Free: Contests & Raffles.
So…Which one is “most American”?I gave this a bunch of thought today. I think I vote for the Kentucky Long Rifle. Before America, rifles were not common weapons. German (or Swiss?) gunsmiths had invented rifling around 15th century, but only the fabulously wealthy could afford it. Armies didn’t even carry rifles. But in America, where people took the responsibility for their own sustenance and defense into their own hands out of necessity, there was a real need for the rifle. German gunsmiths from Pennsylvania began producing relatively inexpensive rifles for people moving out “to the middle of nowhere” to make a living (an area nicknamed the “Ken-tuk-ee” in colonial times). By the time of the American Revolution, there were thousands of these 100, 200 and 300 yard weapons in the hands of Americans. Many of these backwoods types volunteered to fight the British. Most of them were placed in units like “Morgan’s Rifles” and used as sharpshooters throughout the war. At the Battle of Saratoga, Sergeant Timothy Murphy (one of Morgan’s Rifles) climbed a tree and placed an accurate shot on British General Simon Fraizer, allowing the American Army to overrun the battlefield and ultimately win the battle. The victory at Saratoga was what brought the French to our side, without which we could not have won our independence. One American. One shot. One rifle.
The Winchester Model 94- John Moses Browning’s version of the Winchester 73; the most prolific rifle ever made
The Brown Bess. I know someone who owns one.After doing some reading, I found out that the Brown Bess was made by the British, even though it was widely used by the revolutionaries. So, I'm going to have to go with the Pennsylvania Rifle - long rifle.
Quote from: Pathfinder101 on July 03, 2018, 10:33:17 PMThe Winchester Model 94- John Moses Browning’s version of the Winchester 73; the most prolific rifle ever madeWhat?
Quote from: Pathfinder101 on July 03, 2018, 10:33:59 PMSo…Which one is “most American”?I gave this a bunch of thought today. I think I vote for the Kentucky Long Rifle. Before America, rifles were not common weapons. German (or Swiss?) gunsmiths had invented rifling around 15th century, but only the fabulously wealthy could afford it. Armies didn’t even carry rifles. But in America, where people took the responsibility for their own sustenance and defense into their own hands out of necessity, there was a real need for the rifle. German gunsmiths from Pennsylvania began producing relatively inexpensive rifles for people moving out “to the middle of nowhere” to make a living (an area nicknamed the “Ken-tuk-ee” in colonial times). By the time of the American Revolution, there were thousands of these 100, 200 and 300 yard weapons in the hands of Americans. Many of these backwoods types volunteered to fight the British. Most of them were placed in units like “Morgan’s Rifles” and used as sharpshooters throughout the war. At the Battle of Saratoga, Sergeant Timothy Murphy (one of Morgan’s Rifles) climbed a tree and placed an accurate shot on British General Simon Fraizer, allowing the American Army to overrun the battlefield and ultimately win the battle. The victory at Saratoga was what brought the French to our side, without which we could not have won our independence. One American. One shot. One rifle. @Pathfinder101This is my favorite post in a long time. Thank you.
Quote from: pianoman9701 on July 04, 2018, 08:03:10 AMThe Brown Bess. I know someone who owns one.After doing some reading, I found out that the Brown Bess was made by the British, even though it was widely used by the revolutionaries. So, I'm going to have to go with the Pennsylvania Rifle - long rifle.The Brown Bess was a British Military Rifle. The reason we had them was that we seized as many of the armories (Like the one at Concord) as we could at the outset of the war. They are smoothbore muskets, accurate only to about 40 yards, the distance at which wars in Europe were fought. If you showed up to join the Continental Army carrying your lunch pail and wearing buckled shoes, they put you in a blue uniform, handed you a Brown Bess and had you start drilling. But... If you showed up to join dressed in buckskins and carrying a Kentucky Long Rifle and smelling like woodsmoke, they left you looking pretty much the way you were and sent you over to Dan Morgan so you could run around in the woods with your 200 yard deer rifle and hunt for British officers to shoot.
Quote from: Pathfinder101 on July 04, 2018, 03:19:00 PMQuote from: pianoman9701 on July 04, 2018, 08:03:10 AMThe Brown Bess. I know someone who owns one.After doing some reading, I found out that the Brown Bess was made by the British, even though it was widely used by the revolutionaries. So, I'm going to have to go with the Pennsylvania Rifle - long rifle.The Brown Bess was a British Military Rifle. The reason we had them was that we seized as many of the armories (Like the one at Concord) as we could at the outset of the war. They are smoothbore muskets, accurate only to about 40 yards, the distance at which wars in Europe were fought. If you showed up to join the Continental Army carrying your lunch pail and wearing buckled shoes, they put you in a blue uniform, handed you a Brown Bess and had you start drilling. But... If you showed up to join dressed in buckskins and carrying a Kentucky Long Rifle and smelling like woodsmoke, they left you looking pretty much the way you were and sent you over to Dan Morgan so you could run around in the woods with your 200 yard deer rifle and hunt for British officers to shoot. But if you were truly gifted you got to serve under Rogers.
Quote from: HawkCreek on July 04, 2018, 01:12:02 PMQuote from: Pathfinder101 on July 03, 2018, 10:33:17 PMThe Winchester Model 94- John Moses Browning’s version of the Winchester 73; the most prolific rifle ever madeWhat?Yes. John Moses Browning was a young gun designer that went to work for Winchester when he was in his 20s (in the 1870s). He had been tinkering with the Winchester 73 for years and kept improving it over and over (the '85 Winchester, the 86 Winchester, the 87 Winchester). In 1894 he finally got it just the way he wanted it. And that's pretty much the way it has stayed since 1894. The 1894 Winchester lever action rifle has sold over 7 million rifles to date. More than any other sporting arm in history, making it the "most prolific".
