Shields and Rifles

Journal 2006 07 02
Shields and Rifles

“Sheilds continued repairing the gunns which he compleated by evening. all arrangements being now compleat we determined to set out in the morning. in the course of the day we had much conversation with the indians by signs, our only mode of communicating our ideas.” Meriwether Lewis’ Journal

Captain Clark declares the rifles to be “put in fine order” by the work of their gunsmith, Private John Shields. The rifles are mostly .54 to .69 caliber Harper’s Ferry models different than muskets because of the “rifling” in the barrel that caused the round ball of lead to rotate and stabilize as it flew through the air. A musket had a smooth barrel and the bullet was more like a small shotput coming out. The effect was a ball of lead flying through the air with some of the same characteristics of a Gaylord Perry knuckleball. The Harper’s Ferry model was as modern a rifle as was available and served the men well. Some were even made by the Springfield Armory which is still producing rifles two hundred years later. A tribute to one companies continued advance in modern rifles.

Modern gunpowder based weapons still operate on the same principles as these primitive weapons. A charge of gunpowder is ignited by a “spark” created by a controlled explosion which creates gases which raises pressure inside the barrel. That sudden increase in gas pressure is relieved by the bullet being forced to exit the barrel. When their best hunter, George Drouillard, aligned the sights on a deer then pulled the trigger it started a mechanical reaction that initiated a chemical reaction which resulted in a physical response against the object being fired at.

When Drouillard pulled the trigger it released a spring which was compressed when he cocked the hammer earlier. This hammer then fell forward under the compressed energy of the spring and in the process of rotating forward struck a flint attached to a piece of metal. This combination of flint and steel is called a frizzen. The sparks caused by the hammer raking across the frizzen ignited a small charge of gunpowder held in a tiny bowl called a pan. The pan had a small hole in the bottom which fed the small explosion of powder in the pan through a small tube that connected the pan with the barrel where the powder that Drouillard poured into the barrel of his rifle waited. That small explosion in the pan caused the powder in the barrel to explode and force the round lead ball towards the target in Drouillard’s sights. The lead ball had been “rammed” into the barrel atop the powder by a long ramrod on top of a small patch of cloth that helped seal the exploding gas behind the ball as it traveled out the barrel.

The men were commanded to make sure they were well supplied with powder and balls before they set out from this camp. You can understand the need of the old military command to, “Keep your powder dry!” Today, the modern rifle cartridge is a brass case with a primer, or cap, pressed in the end, filled with gunpowder and completed when a football shaped bullet is pressed into the open end of the case. This completed item is what we commonly call a bullet. It is correctly referred to as a round of ammunition or a cartridge. This round is then inserted into a chamber machined to its exact external dimensions. A firing pin, a thin nail like rod, rather than a hammer, is released under spring pressure when the trigger is pulled on a modern rifle. The firing pin strikes the primer at the base of the cartridge igniting the cap causing the powder to explode and the bullet to exit the barrel. Still simple. Still the same phyics as the Harper’s Ferry rifle carried by Drouillard.

Much discussion exists over exactly which rifles were carried by the Corps of Discovery. At this point the details are relegated to historical trivia because this class of muzzleloading weapons has been far superseded by modern rifles. I offer this detailed examination to illustrate that the mechanics and physics haven’t change. The technology to deliver that bullet to the target has changed. The modern sniper firing a .30 caliber cartridge can hit a target out to 1,000 yards. The rifles carried by the men of the Corps of Discovery could reach to 200 yards.

The weapons were as useful as any of the equipment carried on the expedition. The rifles set them apart from the natives they encountered and added power to their strength. To many, rifles are simply tools. The lever action Winchester 94 seen in most western movies is called “the rifle that won the West.” General Patton, the great WWII general, would call the M1 Garand rifle “the greatest battle implement ever made.” The infantryman’s rifle and training is what makes him a soldier. Colonel Jeff Cooper says the rifle “truly makes a man the monarch of all he surveys. It realizes the ancient dream of the Jovian thunderbolt, and as such is the embodiment of personal power.” Private Shields was the gunsmith whose work resulted in his comrades being the best armed men in the whole of the unknown West of 1806.

“He trains me for battle, so that I can use the strongest bow.” Psalms 18:34 GNB  

His desire for us is still the same as it was for King David two and a half millenniums ago. That we would be the best trained and armed men in the arenas He chooses for us. That we would be mighty in battle. He trains us and He arms us.

How well armed are we today?

Proceed on.