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90-420: The long rifle is an early example of a firearm using rifling (spiral grooves in the bore), which caused the projectile, commonly a round lead ball in the early firearm, to spin around the axis of its motion. This increased the stability of its trajectory and dramatically improved accuracy over contemporary smooth-bore muskets , which were cheaper and more common. Rifled firearms were first used in major combat in

180-416: A flechette , requires impractically high twist rates to stabilize; it is often stabilized aerodynamically instead. An aerodynamically stabilized projectile can be fired from a smoothbore barrel without a reduction in accuracy. Muskets are smoothbore , large caliber weapons using ball-shaped ammunition fired at relatively low velocity. Due to the high cost, great difficulty of precision manufacturing, and

270-419: A consistent unit of measure, i.e. metric (mm) or imperial (in). The third method simply reports the angle of the grooves relative to the bore axis, measured in degrees. The latter two methods have the inherent advantage of expressing twist rate as a ratio and give an easy understanding if a twist rate is relatively slow or fast even when comparing bores of differing diameters. In 1879, George Greenhill ,

360-588: A diameter of 0.5 inches (13 mm) and a length of 1.5 inches (38 mm), the Greenhill formula would give a value of 25, which means 1 turn in 25 inches (640 mm). Improved formulas for determining stability and twist rates include the Miller Twist Rule and the McGyro program developed by Bill Davis and Robert McCoy. If an insufficient twist rate is used, the bullet will begin to yaw and then tumble; this

450-439: A faster twist, generating a higher spin rate (and greater projectile stability). The combination of length, weight, and shape of a projectile determines the twist rate needed to gyroscopically stabilize it: barrels intended for short, large-diameter projectiles such as spherical lead balls require a very low twist rate, such as 1 turn in 48 inches (122 cm). Barrels intended for long, small-diameter projectiles, such as

540-452: A frontier setting. Initially, the long firearm of choice on the frontier was the smoothbore musket, or trade gun, built in factories in England and France and shipped to the colonies for purchase. Gradually, long rifles became more popular due to their longer effective range. While the smooth bore musket had an effective range of less than 100 yards, a rifleman could hit a man-sized target at

630-567: A gunsmith of Vienna in 1498 and Augustus Kotter of Nuremberg in 1520. Some scholars allege that Kollner's works at the end of the 15th century only used straight grooves, and it was not until he received help from Kotter that a working spiral-grooved firearm was made. There may have been attempts even earlier than this, as the main inspiration of rifled firearms came from archers and crossbowmen who realized that their projectiles flew far faster and more accurately when they imparted rotation through twisted fletchings. Though true rifling dates from

720-455: A patch. The accuracy was improved, but still not reliable for precision shooting over long distances. Like the invention of gunpowder itself, the inventor of barrel rifling is not yet definitely known. Straight grooving had been applied to small arms since at least 1480, originally intended as "soot grooves" to collect gunpowder residue . Some of the earliest recorded European attempts of spiral-grooved musket barrels were of Gaspard Kollner ,

810-413: A portion extending west into Pequea Township . It is bordered to the east by the village of Lampeter . Pennsylvania Route 272 (Willow Street Pike) is the main highway through the community. It is split into two one-way streets, with the northbound lanes following the original main street through the town, and the southbound lanes running four blocks to the west. PA 272 leads north 4 miles (6 km) to

900-469: A pre-drilled barrel was to use a cutter mounted on a square-section rod, accurately twisted into a spiral of the desired pitch, mounted in two fixed square-section holes. As the cutter was advanced through the barrel it twisted at a uniform rate governed by the pitch. The first cut was shallow. The cutter points were gradually expanded as repeated cuts were made. The blades were in slots in a wooden dowel which were gradually packed out with slips of paper until

990-660: A professor of mathematics at the Royal Military Academy (RMA) at Woolwich , London, UK developed a rule of thumb for calculating the optimal twist rate for lead-core bullets. This shortcut uses the bullet's length, needing no allowances for weight or nose shape. The eponymous Greenhill Formula , still used today, is: twist = C D 2 L × S G 10.9 {\displaystyle {\text{twist}}={\frac {CD^{2}}{L}}\times {\sqrt {\frac {\mathrm {SG} }{10.9}}}} where C {\displaystyle C}

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1080-470: A range of 200 yards or more. The price for this accuracy was that the long rifle took significantly longer to reload than the approximately 20 seconds of the musket. In Pennsylvania, the earliest gunsmiths that can be documented are Robert Baker and the Martin Meylins , father and son. Robert Baker formed a partnership with his son Caleb, and on August 15, 1719, erected a gun boring mill on Pequea Creek. In

1170-423: A range of 80 to 100 yards for the average user. An expert shooter can extend the median range of the long rifle to 200-300 yards. Although less commonly owned or seen on the frontier, the long rifle style was also used on flintlock pistols during the same era. These pistols were often matched in caliber to a long rifle owned by the same user, to enable firing a common-sized and common-patched round lead ball. With

1260-414: A rifled or smooth bore, a good fit was needed to seal the bore and provide the best possible accuracy from the gun. To ease the force required to load the projectile, these early guns used an undersized ball, and a patch made of cloth, paper, or leather to fill the windage (the gap between the ball and the walls of the bore). The patch acted as a wadding and provided some degree of pressure sealing , kept

1350-638: A round ball; these will have twist rates as low as 1 in 72 inches (180 cm), or slightly longer, although for a typical multi-purpose muzzleloader rifle, a twist rate of 1 in 48 inches (120 cm) is very common. The M16A2 rifle, which is designed to fire the 5.56×45mm NATO SS109 ball and L110 tracer bullets, has a 1 in 7-inch (18 cm) or 32 calibers twist. Civilian AR-15 rifles are commonly found with 1 in 12 inches (30 cm) or 54.8 calibers for older rifles and 1 in 9 inches (23 cm) or 41.1 calibers for most newer rifles, although some are made with 1 in 7 inches (18 cm) or 32 calibers twist rates,

1440-414: A single diameter. Rifled bores may be described by the bore diameter (the diameter across the lands or high points in the rifling), or by groove diameter (the diameter across the grooves or low points in the rifling). Differences in naming conventions for cartridges can cause confusion; for example, the projectiles of the .303 British are actually slightly larger in diameter than the projectiles of

1530-510: A single gunmaker would make the entire rifle, a process almost unheard of in 18th-century trade practice. The flintlock action, with its spring mechanism, and single-action trigger , though, was often purchased in bulk from England by gunsmiths, and then fabricated with skill into an elaborate rifle. Early locks were imported, but domestic manufacturing of locks increased in America among the more skilled gunsmiths in later years. To conserve lead on

1620-417: A throwback to the earliest types of rifling, has become popular, especially in handguns . Polygonal barrels tend to have longer service lives because the reduction of the sharp edges of the land (the grooves are the spaces that are cut out, and the resulting ridges are called lands) reduces erosion of the barrel. Supporters of polygonal rifling also claim higher velocities and greater accuracy. Polygonal rifling

1710-671: A tributary of the Conestoga River , but the southern part of the community drains south to Pequea Creek . The Conestoga and Pequea are both southwest-flowing tributaries of the Susquehanna River . As of the census of 2000, there were 7,258 people, 3,203 households, and 2,091 families living in the CDP. The population density was 1,340.9 people per square mile (517.7 people/km ). There were 3,323 housing units at an average density of 613.9 per square mile (237.0/km ). The racial makeup of

1800-673: A very high spin rate which can cause projectile jacket ruptures causing high velocity spin stabilized projectiles to disintegrate in flight. Projectiles made out of mono metals cannot practically achieve flight and spin velocities such that they disintegrate in flight due to their spin rate. Smokeless powder can produce muzzle velocities of approximately 1,600 m/s (5,200 ft/s) for spin stabilized projectiles and more advanced propellants used in smoothbore tank guns can produce muzzle velocities of approximately 1,800 m/s (5,900 ft/s). A higher twist than needed can also cause more subtle problems with accuracy: Any inconsistency within

1890-687: A wind storm during late February/early March 2018. It is the location of the Hans Herr House , the oldest homestead in Lancaster County, and also the Martin Meylin Gunshop, where the long rifle was first made. Willow Street is located in central Lancaster County at 39°58′41″N 76°16′28″W  /  39.977932°N 76.274395°W  / 39.977932; -76.274395 . It is primarily in West Lampeter Township , with

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1980-472: Is 150 (use 180 for muzzle velocities higher than 2,800 f/s); D {\displaystyle D} is the bullet's diameter in inches; L {\displaystyle L} is the bullet's length in inches; and S G {\displaystyle \mathrm {SG} } is the bullet's specific gravity (10.9 for lead-core bullets, which cancels out the second half of the equation). The original value of C {\displaystyle C}

2070-604: Is currently seen on pistols from CZ , Heckler & Koch , Glock , Tanfoglio , and the Kahr Arms ( P series only), as well as the Desert Eagle . For field artillery pieces, the extended range, full bore (ERFB) concept developed in early 1970s by Dennis Hyatt Jenkins and Luis Palacio of Gerald Bull 's Space Research Corporation for the GC-45 howitzer replaces the bourrelet with small nubs, which both tightly fit into lands of

2160-404: Is in fact fairly common. Since a reduction in twist rate is very detrimental to accuracy, gunsmiths who are machining a new barrel from a rifled blank will often measure the twist carefully so they may put the faster rate, no matter how minute the difference is, at the muzzle end. The original firearms were loaded from the muzzle by forcing a ball from the muzzle to the chamber. Whether using

2250-415: Is not capable of imparting a spin to a projectile, so a rifled barrel has a non-circular cross-section. Typically the rifled barrel contains one or more grooves that run down its length, giving it a cross-section resembling an internal gear , though it can also take the shape of a polygon , usually with rounded corners. Since the barrel is not circular in cross-section, it cannot be accurately described with

2340-448: Is removed from the chamber. The specified diameter of the throat may be somewhat greater than groove diameter, and may be enlarged by use if hot powder gas melts the interior barrel surface when the rifle is fired. Freebore is a groove-diameter length of smoothbore barrel without lands forward of the throat. Freebore allows the bullet to transition from static friction to sliding friction and gain linear momentum prior to encountering

2430-470: Is the term for helical grooves machined into the internal surface of a firearms 's barrel for imparting a spin to a projectile to improve its aerodynamic stability and accuracy. It is also the term (as a verb) for creating such grooves. Rifling is measured in twist rate , the distance the rifling takes to complete one full revolution, expressed as a ratio with 1 as its base (e.g., 1:10 inches (25.4 cm)). A shorter distance/lower ratio indicates

2520-502: Is the twist rate expressed in bore diameters; L {\displaystyle L} is the twist length required to complete one full projectile revolution (in mm or in); and D bore {\displaystyle D_{\text{bore}}} is the bore diameter (diameter of the lands, in mm or in). The twist travel L {\displaystyle L} and the bore diameter D bore {\displaystyle D_{\text{bore}}} must be expressed in

2610-457: Is the twist rate. For example, an M4 Carbine with a twist rate of 1 in 7 inches (177.8 mm) and a muzzle velocity of 3,050 feet per second (930 m/s) will give the bullet a spin of 930 m/s / 0.1778 m = 5.2 kHz (314,000 rpm). Excessive rotational speed can exceed the bullet's designed limits and the resulting centrifugal force can cause the bullet to disintegrate radially during flight. A barrel of circular bore cross-section

2700-411: Is usually seen as "keyholing", where bullets leave elongated holes in the target as they strike at an angle. Once the bullet starts to yaw, any hope of accuracy is lost, as the bullet will begin to veer off in random directions as it precesses . Conversely, too high a rate of twist can also cause problems. The excessive twist can cause accelerated barrel wear, and coupled with high velocities also induce

2790-421: Is usually sized slightly larger than the projectile, so the loaded cartridge can be inserted and removed easily, but the throat should be as close as practical to the groove diameter of the barrel. Upon firing, the projectile expands under the pressure from the chamber, and obturates to fit the throat. The bullet then travels down the throat and engages the rifling, where it is engraved, and begins to spin. Engraving

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2880-446: The .308 Winchester , because the ".303" refers to the bore diameter in inches (bullet is .312), while the ".308" refers to the bullet diameter in inches (7.92 mm and 7.82 mm, respectively). Despite differences in form, the common goal of rifling is to deliver the projectile accurately to the target. In addition to imparting the spin to the bullet, the barrel must hold the projectile securely and concentrically as it travels down

2970-460: The 20 mm M61 Vulcan Gatling gun used in some current fighter jets and the larger 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger Gatling gun used in the A10 Thunderbolt II close air support jet. In these applications it allows lighter construction of the barrels by decreasing chamber pressures through the use of low initial twist rates but ensuring the projectiles have sufficient stability once they leave

3060-660: The Cumberland Gap into Kentucky and the Yadkin River (Salem) area of North Carolina. The settlers of western Virginia (Kentucky), Tennessee, and North Carolina soon gained a reputation for hardy independence and rifle marksmanship as a way of life, further reinforced by the performance of riflemen in the American Revolution, especially Morgan's Riflemen , who were pivotal in the Battles of Saratoga and Cowpens , as well as

3150-542: The War of 1812 . In that war, the long rifle gained its nickname " Kentucky Rifle", after a popular song " The Hunters of Kentucky ," about Andrew Jackson and his victory at the Battle of New Orleans . The long rifle also was used by the Texans in their War for Independence from Mexico. The reason for the long rifle's characteristic long barrel is a matter of adaptation to the new world by

3240-537: The "nickname" of this rifle. This is primarily because Dickert made rifles for the Continental Army, and later had a contract dated 1792 to furnish rifles to the United States Army. The rifle is sometimes referred to as the "Deckard / Deckhard" rifle, as descendants of Jacob Dickert used these variations, as shown by census documents, marriage, and death certificates. Nearly all descendants of Jacob Dickert go by

3330-518: The 16th century, it had to be engraved by hand and consequently did not become commonplace until the mid-19th century. Due to the laborious and expensive manufacturing process involved, early rifled firearms were primarily used by wealthy recreational hunters, who did not need to fire their weapons many times in rapid succession and appreciated the increased accuracy. Rifled firearms were not popular with military users since they were difficult to clean, and loading projectiles presented numerous challenges. If

3420-577: The 1750s. Another prominent rifle maker was Isaac Haines of the Lancaster school, known for the elaborate Rococo woodcarving decorations on his rifles, who was taxed as a gunsmith in Lampeter Twp., Lancaster Co., from 1772 to 1792. The Great Wagon Road was a bustling frontier thoroughfare, and rifle shops traced this same route, from eastern Pennsylvania, down the Shenandoah Valley,and spilling into both

3510-412: The 1770s every surface of the rifle could have applied artwork. An accomplished gunsmith had to be a skilled blacksmith , whitesmith , wood carver , brass and silver founder, engraver , and wood finisher. European shops at the time had significant specialization of the trades, leading to separate tradesmen building different parts of each rifle. The American frontier had no such luxury, and quite often

3600-504: The 17th and early 18th century. Tax records from these locales indicate the dates these gunsmiths were in business. Strong pockets of long rifle use and manufacture continued in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and North Carolina well into the 20th century as a practical and efficient firearm for those rural segments of the nation. Long rifles could be made entirely by hand and hand-operated tooling, in

3690-409: The 20th century, the main thoroughfare in town was lined with willow trees on both sides for the length of the town, hence the community's name. As time passed and the town grew, the road was widened and sidewalks were installed, which required the trees be removed. Only a few of the original trees remain to this day. One tall willow tree was situated behind Kendig Square Plaza, but it was downed during

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3780-565: The American colonies in the eighteenth century during the French and Indian War , and later the American Revolution , with increasing use in the War of 1812 , Texan Revolution , and American Civil War . The main disadvantages of muzzle-loading rifles compared to muskets were higher cost, a slower reload time due to the use of a tighter-fitting lead ball, and greater susceptibility to fouling of

3870-834: The Appalachian mountains. Popular interest in shooting as a sport as well as the sesquicentennial of the United States' independence from Britain in 1925-33 spurred interest in the origins of the long rifle. This renewed interest was described in the 1924 book by Capt. John G.W. Dillin The Kentucky Rifle . Early 20th century pioneers of long rifle culture were Walter Cline, Horace Kephart , Ned Roberts, Red Farris, Hacker Martin, Bill Large, Jack Weichold, Ben Hawkins, D.C. Addicks, L.M. Wolf, Dave Taylor, Win Woods, and Alvin Wagner. Many men throughout

3960-541: The CDP was 98.26% White , 0.37% African American , 0.04% Native American , 0.51% Asian , 0.36% from other races , and 0.45% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population. There were 3,203 households, out of which 19.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.7% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 25.7% had someone living alone who

4050-455: The German PzH 2000 . ERFB may be combined with base bleed . A gain-twist or progressive rifling begins with a slow twist rate that gradually increases down the bore, resulting in very little initial change in the projectile's angular momentum during the first few inches of bullet travel after it enters the throat . This enables the bullet to remain essentially undisturbed and trued to

4140-470: The German immigrant gunsmiths. The German gunsmiths working in America were very familiar with German rifles, which seldom had barrels longer than 30 in., and were large-caliber rifles using large amounts of lead. Hunters in the vast and sparsely populated new world forests had to carry more of their supplies with them. The smaller caliber required less heavy lead per shot, reducing the weight they had to carry;

4230-872: The Gunsmith Shop in Colonial Williamsburg and others produced an all-handmade rifles. In addition to his influence in his popular series of articles for Rifle Magazine and his involvement with the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA), John Bivins trained the recognized gunmakers Jim Chambers and Mark Silver. In 1996, the Contemporary Longrifle Association (CLA) was founded for people hand-making recreations of long rifles and associated arms and crafts of pre-1840 America. Later, internet forums about building traditional muzzleloading arms grew to over 3,000 members by 2010. Rifling Rifling

4320-824: The Lancaster Historical Society has been found to be a European musket of a later date, and one with a date of 1705 is a forgery, as the Meylins arrived in America in 1710. The Martin Meylin Gunshop still stands today in Willow Street, Pennsylvania , on Long Rifle Road. An archaeological dig performed in 2005 by Millersville University around the so-called Meylin gunshop found thousands of artifacts, but only for blacksmithing, with no evidence of gun-making. The Lancaster County Historical Society has an original Pennsylvania Long Rifle thought to have been smithed by Meylin that

4410-528: The US Army began to modify the long rifle, shortening the barrel length to 42 inches in their 1792 contract rifle . The Lewis and Clark expedition carried an even shorter 33-36 inch barrelled rifle, similar to the Harpers Ferry Model 1803 which began production six months after Lewis visited the arsenal. The Model 1803 resembles what became the 'plains rifle'. The "plains rifle" or " Hawken rifle "

4500-418: The ball seated on the charge of black powder , and kept the ball concentric to the bore. In rifled barrels, the patch also provided a means to transfer the spin from the rifling to the bullet, as the patch is engraved rather than the ball. Until the advent of the hollow-based Minié ball , which expands and obturates upon firing to seal the bore and engage the rifling, the patch provided the best means of getting

4590-462: The barrel of the Hawken was shortened to keep the weight manageable, making the rifle heavier and less slim than the long rifle. However, many plains rifles were bored around the smaller .40 calibre range for medium-game hunting. Artistically, the long rifle is known for its graceful stock, often made of curly maple , and its ornate decoration, decorative inlays, and an integral, well-made patch box that

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4680-479: The barrel should have a twist rate sufficient to spin stabilize any bullet that it would reasonably be expected to fire, but not significantly more. Large diameter bullets provide more stability, as the larger radius provides more gyroscopic inertia , while long bullets are harder to stabilize, as they tend to be very backheavy and the aerodynamic pressures have a longer arm ("lever") to act on. The slowest twist rates are found in muzzle-loading firearms meant to fire

4770-490: The barrel's twist rate . The general definition of the spin S {\displaystyle S} of an object rotating around a single axis can be written as: S = υ C {\displaystyle S={\frac {\upsilon }{C}}} where υ {\displaystyle \upsilon } is the linear velocity of a point in the rotating object (in units of distance/time) and C {\displaystyle C} refers to

4860-462: The barrel. Guns capable of firing these projectiles have achieved significant increases in range, but this is compensated with a significantly (3–4 times) decreased accuracy, due to which they were not adopted by NATO militaries. Unlike a shell narrower than the gun's bore with a sabot , ERFB shells use the full bore, permitting a larger payload. Examples include the South African G5 and

4950-504: The barrel. It is seldom used in commercially available products, though notably on the Smith & Wesson Model 460 (X-treme Velocity Revolver). Willow Street, Pennsylvania Willow Street is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County , Pennsylvania , United States. The population was 7,578 at the 2010 census . In the early part of

5040-404: The barrel. This requires that the rifling meet a number of tasks: Rifling may not begin immediately forward of the chamber. There may be an unrifled throat ahead of the chamber so a cartridge may be chambered without pushing the bullet into the rifling. This reduces the force required to load a cartridge into the chamber, and prevents leaving a bullet stuck in the rifling when an unfired cartridge

5130-460: The bore after prolonged use, which would ultimately prevent loading and make the weapon useless until cleaned. The invention of the Minié ball in 1847 resolved the technical disadvantages and allowed the rifle to replace the musket. The long rifle was made popular by German gunsmiths who immigrated to America, bringing with them the technology of rifling from where it originated. The accuracy achieved by

5220-468: The bullet was of sufficient diameter to take up the rifling, a large mallet was required to force it down the bore. If, on the other hand, it was of reduced diameter to assist in its insertion, the bullet would not fully engage the rifling and accuracy was reduced. The first practical military weapons using rifling with black powder were breech loaders such as the Queen Anne pistol . For best performance,

5310-418: The bullet, such as a void that causes an unequal distribution of mass, may be magnified by the spin. Undersized bullets also have problems, as they may not enter the rifling exactly concentric and coaxial to the bore, and excess twist will exacerbate the accuracy problems this causes. A bullet fired from a rifled barrel can spin at over 300,000 rpm (5 kHz ), depending on the bullet's muzzle velocity and

5400-404: The case mouth. After engaging the rifling at the throat, the bullet is progressively subjected to accelerated angular momentum as it is propelled down the barrel. The theoretical advantage is that by gradually increasing the spin rate, torque is imparted along a much longer bore length, allowing thermomechanical stress to be spread over a larger area rather than being focused predominantly at

5490-642: The center of Lancaster , the county seat , and south 15 miles (24 km) to Wakefield . U.S. Route 222 joins PA 272 in the north part of the CDP (shown as "Mylin Corners" on USGS topographic maps) and leads north into Lancaster but southeast 10 miles (16 km) to Quarryville . According to the United States Census Bureau , the CDP has a total area of 5.4 square miles (14.1 km ), of which 0.03 square miles (0.07 km ), or 0.47%, are water. The community primarily drains north to Mill Creek ,

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5580-456: The circumference of the circle that this measuring point performs around the axis of rotation. A bullet that matches the rifling of the firing barrel will exit that barrel with a spin: S = υ 0 L {\displaystyle S={\frac {\upsilon _{0}}{L}}} where υ 0 {\displaystyle \upsilon _{0}} is the muzzle velocity and L {\displaystyle L}

5670-537: The early 1700s. It continued to be developed technically and artistically until it passed out of fashion in the 19th century. The long rifle was the product of German gunsmiths who immigrated to new settlements in southeastern Pennsylvania in the early 1700s, and later in Virginia and other territories, reproducing early Jäger rifles (meaning "hunter" and sometimes anglicized Jaeger ), which were used for hunting in Germany in

5760-414: The frontier, smaller calibers were often preferred, ranging often from about .32 to .45 cal. As a rifle's bore increased with use due to wear and corrosion from firing black powder, it was not uncommon to see rifles re-bored and re-rifled to larger calibers to maintain accuracy. Many copies of historical long rifles are seen with a bore of around .50 caliber. The long rifle is said by modern experts to have

5850-557: The gun, so it could not have been made by either Martin Meylin. Some historians have written that the role of Martin Meylin as one of the earliest gunsmiths in Lancaster is not clear. The argument is that the will of Martin Meylin Sr. makes no mention of gunsmith items, while the will of Martin Meylin Jr. is replete with them, so that the reference to Meylin as a gunsmith is more properly placed on

5940-432: The long rifle made it an ideal tool for hunting wildlife for food. From a flat bar of soft iron, hand forged into a gun barrel; laboriously bored and rifled with crude tools; fitted with a stock hewn from a maple tree in the neighboring forest; and supplied with a lock hammered to shape on the anvil; an unknown smith, in a shop long since silent, fashioned a rifle which changed the whole course of world history; made possible

6030-431: The longer barrel gave the black powder more time to burn, increasing the muzzle velocity and accuracy. A rule of thumb used by some gunsmiths was to make the rifle no longer than the height of a customer's chin because of the necessity of seeing the muzzle while loading. The longer barrel also allowed finer sighting. By the 1750s it was common to see frontiersmen carrying the new and distinctive style of rifle. In 1792

6120-428: The need to load readily and speedily from the muzzle, musket balls were generally a loose fit in the barrels. Consequently, on firing the balls would often bounce off the sides of the barrel when fired and the final destination after leaving the muzzle was less predictable. This was countered when accuracy was more important, for example when hunting, by using a tighter-fitting combination of a closer-to-bore-sized ball and

6210-411: The projectile requires a significant amount of force, and in some firearms there is a significant amount of freebore, which helps keep chamber pressures low by allowing the propellant gases to expand before being required to engrave the projectile. Minimizing freebore improves accuracy by decreasing the chance that a projectile will distort before entering the rifling. When the projectile is swaged into

6300-407: The projectile to engage the rifling. In breech-loading firearms , the task of seating the projectile into the rifling is handled by the throat of the chamber . Next is the freebore , which is the portion of the throat down which the projectile travels before the rifling starts. The last section of the throat is the throat angle , where the throat transitions into the rifled barrel. The throat

6390-582: The remainder of the 20th century worked to expand the knowledge of the long rifle and how to recreate it in the 18th and 19th century manner. In 1965, Wallace Gusler, as the first master of the Gunsmith shop in Colonial Williamsburg , was the first to recreate a long rifle in modern times using 18th-century tools and techniques. The 1968 film "Gunsmith of Williamsburg" documented the production of his second, all handmade, long rifle. By 2003, makers trained at

6480-487: The required depth was obtained. The process was finished off by casting a slug of molten lead into the barrel, withdrawing it and using it with a paste of emery and oil to smooth the bore. Most rifling is created by either: The grooves are the spaces that are cut out, and the resulting ridges are called lands . These lands and grooves can vary in number, depth, shape, direction of twist (right or left), and twist rate. The spin imparted by rifling significantly improves

6570-413: The resistance of increasing rotational momentum. Freebore may allow more effective use of propellants by reducing the initial pressure peak during the minimum volume phase of internal ballistics before the bullet starts moving down the barrel. Barrels with freebore length exceeding the rifled length have been known by a variety of trade names including paradox . An early method of introducing rifling to

6660-529: The rifled barrel. This method does not give an easy or straightforward understanding of whether a twist rate is relatively slow or fast when bores of different diameters are compared. The second method describes the 'rifled travel' required to complete one full projectile revolution in calibers or bore diameters: twist = L D bore , {\displaystyle {\text{twist}}={\frac {L}{D_{\text{bore}}}},} where twist {\displaystyle {\text{twist}}}

6750-512: The rifling, it takes on a mirror image of the rifling, as the lands push into the projectile in a process called engraving . Engraving takes on not only the major features of the bore, such as the lands and grooves, but also minor features, like scratches and tool marks. The relationship between the bore characteristics and the engraving on the projectile are often used in forensic ballistics . The grooves most commonly used in modern rifling have fairly sharp edges. More recently, polygonal rifling ,

6840-469: The same as used for the M16 rifle. Rifles, which generally fire longer, smaller diameter bullets, will in general have higher twist rates than handguns, which fire shorter, larger diameter bullets. There are three methods in use to describe the twist rate: The, traditionally speaking, most common method expresses the twist rate in terms of the 'travel' (length) required to complete one full projectile revolution in

6930-428: The same graceful stock lines and barrel style, and craftsmanship, they were noticeably slimmer and had a longer rifled barrel with better sights than had been seen on the earlier Colonial style flintlock pistols. Dueling pistol sets in the long rifle style were also made, sometimes in a cased set, for wealthy gentlemen. By the 20th century, there was little traditional long rifle making left except in isolated pockets in

7020-469: The settlement of a continent; and ultimately freed our country of foreign domination. Light in weight; graceful in line; economical in consumption of powder and lead; fatally precise; distinctly American; it sprang into immediate popularity; and for a hundred years was a model often slightly varied but never radically changed. The long rifle was developed on the American frontier in southeastern Pennsylvania, in

7110-434: The son. In any case, no rifle has been found to be positively attributed to any Meylin. There is documentation stating that the first high-quality long rifles were from a gunsmith named Jacob Dickert, who moved with his family from Germany to Berks County, Pennsylvania in 1740. The name 'Dickert Rifle' was considered a 'brand name' and the name 'Kentucky rifle' was not coined until much later in history (circa 1820s) and became

7200-404: The stability of the projectile, improving both range and accuracy. Typically rifling is a constant rate down the barrel, usually measured by the length of travel required to produce a single turn. Occasionally firearms are encountered with a gain twist , where the rate of spin increases from chamber to muzzle. While intentional gain twists are rare, due to manufacturing variance, a slight gain twist

7290-625: The surname "Deckard", and mostly live in Indiana and Missouri. Among documented working rifle makers are Adam Haymaker, who had a thriving trade in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia , the Moravian gunshops at Christian's Spring in Pennsylvania , John Frederick Klette of Stevensburg, Virginia , and in the Salem area of North Carolina. All three areas were busy and productive centers of rifle making by

7380-533: The tax records of Berks County, Pennsylvania, there were several gunsmiths plying their trade along the banks of the Wyomissing Creek. Martin Meylin's Gunshop was built in 1719, and it is here that the Mennonite gunsmiths of Swiss-German heritage crafted some of the earliest, and possibly the first, Pennsylvania Rifles. No rifle signed by Martin Meylin has been found; although two have been attributed to him, one in

7470-480: The throat, which typically wears out much faster than other parts of the barrel. Gain-twist rifling was used prior to and during the American Civil War (1861–65). Colt Army and Navy revolvers both employed gain-twist rifling. Gain-twist rifling, however, is more difficult to produce than uniform rifling, and therefore is more expensive. The military has used gain-twist rifling in a variety of weapons such as

7560-493: The transcontinental immigrant trains. The plains rifle combined accuracy with portability in a more compact package than the extreme long guns from which it had evolved. The Hawken rifle evolved from the long rifle for use against larger, more dangerous game encountered in the American West. For firing heavier and larger diameter bullets with heavier powder loads, the barrel wall thickness was necessarily increased for strength, and

7650-449: The ultra-low-drag 80- grain 0.223 inch bullets (5.2 g, 5.56 mm), use twist rates of 1 turn in 8 inches (20 cm) or faster. Rifling which increases the twist rate from breech to muzzle is called a gain or progressive twist; a rate which decreases down the length of a barrel is undesirable because it cannot reliably stabilize the projectile as it travels down the bore. An extremely long projectile, such as

7740-434: Was 150, which yields a twist rate in inches per turn, when given the diameter D {\displaystyle D} and the length L {\displaystyle L} of the bullet in inches. This works to velocities of about 840 m/s (2800 ft/s); above those velocities, a C {\displaystyle C} of 180 should be used. For instance, with a velocity of 600 m/s (2000 ft/s),

7830-448: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.69. In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 17.1% under the age of 18, 4.6% from 18 to 24, 18.9% from 25 to 44, 17.1% from 45 to 64, and 42.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 54 years. For every 100 females, there were 80.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.4 males. The median income for

7920-549: Was a shorter rifle more suitable for carrying on horseback. It was popular among mountain men and North American fur trappers in the 19th century. The Hawken brothers (Samuel and Jacob) were one of a number of famous gunsmiths active in St. Louis in the 1830s-1860s. Many renowned gunsmiths such as Horace (H.E.) Dimick and J. P. Gemmer produced powerful and portable "short" rifles for the Rocky Mountain fur trade, overland exploration, and

8010-488: Was built into the stock. The decorative arts of furniture making, painting, silver smithing, gunsmithing, etc. all took their style cues from the prevailing trends of the day, and as in most things the fashion was set in Paris . Baroque and later rococo motifs found their way into all the decorative arts, and can be seen in the acanthus leaf scroll work so common on 18th century furniture and silver. Originally rather plain, by

8100-514: Was passed down within the family for seven generations, then donated to the society in the middle of the twentieth century. It was analyzed and the barrel removed during the Lancaster Long Rifle Exhibit at Landis Valley Farm Museum, Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2005. The barrel was found to be European, and the stock dated from later than 1710-1750. The initials on the barrel, "MM", were found to have been added later than any other part of

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