Lewis & Clark air Rifle

[socal s&w]

Anyone here ever hear of this?

Pretty interesting!

FT forum: This is just tooo kewl not to spread around

 

[OK Hog Shooter]

I am somewhat familiar with this rifle. I have two close friends that are accomplished gunsmiths making primarily historic reproductions. Through a mutual friend they have held in their hands what they believe to be either the original Lewis and Clark air rifle or one made by the same gunsmith. They were able to take it apart for an up close and personal inspection, measure and photograph all parts and document their findings with sketches. They are planning on reproducing the air rifle using 19th century skills and 21st century materials. It should be a most interesting project.

 

[Tam 3]

I read somewhere in the last 5 years that Dr. Robert Beeman had the original in his collection.

Regards,

Tam 3

 

[reddogge]

I shot a repro of this rifle made by two men several years ago. Instead of the hand pump (1,500 strokes) they charged it with compressed air. The round buttstock was awkward to shoulder but I could hit a 6" gong offhand at 50 yards easily.

 

[Alk8944]

I read somewhere in the last 5 years that Dr. Robert Beeman had the original in his collection.

Regards,

Tam 3

Several years ago I read an in-depth article written by Dr. Beeman on this rifle. If I recall correctly he owns an apparently identical rifle which he believes may be the actual Lewis & Clark rifle, but there is insufficient documentation of the original to be sure.

I believe there was a link on the Beeman web site to this article.

 

[HOGSTR]

You can see one up close at the National Firearms Museum. Very interesting piece, particularly for that era.

The Girandoni air rifle: Lewis and Clark's secret weapon

 

[mtgianni]

Interesting write up on it in the American Rifleman, Sept 1967 AIRC.