Lewis and Clark Air Rifle

yes that is right ,and one of the most expensive air rifles as well, seen in this video enjoy. www.network54.com...

reply to post by bekod


if never hear of this man 'Lews" before.

might he be the little known half retarded juggler who spent a brief 6 weeks as the previous partner before the historic westward duo.... Lewis and Clark?

Originally posted by Wertdagf
reply to post by bekod

 

if never hear of this man 'Lews" before.

might he be the little known half retarded juggler who spent a brief 6 weeks as the previous partner before the historic westward duo.... Lewis and Clark?

yes thanks, had my brain in neutral, eyes closed and not checking thread header. that better?

reply to post by bekod


Very cool I had heard of it before but have never seen it, it's makes me wonder why that type of system didn't become the dominant one. Then I remember that we're the same now as we were then so it was probably corporate greed, can't have all the poor gunpowder manufacturer's going out of business now could we? Here's another antique you might find interesting. en.wikipedia.org...

reply to post by bekod


I believe I picked up on the US made Quackenbush airguns from one of your previous posts. But I understood that the larger bore types had to be re-charged after two or three shots.

It seems that this Lewis and Clark airgun had more capacity (as in many more rounds before recharging needed) and seemed to be very deadly, enough to supress the natives!?

Why can't someone make one that has so many rounds available, with such a convenient mechanism of loading?

Or do they? Is there an ATF rule because they are so quiet with no flash? Enquiring minds....

I fairly recently read the book referenced in the video, Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose about the Lewis & Clark expedition and found the rifle fascinating as well. So it was cool to see the excellent and informative video that you posted.

I seem to remember Lewis having some trouble with it and possibly some fear of the high pressurization, that might be a reason for why the technology didn't become as widely spread. But my memory ain't what it used to be so take that with a grain of salt.

The length of time it took to "pump" it up might have been an issue as well. Having that kind of "repeater" in that time period, however, is truly amazing. S&F.

Awesome rifle indeed! S&F 4u.

Ingenious design for that era. Make your own shot and not worry about keeping powder dry and such? No big bang, muzzleflash, poof of smoke to give your position away...wow. Not to mention, no build-up of carbons in your barrel making cleaning simpler. No danger of chamber breaching; safer for the wielder.

Hard to make repeat business on an air-power rifle however. What would we have done with all that bat guano (potassium nitrate)? War battles would've seemed less impressive...like watching a silent movie.

They actually do make air rifles that are extremely powerful these days and a single recharge is good for many many rounds sometimes.

They just don't get alot of press because compared to smokeless powder you need a much larger weapon to get velocities anywhere close to even the less powerful conventional ammunition available. And in todays world a multichamber -32 decibel suppressor can be had for 6 to 7 hundred dollars making even loud guns vastly quieter and just as "flashless" as an airgun.

Don't get me wrong I've considered an airgun a time or two but with the cost of ammo versus the cost of airguns and the requisite paraphenalia is just very expensive for the capabilities I would gain.

reply to post by bekod


nice docu...ty star... air guns are way underestimated...and I learned a bit of history too.

If not too far off topic, I'll throw some folklore at ya, rumors I have read and heard, claim they was the early equivilent to Britsh special ops, what ever they are called now days Mi5 Mi6....sorry if I said that wrong.

Just absolutely great!

I have recently read the book "Lewis and Clark Among the Indians." It also stated several times about the air gun being used for demos to the Indians. I kept saying what was so great about it. I had no idea it was that wicked of a weapon.
(I do think the Indians got somewhat slighted in the video, however.)

thank you, one of the most enjoyable things I've found on ATS in a long time.

reply to post by bekod


It occurs to me that the video seems to be wrong or inaccurate in saying that the air gun holds 800psi and it would take 1500 bicycle pump strokes to charge it. Ain't no way any hand-powered tire pump I'm familiar with can produce that kind of pressure. You could stand on the handle and not make it move once you got the pressurre up to a fraction of that 800psi.

My question is how did they fill it with air?

reply to post by dugstu
by using one of these air pumps seen here en.wikipedia.org... just think of how tired you would be using a bike pump 1500 strokes!

reply to post by Aliensun

it is not what your thinking i put up a link, i hope you check it out, and it did come with extra prefilled air chambers.

reply to post by Aliensun
you are welcome, i thought some would like it as well, i do like the "grandfather" of things, even though some can be a you know what to get it to work but in the end you can say i won it over

Here is more on the Lewis and Clark Air Rifle
www.beemans.net...
www.beemans.net...&%20Clark%20Airgun.htm
www.beemans.net...

modern big bore air rifles
www.quackenbushairguns.com...
www.cheaperthandirt.com...
bigboreairguns.com...

There are few federal laws on airguns.
No laws on size there are some 20mm air rifles.
the main federal law is they can not be possessed by felons.

Some states have airgun laws but most only deal with what you may hunt with airguns.

Then you have the pneumatic air cannons used for "punkin chunkin"
big10inch.org...

Even the US Navy has/had pneumatic cannons.
www.zhanliejian.com...
www.guns.com...

Some pneumatic cannons are used for avalanche control
members.triton.net...
www.flickr.com...

Originally posted by bekod
reply to post by Aliensun

 

it is not what your thinking i put up a link, i hope you check it out, and it did come with extra prefilled air chambers.

I was amiss in talking about a bike tire pump, yet correct. You could not do it with a bike pump. The pump would need to have a very small chamber for holding the air you would be compressimg. Of course, that is explained by the 1500 strokes it required.

Awesome post S&F too!

I have heard this referenced before but I never seen much information about it. Seems like a very cool gun for the times. I think 800Psi in a cast iron bottle sitting below my head would scare the crap out of me though lol.

I would guess the reason this type of thing isn't really popular today is because our firearms are far more advanced. Back when you had to manually load the powder and each round I could see a repeating air rifle as a big advantage.

But once cartridges took over, and advanced to the point they are today, I don't think an air rifle would be much use on a modern battlefield.

Still a very cool gun, and I'm surprised this isn't more commonly known.

Originally posted by ANNED
Here is more on the Lewis and Clark Air Rifle
www.beemans.net...
www.beemans.net...&%20Clark%20Airgun.htm
www.beemans.net...

modern big bore air rifles
www.quackenbushairguns.com...
www.cheaperthandirt.com...
bigboreairguns.com...

There are few federal laws on airguns.
No laws on size there are some 20mm air rifles.
the main federal law is they can not be possessed by felons.

Some states have airgun laws but most only deal with what you may hunt with airguns.

Then you have the pneumatic air cannons used for "punkin chunkin"
big10inch.org...

Even the US Navy has/had pneumatic cannons.
www.zhanliejian.com...
www.guns.com...

Some pneumatic cannons are used for avalanche control
members.triton.net...
www.flickr.com...

Looks good source.

Neat gun and interesting history. I wonder how many shots it could have per charge? But the thing about the Native Americans is misguided... It has nothing to do with the guns.

When Lewis and Clarke were going out, the Indians had more word and experience with whites as traders. (Think about the French that were in that part of the country before them.) If they didn't trust some outsider, they'd have "guides" to keep an eye on them. (And Lewis and Clark often didn't go alone if they came to some agreement.) There was simply no reason for Indians attack anybody without provocation, and they could possibly barter for tools and the such that they couldn't get otherwise. During that time buffalo were plenty and the tribes could travel as they pleased. (Well at least in regards to agreements with other tribes.) The western tribes didn't become war-like until the pressures of western settlement were upon them, buffalo slaughtered, and they weren't as free to travel as they once were.