Lewis&Clark cleaning

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Byron

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Just finished Stephen Ambrose's book "Undaunted Courage" on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. What methods were used to keep the rifles clean?It seems the rifles saw extreme usage.
 
Only 1 experimental air rifle I believe.............cleaned with warm water and ashes from the fire...........used those since the early 18 Century.
Lubed with animal fat / Talo also used Talo to smear on themselves to repel misquitos..
 
Do I recall this correctly...that Lewis designed his blackpowder containers out of lead, so that when one was emptied of powder, it could be melted down into lead balls for the guns? Pretty good planning!!??
 
J-Bar said:
Do I recall this correctly...that Lewis designed his blackpowder containers out of lead, so that when one was emptied of powder, it could be melted down into lead balls for the guns? Pretty good planning!!??
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Yes that is correct. They had lead containers that were exactly the right proportion of lead to powder...sealed tight. They were very ragged when they got back but every man had a working rifle and they brought back powder and ball. Just about every other thing they ran out of (trade goods, etc) but their superior planning meant they had plenty of powder, ball and rifles. Of course, it helped that they had very little real trouble along the way in terms of violence. They had one run in with the Blackfeet and Lewis accidently got shot in the butt by one of his own men...but they had a pretty peaceful trip which helped on the ammo conservation of course.
 
An amazing adventure, and a must-read for all history/black powder enthusiasts. The trip was a great success on many levels. Not the least of which was the peaceful yet powerful representation of our government to the natives.
 
Smokin'Joe, one air rifle. It was used to scare the Indians not hunting. That's all I've seen in print, anyway.
Steve
 
The typical cleaning material was tow.

There was only one airgun, a Giradoni repeater. Virginia Military Institute says they have it in their collection. The National Firearms Museum says the same. Anyhow, some feel its presence awed the Indians who were amazed by its silent killing ability and its ability for rapid reloading. They never knew there was only one gun and it's mystique may have prevented the natives from wiping out the Corps of Discovery.
 
So maybe, just maybe, the ' Gun That Won The West' and opened the door to Manifest Destiny was an air rifle.

salty
 
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