cjmouser started a thread in the general interest section asking about rifles in the mid 1800's. In that discussion the Hall rifle was brought up, and I have some photos and information that might be besides general interest, of interest to cap lock shooters. I left a post for anyone reading the original posts in genersl interest to come here.
I video taped this rifle back around 1985 at the Jed Smith rendezvous here in southern Oregon, and I was able to find the video yesterday and snapped some stills off of it. So here goes:
This is the model 1843 Hall-North breech-loading carbine, also known as the side lever Hall. There were 10,500 of these made. All other models of the Hall had the lever to open the breech in front of the trigger, and it open by pulling it back, towards the shooter. The side lever was pushed down and the lock opened. There was a scandal concerning these guns. There was a bunch of them sold in 1861 -- purchased from the government arsenal in New York for $3.50, and then resold to U.S. forces under John Fremont at St. Louis for $22.00 each. These Civil war 1843's barrels were freshed out to a rifled .58 caliber. They originally were .52 caliber. And guess what -- it originally wasn't a rifle. It was a .52 caliber smooth bore. My guess is that when they were sold for $3.50 in 1861 that's about all they were worth as surplus.
breech closed
lever down, breech open
The next three pictures show him shooting the rifle. It doesn't show what I was hoping to get. The video takes 30 frames per second. So on frame 1 the hammer is up, and one thirtieth of a second later the hammer is down and the shot fired and gone. You can see enough smoke to realize that some gas has escaped, but not like you would think would happen. Note that the trooper is dressed as a 1841 Dragoon, and that puff of smoke gives me the idea that bill on the cap is as small as it is.
Note also on the third shot the camera is so slow that the smoke from the muzzle is already gone on out beyond the frame.
The carbine being shot here is a .58 rifled conversion. He said that this one is the same as the flinter, the muzzle is coned and the rifling stops abut a inch and a half from the muzzle so that it can be loaded from the muzzle if necessary. Also on this model, the hammer and cap are off set to the right side of the breech block, allowing the shooter to sight down the center of the barrel.
I video taped this rifle back around 1985 at the Jed Smith rendezvous here in southern Oregon, and I was able to find the video yesterday and snapped some stills off of it. So here goes:
This is the model 1843 Hall-North breech-loading carbine, also known as the side lever Hall. There were 10,500 of these made. All other models of the Hall had the lever to open the breech in front of the trigger, and it open by pulling it back, towards the shooter. The side lever was pushed down and the lock opened. There was a scandal concerning these guns. There was a bunch of them sold in 1861 -- purchased from the government arsenal in New York for $3.50, and then resold to U.S. forces under John Fremont at St. Louis for $22.00 each. These Civil war 1843's barrels were freshed out to a rifled .58 caliber. They originally were .52 caliber. And guess what -- it originally wasn't a rifle. It was a .52 caliber smooth bore. My guess is that when they were sold for $3.50 in 1861 that's about all they were worth as surplus.
breech closed
lever down, breech open
The next three pictures show him shooting the rifle. It doesn't show what I was hoping to get. The video takes 30 frames per second. So on frame 1 the hammer is up, and one thirtieth of a second later the hammer is down and the shot fired and gone. You can see enough smoke to realize that some gas has escaped, but not like you would think would happen. Note that the trooper is dressed as a 1841 Dragoon, and that puff of smoke gives me the idea that bill on the cap is as small as it is.
Note also on the third shot the camera is so slow that the smoke from the muzzle is already gone on out beyond the frame.
The carbine being shot here is a .58 rifled conversion. He said that this one is the same as the flinter, the muzzle is coned and the rifling stops abut a inch and a half from the muzzle so that it can be loaded from the muzzle if necessary. Also on this model, the hammer and cap are off set to the right side of the breech block, allowing the shooter to sight down the center of the barrel.
