But back to the video: AWESOME history, and amazing gun, definitely agree with L&C probably not being able to make it. But... Stop calling us Indians, you found out shortly after that we weren't Indian, and you STILL call us that! It's still on government forms! lol
Coming from a Cherokee, I have always found any history very interesting. This is a great history lesson. And as for your defense of "Enslaving other tribes", you can't justify "white" man actions by saying that. A lot of NRA peeps I know are of the thought process in today's society, that "if you threaten my home and family, I have a right to shoot any intruder.", what do you think a lot of tribes were doing? And you had a lot of Europeans going "What are we doing? Crazy savages!
I have 2 Lakota Winchester rifles from the Battle of Little Bighorn. They are rare since the Battle of Wounded Knee occured when Lakota (Sioux) were turning in their rifles, and Sitting Bull wanted to be remembered as the last man of his tribe to turn in his rifle. Both rifles have signature tack work on the wood, sawed-off barrels and metal items like the brass butt of the rifle removed to save weight. I wonder what they're worth.
this gun probly was used in all the great wars to win during the black powder age hell... in my history class i thought they was talking about my red rider...
ive always been into guns. is it sad that ive lived in northern va almost my whole life and i JUST found out today that the building i go bye everyday is the NRA headquarters? i mean i always noticed the giant NRA sign, but i had no idea that it was the headquarters of the NRA!
@Dikotomii i watched another video about old air rifles... especially in the skirmishes and wars in Napoleonic europe (similar point in history), they had a special pump that two men pumped like a see-saw - up and down - that had a lot more power & efficiency than a "bicycle" pump, and they could pump up these old air guns relatively quickly. I don't know if Lewis and Clark had such a pump. To be honest, i had no idea air guns existed that long ago until recently..very interesting!!
Am I the only one who finds it sad that there is so much exaltation of what basically was the stealing of land from native american tribes? Its amazing how messed up the perception of 'our great nation' is when you consider the truth about our greedy ancestry and the savage death and pillaging that came with the white man. And I'm a white man.
My apologies, but do believe it is pompous to believe that Lewis and Clark simply intimidated natives to go on with their travels. In fact, Lewis and Clark did not discover much, they only took the glory of what the French knew already about the interior of the continent. I'm not denigrating their achievement of reconnaissance for the U.S, but do keep in mind they were directly dependent of their French guides who also knew each native tribes. Good book on the topic : America, by Denis Vaugeois.
@unconteur That's true, it is a bit suspect. If the natives had *really* thought the expedition had war-winning miracle weapons, they could have simply staged a night ambush,where such weapons would severely lack. More likely is that they understood angering the producers of said weapons was a bad idea, and the surrounding tribes would almost certainly understand the threat and ally against them, possibly with the aid of the colonials.
@catsdrive It went bang. Not quite as loud as a firearm, but pretty loud. High powered air rifles in this class are still manufactured and they have a loud report.
Just a small detail.....but the Lewis and Clark expedition wintered near the mouth of the Columbia River. NOT, the "headwaters of the Cascades, the Potomac River". Good lord doesn't anybody view these comments before they get posted? The Potomac is on the east coast for God's sake and every 4th grade kid knows that.
There have been questions about the hammer on this rifle. I cannot be 100% sure ,but my guess is that it must strike some type of valve that releases a charge of air from the tank that pushes the ball out the barrel.
@Leeboysme You'll have trouble bringing down a grizzly with ANY type of gun, even a modern high-powered rifle. grizzly sausage tastes soooooooo good though!
lol, it is a 1700's version of Reagan's "peace through strength". I wonder how many hippie anti-gun activists tried the same thing and were never heard from again.
@legallyawesome1 rifled muskets are able to fire round balls. for example, the 1853 Enfield, if rifled can fire both the mini ball and a regular round ball. the rifling still gives the ball a spin.
The armorers at Harpers Ferry were told to make whatever weapon's L&C wanted. In their journals they talked of some custom made "short rifles with half stocks." There is further evidence that these "short rifles" were essentially the prototypes for the 1803 rifle. Being that no firearm goes into mass production without a few prototypes, it is a safe assumption that L&C carried with them the rifle that was mass produced as the 1803 Harpers Ferry Rifle.
@NFMCurator Awesome. Someone once told me that that air rifle needed to be fixed while Lewis and Clark were on the expedition. When the rifle recently surfaced and was examined there was a different type of metal in it which backed up the journal entries which stated that it had been repaired. I never knew if this was true or not as I heard it from a man who worked at a local gun store. Does any of that sound accurate?
This is a very neat video, though you do have one factual error near the end, stating that Lewis and Clark claimed more then one half the land mass of North America for the US. Since Canada and the US are both entierly contained within North America (Save for a few US islands), and because Canada is larger then the US, that would mean that more then 100% of North America is claimed by these two countries. But again, nice video.
Phil, your claims are exaggerated. It's not wise to take the liberty to of putting words into the mouths of Lewis & Clark that just aren't there in the journals or anywhere else.
Per the L&C journals the air rifle was a post-dinner discussion piece with guests & tribes. L&C referred to it as a glorified sling shot, not a secret weapon that somehow cemented the success of the expedition. Model 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle was their survival tool. Bar none.
@SandmanUSMC The Model 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle was first produced months after the expedition set out for the West. There is no way they would have had those rifles in their inventory.
From 1790 to 1815, the Austrian Army used a 22-shot .46 caliber repeating air rifle known as the Girandoni air rifle because unlike single shot gun powder muskets there was no smoke to be seen and very little noise to be heard. Soldiers had to be specially trained and hand pumping the air reservoir 1500 times to a working pressure of 800 psi finally gave way to newly developed repeating gun powder air rifles that were arriving on the scene.
Absolutely awesome history... and as written below, pertaining to Wikipedia.. please don't believe a word from that site.. anyone can write in there and make things up! This is a incredible documentary on US history and even today with the Govt trying to dis-arm "We the people", a weapon not unlike this rifle will work just as well to keep Freedom amongst our land Sea to shining Sea! * Awesome!
From Wikipedia: It was removed from service because it took nearly 1500 strokes of a hand pump to fill those reservoirs. The reservoirs themselves, made from hammered sheet iron held together with rivets and sealed by brazing, proved very difficult to manufacture using the techniques of the period and were always in short supply. The weapon was very delicate and a small break could make it inoperable. It was very different from any other weapon using it needed to be highly trained.
the riffle is cool, but why it is called a secret weapon? Because this riffle was the most developed weapon at that time, or some reason else. it was amazing to see such a developed weapon at that time.
@dvdfabber I call it their "secret weapon" because they were very coy about how much of the gun they let the natives view. They also kept them from finding out how many air rifles they had with them. Thanks for viewing the video.
Why were there not more of these rifles made? The fact that they were repeating and silent should have made it so that they would out sell any muzzleloader at the time
@xnotseenx Too expensive and complicated to make in mass numbers.
It would have been to costly and too specialized for a large army. It probably cost 4 or 5 times as much for one of these as it would for a muzzle loader. And only a handful of craftsmen could make these weapons.
So by sheer economics the gun was not suited for the time.
Besides, if you can burn through 40 shots in 40 seconds and then had to refill the air tank that means very quickly you lose firepower.
@TheObsidianhunter You didn't lose firepower THAT quickly. Essentially it was a 40 round rifle with no noise. 40 shots loaded by hand was better than anything at that time and everyone in the land realized it. Like he said, if the indians think there are more than one of this rifle in the boat, those guys would've been very well armed for the time.
@thatguy66ish if you can squeeze off 40 rounds in as many seconds that is fast and after 40 shots the canisters lose pressure then you lose fire power, especially if it took a long time to refill the canisters. I doubt they carried around spares under their belt.
But that was my point, cost and overall efficiency won out over the more advanced weapon. Thats why we stayed with muzzle loaders until cartage riffles arrived even then those suffered until the cost made it economical to mass produce
@TheObsidianhunter but heres the thing a soldier in that day wouldnt have to worry about firing that many rounds he would most likely be dead by that point or the battle would be over and he could get a new one and who knows how much they cost if they were cost efficient you could just make alot of them and just replace the entire gun for example in WW2 i cant remember if it was the british or the american or german but someone made a rocket launcher that was disposable and cheap
@Seaprimate Normal procedure would have been to charge and carry several air flasks. I believe historical accounts suggested that an air rifle squad would have around 10 flasks per weapon with them.
@Seaprimate You can recharge it in the field if you have the pump with you and have time to charge it, which took 1,500 strokes to achieve the max of 800psi.
@xnotseenx I would guess because it took 1500 pumps to charge it up, it probably cost quite a bit, and the complexity of design made it more difficult to produce (in comparison to a flintlock). That and a cast iron stock probably made it pretty heavy.
@wolfstack its not realy the complex a flint lock has more moving parts that that does, it is a tank with a "rubber" stop valve, triger and spring. when you pull the trigger the hammer fling fwd a rod pushes back and opens the valve a puff of gas comes out to fire the ball. the rod and valve close. its that simple. and i think it was only 10lbs so about the same a flintlocks plus was good at 150yrds it was the tank that was hard to make, and i bet it leaked, but i would take this over flintlock
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was nearly killed by a French Air rifle. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote in his diaries the sensation of shooting soldiers from his beseiged villa with, a frenh made air rifle. Air rifles have been around since the 1600's people.
Phenomenal! Absolutely phenomenal! To still blow a hole in an inch plywood 300 ft (100yds) away! That's amazing to me for a classic! But of course you have rifles these days like the snipers that can assassinate a threat 1 and a half to 2 miles away! Wonder what weapons today we would have if this man was alive... Bravo!
First of all, nowhere in the video does Mr. Schreier say the actual gun in his hands is the actual gun L&C used (see comment @ 1:10 of video). From what I’ve read (& what simple logic tells me) the native American's restraint in overrunning the expedition was partially due to the desire to trade peacefully IN ADDITION to the fear of their weapons. It's impossible to wholly pin either form of reasoning on ALL of the tribes and individual tribal leaders.
I doubt the evidence is irrefutable. Primary source documents are of course, excellent sources of information, but exact interpretation may change according to the "expert." Columbus seen lights and phenomena (written) that cannot be explained, this does not mean they were "UFOs" or USOs" that would be ridiculous, as some experts believe. The mention of the gun is intriguing but would have to be substantiated by other documents of the period and by other sources to even begin substantiation.
Peace through firepower? Lewis and Clark invented the concept that has made America great? Codswallop!
Both to this creative 'history' and to the concept itself.
Being armed to the teeth has never been any guarantee of peace and, in like-minded circles, has always been seen as an opportunity to catch somebody napping.
I don't understand why you guys are arguing with what this expert is saying. His evidence is irrefutable. Just because you didn't know about it doesn't mean its not true.
It's a great gun but the conclusion of the narrator that the Lewis and Clark expedition succeeded "all because of the perception of peace through superior firepower" strikes me as hyperbole.
I wonder why this type of weapon never "took off" so to speak among the shooting public. There must of been some various drawbacks to using it day to day in the 18th and 19th centuries. It looks sounds superior to flintlocks and the like.
This is terrible history. The expedition succeeded because Indians chose to allow it to do so because they wanted the subsequent trade that L&C promised. There is a huge literature about this--start with some of the books that Ambrose plagiarized from, particularly Ronda's Lewis and Clark Among the Indians. Superior firepower had nothing to do with it.
@DavidUmstattd You have to understand the original documents before you base arguments upon them. L&C had no way of actually knowing what Indians were thinking. And if you read the entire journals you will find that after the air rifle demos the explorers and Indians settled in to trade and exchange information pretty much the same way that they did when the air rifle was not produced.
@DavidUmstattd Also, many other contemporaneous white expeditions, many of them much smaller and more lightly armed, traveled through native country without violence. See David Thompson for example. L&C succeeded because they respected native culture, not because of firepower.
This took someone with a lot of imagination to design and put those thoughts into action. I am sure that it was a pain to charge the air chamber, but a repeating rifle in those days would have been a real breakthrough. At least 30 rounds before losing velocity would have been amazing and I would say given the period, still amazing to this day. Think what the designer could have done with todays tools!
I think I know that this gun wasn't very "war" worthy to the military was the 1500 pumps it would take to do. It is cool to see this, probably as a collection value or maybe in a museum piece to boot. It's cool to know these things. This weapon is like the Gread-Grandfather to modern day Airsoft guns. xD
Actually several countries had units of wind rifles. They would carry two extra canisters so they wouldn't have to reload one canister each time. So they'd be able to fire about 90 shots before having to manually pump another canister.
Actually its the great grand father of the Henry rifle. But yeah same difference.
It's sad that air rifles that are bought at stores now are less powerful and functional than that thing. Cool that they had air rifles back then though.
Are there are any similar modern air weapons with similar abilities? I.E. similar caliber, air driven, similar fps, and around 30 shots or more on a single charge?
It's amazingly quiet I noticed in another video. It's a it surprising that such a weapon can't be found today, and a bit of a pity as well.
@Finlandperkele If you look at history the best way to maintain peace has always been to have a bigger stick than the guy next to you. Even if it is a weak and brittle stick it will look big enough to do damage and they won't want to fight you.
@comradeshow No that wasn't till 25 or so years later that percussion caps were introduced. They did however have another design that had a small container of something similar to the active chemical in percussion caps in it. Can't remember the name of the gun but you turned the container and it put a small amount of the stuff on a plate and when the hammer struck it set off the gunpowder. Not sure why it wasn't used by the military but saw mostly use in hunting.
In 7:08 he says that they claimed more than half of North America, They didn't because that would've ment that they claimed part of Mexico and Canada, which they didn't...
I hate it when people say that Sacagewea "led the way" on the Expedition. That isn't accurate. The only geography of the country that she had any real knowledge of was the territory of the Shoshone indians (her native people). Otherwise the landscape was as new to her as anyone else.
I'm not discounting her contributions to the expedition, which were meaningful. She was obviously an amazingly resolute young woman. I just want people to get it right.
The Natives didn't wipe them out because they didn't know the expedition was motivated by interest to seek more land and resources to claim. Portraying to be only innocent travelers passing on by. Also proves the natives weren't hostile if you came in peace and didn't mean harm.
I can tell you are moved by this gun, beyond your other videos. I have put it in a novel along with the Colt Paterson.
First day, page one of a million words. The diplomacy of firearms.
piratedevlin 1 week ago
the great what if weapon
creamycurdy 3 weeks ago
But back to the video: AWESOME history, and amazing gun, definitely agree with L&C probably not being able to make it. But... Stop calling us Indians, you found out shortly after that we weren't Indian, and you STILL call us that! It's still on government forms! lol
EvolutionBeyond 4 weeks ago
@EvolutionBeyond I like air riffles better then conventional guns. Little noise ,no smoke,and lightweight
twistedyogert 2 weeks ago
Coming from a Cherokee, I have always found any history very interesting. This is a great history lesson. And as for your defense of "Enslaving other tribes", you can't justify "white" man actions by saying that. A lot of NRA peeps I know are of the thought process in today's society, that "if you threaten my home and family, I have a right to shoot any intruder.", what do you think a lot of tribes were doing? And you had a lot of Europeans going "What are we doing? Crazy savages!
EvolutionBeyond 4 weeks ago
That rifle truly is historic. L&C might not have made it if it broke.
groov539 1 month ago
I thought the first air guns were invented in the late 19th century up until my grandpa brought this out, hehe :P
PatrioticPoison 1 month ago
I have 2 Lakota Winchester rifles from the Battle of Little Bighorn. They are rare since the Battle of Wounded Knee occured when Lakota (Sioux) were turning in their rifles, and Sitting Bull wanted to be remembered as the last man of his tribe to turn in his rifle. Both rifles have signature tack work on the wood, sawed-off barrels and metal items like the brass butt of the rifle removed to save weight. I wonder what they're worth.
davidwgair 1 month ago
That's a lot of work to shoot less than 40 bullets (1500 strokes) ! haha very interesting.
MelonManMonster 2 months ago
this gun probly was used in all the great wars to win during the black powder age hell... in my history class i thought they was talking about my red rider...
opiumkidx 3 months ago
Big Medicine
whitepointer2 3 months ago
"Indians",such a "Bugs Bunny" term.
JamesBayCree97 3 months ago
How much does a reproduction cost and is it legal for hunting in any states?
waypasthadenough 4 months ago
@waypasthadenough You could get high power .45 or .50 caliber from $300-$500, and it is legal during rifle seasons.
lalablablaification 3 months ago
The best historical airgun information ever! And one of the most interesting historical events of the American History. Simply amazing.
leftymadrid 4 months ago
ive always been into guns. is it sad that ive lived in northern va almost my whole life and i JUST found out today that the building i go bye everyday is the NRA headquarters? i mean i always noticed the giant NRA sign, but i had no idea that it was the headquarters of the NRA!
MrDucks962 4 months ago
@MrDucks962 so now you know we're here, drop in and see the museum! open every day of the week 9:30 to 5, and free admission! - Jim
NFMCurator 4 months ago 4
@NFMCurator will do
MrDucks962 4 months ago
I want one!
widowmaker2112 5 months ago
I asked 17 times. How did he pump a high pressure air rifle????
Dikotomii 5 months ago
@Dikotomii It is answered in the video, and in the comments. They used a hand pump resembling a bicycle pump. Took about 1,500 strokes. -- Jim
NFMCurator 5 months ago 3
@Dikotomii i watched another video about old air rifles... especially in the skirmishes and wars in Napoleonic europe (similar point in history), they had a special pump that two men pumped like a see-saw - up and down - that had a lot more power & efficiency than a "bicycle" pump, and they could pump up these old air guns relatively quickly. I don't know if Lewis and Clark had such a pump. To be honest, i had no idea air guns existed that long ago until recently..very interesting!!
BeyondNeptune 1 month ago
@dll1958 interesting that u say the europeans did it and not the americans...
Assi2004 5 months ago
it opened the door to genocide
uhf001 5 months ago
Am I the only one who finds it sad that there is so much exaltation of what basically was the stealing of land from native american tribes? Its amazing how messed up the perception of 'our great nation' is when you consider the truth about our greedy ancestry and the savage death and pillaging that came with the white man. And I'm a white man.
spacecowboy2k 8 months ago
@spacecowboy2k
The Indians stole land from and enslaved each other. In your mind they must therefore have been greedy savages.
MichaelDane1 5 months ago
Peace through strength.
charlesclloyd 8 months ago
My apologies, but do believe it is pompous to believe that Lewis and Clark simply intimidated natives to go on with their travels. In fact, Lewis and Clark did not discover much, they only took the glory of what the French knew already about the interior of the continent. I'm not denigrating their achievement of reconnaissance for the U.S, but do keep in mind they were directly dependent of their French guides who also knew each native tribes. Good book on the topic : America, by Denis Vaugeois.
unconteur 8 months ago
@unconteur That's true, it is a bit suspect. If the natives had *really* thought the expedition had war-winning miracle weapons, they could have simply staged a night ambush,where such weapons would severely lack. More likely is that they understood angering the producers of said weapons was a bad idea, and the surrounding tribes would almost certainly understand the threat and ally against them, possibly with the aid of the colonials.
So really, there are other prominent negatives.
shadowdragon970 8 months ago
139 negative votes, a moron born everyday in America.. lol
ThePostal67 8 months ago
I bet it did go "BANG"!!!
catsdrive 9 months ago
@catsdrive It went bang. Not quite as loud as a firearm, but pretty loud. High powered air rifles in this class are still manufactured and they have a loud report.
voltamp 8 months ago
So what's the fps? Lol
tm22snipes 9 months ago
What is the muzzle velocity on this gun?
xxxcrosmanhunterxxx 9 months ago
Just a small detail.....but the Lewis and Clark expedition wintered near the mouth of the Columbia River. NOT, the "headwaters of the Cascades, the Potomac River". Good lord doesn't anybody view these comments before they get posted? The Potomac is on the east coast for God's sake and every 4th grade kid knows that.
4pjmurphy 9 months ago
What was the range of this rifle? Is there any other info available on it?
Cruiserfrank 10 months ago
There have been questions about the hammer on this rifle. I cannot be 100% sure ,but my guess is that it must strike some type of valve that releases a charge of air from the tank that pushes the ball out the barrel.
badluckIII 10 months ago
@badluckIII The hammer strikes open a valve for an instant. Releases a pulse of air.
voltamp 8 months ago
you forgot to mention that lewis grazed a woman in the head durring a firing demonstration.
MUSICALGUNNUT45 10 months ago
Great presentation! Thank you for this sharing this video and thanks Mike Kerrick for providing this wonderful air rifle for presentation.
cclarkkent 11 months ago
Was this one of the weapons that Lewis and Clark were having a hard time bringing down the Grizzlies with?
Leeboysme 11 months ago
@Leeboysme You'll have trouble bringing down a grizzly with ANY type of gun, even a modern high-powered rifle. grizzly sausage tastes soooooooo good though!
VitaminJyo 10 months ago
lol, it is a 1700's version of Reagan's "peace through strength". I wonder how many hippie anti-gun activists tried the same thing and were never heard from again.
v12tommy 11 months ago
This is my rifle, this is my gun. This is for shootin, this is for fun!!!
gotmadskilz 11 months ago
At 2:44 the hammer is on the left side?
tlareng 11 months ago
@tlareng think it's just a photo negative so a mirror image, just like old civil war tintypes and photos showed a negative(backwards) image.
TheRiggenbach 11 months ago
That is extremely cool. Who knew I could learn anything from YouTube? One question if it was rifled how come it fires a round ball?
legallyawesome1 11 months ago
@legallyawesome1 rifled muskets are able to fire round balls. for example, the 1853 Enfield, if rifled can fire both the mini ball and a regular round ball. the rifling still gives the ball a spin.
Hangingbody 11 months ago
Wonderful story about the air rifle. Even today, it is an impressive design. Thank you for sharing!
Avigadro 11 months ago
pfft who needs an epic air gun when u have small pox and black death, lol.
Digadogup 1 year ago
Doubled the size of the US he says, not North America.
Chuck68ify 1 year ago
what state is canada in? I think I heard about that place once in a documentary. ...I think it was called canadian bacon.. Heard of it?
halstruckman 1 year ago
Perhaps, some American Indian was misquoted when he really said: "Long Stick go 'Pffffft'".
Just a funny notion that crossed my mind.
toetapper04 1 year ago
I had no idea they had air-rifles back then.
TheTarrMan 1 year ago
The armorers at Harpers Ferry were told to make whatever weapon's L&C wanted. In their journals they talked of some custom made "short rifles with half stocks." There is further evidence that these "short rifles" were essentially the prototypes for the 1803 rifle. Being that no firearm goes into mass production without a few prototypes, it is a safe assumption that L&C carried with them the rifle that was mass produced as the 1803 Harpers Ferry Rifle.
dannumbers 1 year ago
Thanks for all the comments! Again, to avoid repetition, here are the FAQ's:
1. Yep, he meant Pacific, not Potomoc. Slip of the tongue, not bad for a one take unscripted talk, huh?
2. As noted in the video, the tank was charged with device like a bicycle pump (1500 strokes).
3. Repros have been hand made. greatwar.com are the folks who made em. Very kewl. Very expensive. Very fun.
4. Yep "half of North America" might be a *bit* of an overstatement. (Hello Canada!)
-- Jim
NFMCurator 1 year ago 18
@NFMCurator Awesome. Someone once told me that that air rifle needed to be fixed while Lewis and Clark were on the expedition. When the rifle recently surfaced and was examined there was a different type of metal in it which backed up the journal entries which stated that it had been repaired. I never knew if this was true or not as I heard it from a man who worked at a local gun store. Does any of that sound accurate?
a55kiker 10 months ago
@NFMCurator Re: Potomac, He should have said headwaters of the Columbia, not Pacific, and certainly not Potomac!
ggiberti 5 months ago
@NFMCurator He meant Columbia River at the Pacific
DaleThornton 4 months ago
Peace through the perception of superior #Firepower! AWESOME!
FoxAirsoftStore 1 year ago
This is a very neat video, though you do have one factual error near the end, stating that Lewis and Clark claimed more then one half the land mass of North America for the US. Since Canada and the US are both entierly contained within North America (Save for a few US islands), and because Canada is larger then the US, that would mean that more then 100% of North America is claimed by these two countries. But again, nice video.
kanuckadisk 1 year ago
135 people don't understand history.
jfsathome 1 year ago
Phil, your claims are exaggerated. It's not wise to take the liberty to of putting words into the mouths of Lewis & Clark that just aren't there in the journals or anywhere else.
Per the L&C journals the air rifle was a post-dinner discussion piece with guests & tribes. L&C referred to it as a glorified sling shot, not a secret weapon that somehow cemented the success of the expedition. Model 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle was their survival tool. Bar none.
SandmanUSMC 1 year ago
@SandmanUSMC The Model 1803 Harpers Ferry rifle was first produced months after the expedition set out for the West. There is no way they would have had those rifles in their inventory.
sharpemg 1 year ago 5
From 1790 to 1815, the Austrian Army used a 22-shot .46 caliber repeating air rifle known as the Girandoni air rifle because unlike single shot gun powder muskets there was no smoke to be seen and very little noise to be heard. Soldiers had to be specially trained and hand pumping the air reservoir 1500 times to a working pressure of 800 psi finally gave way to newly developed repeating gun powder air rifles that were arriving on the scene.
aaokiwan 7 months ago
@sharpemg Read the entire post before you criticize. Clearly, he means the prototype of the 1803.
nodatruth1 4 months ago
nice vid , well worth the watch...thanks.
megashuttlecock 1 year ago
Please do not forget the Newfoundland dog = Seaman!
memama2 1 year ago
How do they pump it up with air?
batfly 1 year ago
I favored this awesome educational video, Thank you Philip!
TheFiddlah 1 year ago 2
@TheFiddlah Thanks very much !
Philip3rd 1 year ago
Absolutely awesome history... and as written below, pertaining to Wikipedia.. please don't believe a word from that site.. anyone can write in there and make things up! This is a incredible documentary on US history and even today with the Govt trying to dis-arm "We the people", a weapon not unlike this rifle will work just as well to keep Freedom amongst our land Sea to shining Sea! * Awesome!
TheFiddlah 1 year ago
...if it were to be the 'actual firearm' shouldn't he have been wearing cotton gloves???
happyjack39 1 year ago 2
Interesting design but does anyone besides me feel that the importance of this rifle might be overstated?
Oprahd 1 year ago 2
From Wikipedia: It was removed from service because it took nearly 1500 strokes of a hand pump to fill those reservoirs. The reservoirs themselves, made from hammered sheet iron held together with rivets and sealed by brazing, proved very difficult to manufacture using the techniques of the period and were always in short supply. The weapon was very delicate and a small break could make it inoperable. It was very different from any other weapon using it needed to be highly trained.
Oprahd 1 year ago
Amazing weapon and great presentation.
JesseVVJames 1 year ago
@JesseVVJames Thank very much for watching it.
Philip3rd 1 year ago
the riffle is cool, but why it is called a secret weapon? Because this riffle was the most developed weapon at that time, or some reason else. it was amazing to see such a developed weapon at that time.
dvdfabber 1 year ago
@dvdfabber I call it their "secret weapon" because they were very coy about how much of the gun they let the natives view. They also kept them from finding out how many air rifles they had with them. Thanks for viewing the video.
Philip3rd 1 year ago
For some reason, I found this really interesting.
sw204me 1 year ago
@sw204me Thank you very much for watching and commenting.
Philip3rd 1 year ago
blah blah blah, you'll shoot your eye out kid
flatjammin 1 year ago
Why were there not more of these rifles made? The fact that they were repeating and silent should have made it so that they would out sell any muzzleloader at the time
xnotseenx 1 year ago
@xnotseenx Too expensive and complicated to make in mass numbers.
It would have been to costly and too specialized for a large army. It probably cost 4 or 5 times as much for one of these as it would for a muzzle loader. And only a handful of craftsmen could make these weapons.
So by sheer economics the gun was not suited for the time.
Besides, if you can burn through 40 shots in 40 seconds and then had to refill the air tank that means very quickly you lose firepower.
TheObsidianhunter 1 year ago
@TheObsidianhunter You didn't lose firepower THAT quickly. Essentially it was a 40 round rifle with no noise. 40 shots loaded by hand was better than anything at that time and everyone in the land realized it. Like he said, if the indians think there are more than one of this rifle in the boat, those guys would've been very well armed for the time.
thatguy66ish 1 year ago
@thatguy66ish if you can squeeze off 40 rounds in as many seconds that is fast and after 40 shots the canisters lose pressure then you lose fire power, especially if it took a long time to refill the canisters. I doubt they carried around spares under their belt.
But that was my point, cost and overall efficiency won out over the more advanced weapon. Thats why we stayed with muzzle loaders until cartage riffles arrived even then those suffered until the cost made it economical to mass produce
TheObsidianhunter 1 year ago
@TheObsidianhunter but heres the thing a soldier in that day wouldnt have to worry about firing that many rounds he would most likely be dead by that point or the battle would be over and he could get a new one and who knows how much they cost if they were cost efficient you could just make alot of them and just replace the entire gun for example in WW2 i cant remember if it was the british or the american or german but someone made a rocket launcher that was disposable and cheap
tanktheturtleman 1 year ago
@xnotseenx once it runs out of air, it's pretty much useless until you recharged it, and you can't recharge it in the field
Seaprimate 1 year ago
@Seaprimate Normal procedure would have been to charge and carry several air flasks. I believe historical accounts suggested that an air rifle squad would have around 10 flasks per weapon with them.
schlusselmensch 1 year ago
@Seaprimate You can recharge it in the field if you have the pump with you and have time to charge it, which took 1,500 strokes to achieve the max of 800psi.
Philip3rd 1 year ago
@xnotseenx I would guess because it took 1500 pumps to charge it up, it probably cost quite a bit, and the complexity of design made it more difficult to produce (in comparison to a flintlock). That and a cast iron stock probably made it pretty heavy.
wolfstack 1 year ago
@wolfstack its not realy the complex a flint lock has more moving parts that that does, it is a tank with a "rubber" stop valve, triger and spring. when you pull the trigger the hammer fling fwd a rod pushes back and opens the valve a puff of gas comes out to fire the ball. the rod and valve close. its that simple. and i think it was only 10lbs so about the same a flintlocks plus was good at 150yrds it was the tank that was hard to make, and i bet it leaked, but i would take this over flintlock
1crazyfocker 1 year ago
Way overstated.
fieldingmelich 1 year ago
DESIGNED BY AN ITALIAN!
YOU HEAR THAT!
YEAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!
ITALIAN REPRESENT!
Thathigh 1 year ago 3
@Thathigh lol chill man. its not you like you designed it
kenny10100 1 year ago
Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) was nearly killed by a French Air rifle. Leonardo Da Vinci wrote in his diaries the sensation of shooting soldiers from his beseiged villa with, a frenh made air rifle. Air rifles have been around since the 1600's people.
SRTST51 1 year ago
I Would love to see a Repro in action,All I can find are animations.
SmokeBojangles 1 year ago
He did state that Lewis and Clark carried one just like this one.
ColtJustice 1 year ago
Phenomenal! Absolutely phenomenal! To still blow a hole in an inch plywood 300 ft (100yds) away! That's amazing to me for a classic! But of course you have rifles these days like the snipers that can assassinate a threat 1 and a half to 2 miles away! Wonder what weapons today we would have if this man was alive... Bravo!
jonathanjb9950 1 year ago
Why would Superman and his girlfriend need a gun anyhoo?
raspberrybaggio 1 year ago
First of all, nowhere in the video does Mr. Schreier say the actual gun in his hands is the actual gun L&C used (see comment @ 1:10 of video). From what I’ve read (& what simple logic tells me) the native American's restraint in overrunning the expedition was partially due to the desire to trade peacefully IN ADDITION to the fear of their weapons. It's impossible to wholly pin either form of reasoning on ALL of the tribes and individual tribal leaders.
kfumike 1 year ago
Air rifles never caught on. People were too likely to shoot their eye out with one.
yoosnay 1 year ago
I doubt the evidence is irrefutable. Primary source documents are of course, excellent sources of information, but exact interpretation may change according to the "expert." Columbus seen lights and phenomena (written) that cannot be explained, this does not mean they were "UFOs" or USOs" that would be ridiculous, as some experts believe. The mention of the gun is intriguing but would have to be substantiated by other documents of the period and by other sources to even begin substantiation.
toddbrow 1 year ago
Ok o guess
blackopsman525 1 year ago
Peace through firepower? Lewis and Clark invented the concept that has made America great? Codswallop!
Both to this creative 'history' and to the concept itself.
Being armed to the teeth has never been any guarantee of peace and, in like-minded circles, has always been seen as an opportunity to catch somebody napping.
anbakeoriginal 1 year ago
I don't understand why you guys are arguing with what this expert is saying. His evidence is irrefutable. Just because you didn't know about it doesn't mean its not true.
DavidUmstattd 1 year ago
@DavidUmstattd welcome to the internet, enjoy your stay. xD
Ronald3570 1 year ago
It's a great gun but the conclusion of the narrator that the Lewis and Clark expedition succeeded "all because of the perception of peace through superior firepower" strikes me as hyperbole.
axesbowledaslove 1 year ago
I wonder why this type of weapon never "took off" so to speak among the shooting public. There must of been some various drawbacks to using it day to day in the 18th and 19th centuries. It looks sounds superior to flintlocks and the like.
paul4opus 1 year ago
@paul4opus
The drawbacks was that it was expensive and complicated to use. Thus the learning curse was larger.
Throughout history the weapon that was easier to learn saw more prominence on the battle field no mater how powerful the alternatives.
DavidUmstattd 1 year ago
This is terrible history. The expedition succeeded because Indians chose to allow it to do so because they wanted the subsequent trade that L&C promised. There is a huge literature about this--start with some of the books that Ambrose plagiarized from, particularly Ronda's Lewis and Clark Among the Indians. Superior firepower had nothing to do with it.
LarryCebula 1 year ago
@LarryCebula
Not according to the diary. You can't argue against original documents my friend.
DavidUmstattd 1 year ago
@DavidUmstattd You have to understand the original documents before you base arguments upon them. L&C had no way of actually knowing what Indians were thinking. And if you read the entire journals you will find that after the air rifle demos the explorers and Indians settled in to trade and exchange information pretty much the same way that they did when the air rifle was not produced.
LarryCebula 1 year ago
@DavidUmstattd Also, many other contemporaneous white expeditions, many of them much smaller and more lightly armed, traveled through native country without violence. See David Thompson for example. L&C succeeded because they respected native culture, not because of firepower.
LarryCebula 1 year ago
@LarryCebula They wouldn't dare downplay the value of guns on this channel.
JoeyBieg 11 months ago
This took someone with a lot of imagination to design and put those thoughts into action. I am sure that it was a pain to charge the air chamber, but a repeating rifle in those days would have been a real breakthrough. At least 30 rounds before losing velocity would have been amazing and I would say given the period, still amazing to this day. Think what the designer could have done with todays tools!
pre9120 1 year ago 2
I want one lol
willywonk0 1 year ago
I am pleasantly surprised this video has more than a million hits.
beepandbop 1 year ago
How did this get so famous so fast?
SabreWolferos 1 year ago
Excellent presentation.
AirelonTrading 1 year ago
Jesus, 46 caliber air rifle O_O I want!
Sionnix 1 year ago
Wow, this video probably pissed off a lot of liberals. :)
musicalmike235 1 year ago 2
122 People dont know the real culture of america or air rifles "airsoft
coolman7825 1 year ago
1,234,567 views
CYN9804 1 year ago
I think I know that this gun wasn't very "war" worthy to the military was the 1500 pumps it would take to do. It is cool to see this, probably as a collection value or maybe in a museum piece to boot. It's cool to know these things. This weapon is like the Gread-Grandfather to modern day Airsoft guns. xD
KnightKiller1000 1 year ago
@KnightKiller1000
Actually several countries had units of wind rifles. They would carry two extra canisters so they wouldn't have to reload one canister each time. So they'd be able to fire about 90 shots before having to manually pump another canister.
Actually its the great grand father of the Henry rifle. But yeah same difference.
DavidUmstattd 1 year ago
This is interesting and all... But why is this in Trending :|?
below0zero 1 year ago
wow.....way cool! simple yet effective...
Warrwench 1 year ago
almost 1234567
Wheelah23 1 year ago
i watched 8 minutes of this and didn't see any gun get fired :(
still kinda sweet though
MrSubStep 1 year ago
had themselves the first scuba tank but didn't know.
shallowtiger 1 year ago
It's sad that air rifles that are bought at stores now are less powerful and functional than that thing. Cool that they had air rifles back then though.
Bleachsoul13 1 year ago
@MrKreyvic highly doubt it.
even modern day Precharged Pneumatic Guns at 3000 psi barely get 700 ft/s with 200 grain 45 caliber rounds.
now imagine a massive ball of 46 caliber its gonna be pretty slow.
waseem1173 1 year ago
i was the 1,234,567 viewer! all in order.
Wellesley805 1 year ago
i only watched this b/c it was trending
ringmaster11710 1 year ago
A very informative and enjoyable video, many thanks to the National Firearms Museum for this information.
JesusRottingChrist 1 year ago
Are there are any similar modern air weapons with similar abilities? I.E. similar caliber, air driven, similar fps, and around 30 shots or more on a single charge?
It's amazingly quiet I noticed in another video. It's a it surprising that such a weapon can't be found today, and a bit of a pity as well.
fuzzywzhe 1 year ago
How did they get compressed air into the stock?
chevygearhead454 1 year ago
amazing riffle
crappyMCcrapperson 1 year ago
I see that it is good, but it must be a pain to pump air in there back then
NonstopRam 1 year ago
"added new stars to the flag"?
hoosierhiver 1 year ago
Wow, I usually watch videos related to video games, funny crap, etc. Im actually glad I watched this video.
OhNoezProduction 1 year ago
Is it from a video show?
Learncountriescom 1 year ago
was this real or joke
thecrazyfirekid 1 year ago
Lewis' Journal, Day 42,
Today was Clark's turn to pump. The wuss
crapped out at 150!
Hopefully, the gun is ready to fire before the
snow falls.
Eskaiyu 1 year ago
"put up a strong fight for the next 50 years" "Peace through superior firepower" nice colonialism look upon history.
Finlandperkele 1 year ago
@Finlandperkele If you look at history the best way to maintain peace has always been to have a bigger stick than the guy next to you. Even if it is a weak and brittle stick it will look big enough to do damage and they won't want to fight you.
olstar18 1 year ago
that really is incredible that they produced air rifles back then.
GroupKB 1 year ago
i love the mech
hqkill 1 year ago
I don't think they used percussion caps at this time in history
comradeshow 1 year ago
@comradeshow No that wasn't till 25 or so years later that percussion caps were introduced. They did however have another design that had a small container of something similar to the active chemical in percussion caps in it. Can't remember the name of the gun but you turned the container and it put a small amount of the stuff on a plate and when the hammer struck it set off the gunpowder. Not sure why it wasn't used by the military but saw mostly use in hunting.
olstar18 1 year ago
@comradeshow
They didn't. Percussion caps were made right before the civil war (or during. I'm uncertain)
DavidUmstattd 1 year ago
@DavidUmstattd Quit a Bit Before.Introduced around 1830.Was a big deal when Texas was fighting Mexicans.
SmokeBojangles 1 year ago
nice
JESTER588 1 year ago
i remember reading about this rifle when i was a kid!!!! very cool, thanks for the video. I subbed.
67mustangreg 1 year ago
AWESOME!
TasteOfTorment 1 year ago
thats crazy why dont we modernize it for the army cuz i believe its quiet
hockeyplaya2029 1 year ago
In 7:08 he says that they claimed more than half of North America, They didn't because that would've ment that they claimed part of Mexico and Canada, which they didn't...
TromboneMaster42 1 year ago 2
Pneumatic = Awesome
TheRougeFurry 1 year ago
These videos are very interestet, love these informative (and history) videoes.
Learncountriescom 1 year ago
A very interesting note on history , I am sure most, including my self, were unaware of. Thank you for the presentation.
RotorMedic7 1 year ago
I hate when ppl call rifles and pistols guns.
kONflictOD 1 year ago
whats the name of the song on the background?
RadiiFx 1 year ago
I hate it when people say that Sacagewea "led the way" on the Expedition. That isn't accurate. The only geography of the country that she had any real knowledge of was the territory of the Shoshone indians (her native people). Otherwise the landscape was as new to her as anyone else.
I'm not discounting her contributions to the expedition, which were meaningful. She was obviously an amazingly resolute young woman. I just want people to get it right.
quietearthMT 1 year ago
Thank you for this most extraordinry and emotonally moving video.
Mimereader2 1 year ago
Interesting.
Xrm150 1 year ago
my uncle have an old rifle looks like this or better .. every time he shot with it his shoulder hurt him for 2 days o.o
MrKingofevil 1 year ago
Good story and what would have been much better is if you were to demonstrate the gun just as Lewis and Clark did.
PA16803 1 year ago
the price for that???
ELGRECO32 1 year ago
1337 likes! Dont mess that up plz!
Mugen123456789 1 year ago
The Natives didn't wipe them out because they didn't know the expedition was motivated by interest to seek more land and resources to claim. Portraying to be only innocent travelers passing on by. Also proves the natives weren't hostile if you came in peace and didn't mean harm.
1crazydine 1 year ago 22