Bloviating Zeppelin: Amazing History: Lewis & Clark Carried Air Rifles!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Amazing History: Lewis & Clark Carried Air Rifles!

Check out the below video with regard to the amazing Girandoni air rifle (ca 1779), carried by Lewis & Clark's Corps of Discovery (1803 to 1806). This rifle could (with 1,500 pumps creating 800 psi) shoot up to forty consecutive .46 caliber round balls before loss of muzzle velocity and pressure. The tubular magazine held 22 balls.

Additionally, an excellent book on their journey is Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose.

BZ

10 Comments:

Irony of ironies, I was at the NRA museum and took a picture of that exact rifle today! I'm going to link to you for the excellent video :-) Thanks BZ!

By Old NFO, at Sun Feb 20, 12:19:00 PM PST
Fascinating...truly it is.

Btw, I love you Avatar. The Day the Earth Stood Still, right?

By Leticia, at Sun Feb 20, 03:14:00 PM PST
Saw this a couple of days ago at MadOgre.com. Lewis and Clark were smart people!

By Well Seasoned Fool, at Sun Feb 20, 05:13:00 PM PST
NFO: toDAY?? How weird is that??

Leticia: yes indeed, I am Gort.

WSF: were they ever; I had no idea that rifle existed and/or was carried on their journey!

BZ

By Bloviating Zeppelin, at Sun Feb 20, 05:29:00 PM PST
LOVED "Undaunted Courage".
Should be required reading.
Trivia question for those who have read the book...
By the end of the journey, the favorite meat of the team was... what?

By Greybeard, at Sun Feb 20, 05:55:00 PM PST
Greybeard: elk, beaver, probably buffalo, maybe even some of their own dogs?

BZ

By Bloviating Zeppelin, at Sun Feb 20, 08:47:00 PM PST
Dog, BZ.
Which was odd, because they took a Newfoundland along with them for the trip.
I wonder if they fed him his brothers/sisters?

By Greybeard, at Sun Feb 20, 09:12:00 PM PST
I haven't a CLUE about guns but that's a beautiful rifle, isn't it!?
I love the fact that they don't know how it got to America....

By Z, at Sun Feb 20, 10:45:00 PM PST
Well hauling gunpowder thousands of miles meant it would run out sooner or later. Lead can be recovered from game and recast in a hand mould over a fire... an air rifle like that actually is preferable as it only requires you and lead.

Thanks for the tip! Very impressive!

By A Jacksonian, at Mon Feb 21, 04:39:00 AM PST
Thanks AJ, good insight about the gunpowder.

BZ

By Bloviating Zeppelin, at Mon Feb 21, 08:56:00 AM PST

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: Name: Bloviating Zeppelin; Location: Sierra Nevada Mountains, Fornicalia, United States

A former Democrat in my tender and ignorant youth, I am now a Conservative first and, these days, quite a distant Republican with a dash of Libertarian mixed in for good measure. I believe in God, the strength of America, the brilliance of our Founding Fathers, the valor of our military, and the need for Leadership in all forms and on every level. I am not an advocate of censorship as I believe everyone on the Far Left has a God-given right to be painfully stupid -- as I have a right to expose said stupidity. UPDATED NOTE: Recent legal references mandate that I make clear that these writings are ONLY my written OPINIONS and those of no one else. FAIR USE NOTICE - This web site may contain copyrighted material, which may not always have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such images and excerpts are made available for the purpose of analysis and critique, as well as to advance understanding of social, political, media and cultural issues. We believe this constitutes 'fair use' as explained in Section 107 of the US Copyright Law. ADVERTISING: I do NOT, however, ask for nor display advertisements here.

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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Amazing History: Lewis & Clark Carried Air Rifles!

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