Post by tgeorge on Jun 28, 2010 21:06:16 GMT -5
From about the 150s through the early 1800's the most accurate firearm available was the American Long rifle - an object of great artistic beauty as well as a highly accurate weapon.
According to Peter A, Alexander in "The Gunsmith of Greenville County", the Eastern Woodland Indians were instrumental in its development.
Prior to the 1740's and 1750's the only shoulder arms available in North America were smooth bore muskets. These were serviceable weapons at short range and also useful for short range hunting. The smooth bore allowed them to be used to fire a large musket ball - suitable for game up to the size of a bear or moose at close range, or small shot for small game and birds.
In the early 1700's numbers of Palatinate Germans from western Germany began arriving in North America. Among them were German gunsmiths who had experience making short barreled rifled guns called Jaegers.
These individuals eventually became involved in the fur trade through the avenue of making and repairing firearms for Native Americans involved in that business.
It was suggestions made by Native Americans, according to Mr. Alexander, that the German Gunsmiths modified their Jaeger rifles and trade muskets into the American Longrifle.
From Mr. Alexander:
"My thesis is that it was the Indian who drove the evolution of the Germanic jaeger-style rifle into the longrifle.The premise is that since the Indian hunters were the primary suppliers of hides and fur in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is probable that Indian populations contained proportionally as great a percentage of our legendary American riflemen as did the White pioneer stock."
His premise is that the first European settlers here were primarily farmers not hunters and for them a smooth bore musket was adequate at the time. The Native Americans on the other hand, needing a more effective, long range weapon to take game for the hide and fur trade provided customers for the gunsmiths arriving from Germany. They directed these individuals to make a weapon of a longer barrel to increase the sight radius and thus range while reducing the sound of the gun. Being gone for long periods hunting, they wanted a weapon with a smaller bore than the Jaeger so they could get more shots per pound of lead and powder carried. They may also have been responsible for changing other stylistic elements of the Jaeger into that found in the Long Rifle.
This makes sense in light of what I read about King Philip's War in New England. When that war broke out in 1676, the colonial militia was armed with matchlock muskets. The Native Americans they were fighting were armed with more advanced flintlocks. Presumably because these were more practical weapons for hunting game.
Any thoughts?
According to Peter A, Alexander in "The Gunsmith of Greenville County", the Eastern Woodland Indians were instrumental in its development.
Prior to the 1740's and 1750's the only shoulder arms available in North America were smooth bore muskets. These were serviceable weapons at short range and also useful for short range hunting. The smooth bore allowed them to be used to fire a large musket ball - suitable for game up to the size of a bear or moose at close range, or small shot for small game and birds.
In the early 1700's numbers of Palatinate Germans from western Germany began arriving in North America. Among them were German gunsmiths who had experience making short barreled rifled guns called Jaegers.
These individuals eventually became involved in the fur trade through the avenue of making and repairing firearms for Native Americans involved in that business.
It was suggestions made by Native Americans, according to Mr. Alexander, that the German Gunsmiths modified their Jaeger rifles and trade muskets into the American Longrifle.
From Mr. Alexander:
"My thesis is that it was the Indian who drove the evolution of the Germanic jaeger-style rifle into the longrifle.The premise is that since the Indian hunters were the primary suppliers of hides and fur in the 18th and 19th centuries, it is probable that Indian populations contained proportionally as great a percentage of our legendary American riflemen as did the White pioneer stock."
His premise is that the first European settlers here were primarily farmers not hunters and for them a smooth bore musket was adequate at the time. The Native Americans on the other hand, needing a more effective, long range weapon to take game for the hide and fur trade provided customers for the gunsmiths arriving from Germany. They directed these individuals to make a weapon of a longer barrel to increase the sight radius and thus range while reducing the sound of the gun. Being gone for long periods hunting, they wanted a weapon with a smaller bore than the Jaeger so they could get more shots per pound of lead and powder carried. They may also have been responsible for changing other stylistic elements of the Jaeger into that found in the Long Rifle.
This makes sense in light of what I read about King Philip's War in New England. When that war broke out in 1676, the colonial militia was armed with matchlock muskets. The Native Americans they were fighting were armed with more advanced flintlocks. Presumably because these were more practical weapons for hunting game.
Any thoughts?
