1792 contract rifle

1792 contract rifle
Several contract rifles at the Huntington Museum of Art
Type	Muzzle-loading rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	1792–?
Wars	War of 1812, Mexican–American War, American Civil War
Production history
Manufacturer	Primarily Pennsylvania gunsmiths.
Unit cost	$12 [1]
Produced	1792–1794
No. built	approximately 3500
Specifications
Barrel length	42 inches
Caliber	.49
Action	Flintlock
Feed system	Muzzle loaded

The 1792 contract rifle is not a specific model of gun, rather it is a modern way to categorize a collection of rifles bought by the United States government in that year. United States 1792 contract rifles are Pennsylvania-Kentucky rifles with a 42-inch long octagonal barrel in .49 caliber, with a patch box built into the buttstock.^[2] What distinguishes them from civilian rifles is that they were bought by the government under military contract.

History

Before the United States military used standardized weapons with interchangeable parts, it bought rifles that are difficult to distinguish from their civilian equivalent. The process was similar to today, in which the government requests weaponry of certain specifications and then finds a manufacturer to build them. In 1792 there was a need for rifles, and a contract was drawn up with Lancaster, Pennsylvania, gunsmiths to deliver rifles.^[1]

In January 1792, U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox authorized former General Edward Hand to contract with manufacturers for the rifles.^[1] The rifles were to be delivered in units of 100 as quickly as possible.^[1] He told Hand that the contract was for 500 rifles, but that he was willing to extend it to 1,000.^[1] The 1792 contract specified rifles with a 44-1/2 inch long barrel in .47 caliber. That was modified to a 42-inch long barrel in .49 caliber, with a well-seasoned maple stock and a flintlock. Eleven different gunsmiths took the contract on, delivering 1,476 rifles between April 1792 and December 1792. A second contract for the same weapon took place in 1794. Seventeen gunsmiths delivered 2,000 rifles by November 1794.^[2]

These military- or militia-issued rifles were of civilian style, and it has been very difficult for collectors to identify them from this contract. Edward Flanagan, who wrote a paper on the 1792 and 1807 contract rifles, believes that the weapons were marked by the U.S. government, a lesson learned from gun thefts during the Revolutionary War.^[3] He points to a "US" stamp on the barrel of a weapon known to have been a contract rifle.^[3]

A second contract rifle has been identified, the 1807 Contract Rifle, which has different specifications than the weapons of 1792 and 1794.^[2]

Lewis and Clark

Before their exploratory trip, the Lewis and Clark Expedition obtained rifles from the Harper's Ferry Arsenal. The U.S. Army's acknowledges that there were 300 of the 1792 or 1794 contract rifles at the arsenal at that time.^[4] The Army refers to modern speculation that the changes Lewis had made to the contract rifles (adding sling swivels, shortening the barrel further to 33-36 inches and reboring them to a larger caliber),^[4] led to the design of the US Model 1803, created six months later.^[4]

See also

• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces

References

1. Henry Knox Secretary of War. "Papers of the War Department, Authorization to Contract with Manufacturer for Rifles". Archived from the original on 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
2. The Rifle Shop, Inc. "US Contract Rifles". Retrieved 2011-12-17.
3. Edward R. Flanagan. "1792 and 1807 Contract Rifles" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-26. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
4. U.S. Army. "Corps of Discovery Rifles of the Expedition". Archived from the original on 2017-07-07. Retrieved 2011-12-17.

External links

• Article by Edward R. Flanagan discussing the 1792 and 1807 contract rifles. Has pictures.
• A thread discussing the contract guns. It gives a sense of the give and take of opinion as to what is fact.