowing each individual to learn his own rifles shooting characteristics. Note the hollow rib on rifle SN 15. Once a rifle is built its lock is unique to that gun. In the February 4th letter the tumbler on the lock was to have a fly (to keep it from catching on the half cock) and a 4-piece patch box with button release. 9, Pg. The men Lewis recruited in 1803 were hardened frontiersmen and as such would not have even considered the use of a sling, but there is another very good reason why they could not have used slings the short rifle is structurally incapable of mounting one. It meant that one person used a pattern piece of some sort to make them interchangeable. Over 300 of these rifles were stored at the Harpers Ferry arsenal when After 200 years of error, it is time to set the record straight. To find the maximum charge a rifle would hold, they would fire over a snowbank until unburned grains of powder begin to appear in the snow. The .520 ball also meets Dearborns 30 balls to the pound requirement. What is important is that Dearborn was well enough informed of the benefits offered by the new rifling design to make note of it in his letter. 1 of the 15 rifles we made. 14 & 68.