Hall Flintlocks

[krolick]

As long as I'm thinking Halls...John Hall began building his patented guns in 1811. Even at this date his intent was a military contract. Between 1812-1814, he sent various models to the school of artillery in Albany to test. There is strong evidence that some of these early Halls were used at the battle of Plattsburgh Sept 11, 1814. 1815-1816 saw Hall making his breechloaders for the civilian market. These are cherry or curly maple stocked pieces with brass furniture in small cal. 32-40. He also made fouling pieces. 1817 saw the first military contract for 100 rifles. These are known as m1817 Halls. They are .52 cal with octagonal barrels, round at the muzzle, brass mounted with patch box. They were sent to the US Rifle Regiment at Bellefontaine on the upper Missouri for testing. 1819, Hall was contracted to go to Harpers Ferry to make his rifles for the US government. They weren't as interested in the rifles as they were in Hall's assurance he could build machines that could mass produce guns with interchangeable parts, hence the m1819 Hall. It took 5 years for Hall to make the machines and tooling to actually do the work. The first 1000 M1819s were ready in 1825. From 1825-1840, 19,680 were produced at H.F. An additional 5,700 were made by S.North - all in flint. It wasn't until 1841, production was changed to percussion. Hall was gone by then. The M1819 is a .52 cal rifle with 16 grove riflelling making 1 turn in 9'. Sights are offset to the left to see around the flint mech. All iron parts are browned and painted with brown tinted shellac. Receivers have mottled colors from case hardening. The triggers have an adjuster screw for adjusting pull. Every M1819 was issued with a bayonet, specially designed rifleman's flask holding powder and ball and a tool set. Every 10th rifle was issued with a bullet mold and a main spring vice. The one in this post is a typical m1819. It has an 1826 dated receiver put into an 1837 frame,(it would take a separate post to explain this) done by the Rifle Works at H.F. This rifle is also a veteran of the Civil War on the Southern side. The bottom of the receiver has a Leech&Rigdon 4 square stamp commonly found on L&R pistols made at Greensboro, GA. Leech&Rigdon also did small arms repairs. The stamp was placed to validate the repair for payment. I've had this particular rifle for 23 years and fired 1000s of rounds thru it with no problems. I consider the Hall the best flint military rifle ever made ...just my opinion. G.S.

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[robinghewitt]

If you ever come across a top jaw and bolt for the flinter in your travels, I have a very sad looking Hall that would really appreciate a heads up :hatsoff:

 

[Alden]

You might wanna add that the Ludites at "HF" did everything they could to undermine The Father of Mass Production or as Brave Sir Robin's people said "The American Method." These drunken sods (not the Brits here) fancied themselves craftsmen and would be damned if they were going to actually have to work and, adding insult to injury, be bettered by machines...

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Check out a post by 'JerseyFlinter' where he showed and shoots his Hall.

 

[krolick]

Il keep a eye out,I can make the top jaw screw I've already made several for other Hall restorations .TRS usually has the top jaw in stock , Lodgewood may have one as well.Note ,they will be on the road till next week.G.S.

 

[BillinOregon]

Gulielmus, your posts are always rewarding, and this one is no exception. The Hall has always fascinated me; the folks actually own and shoot them is a near miracle.
Can you confirm for me that what looks like metal ribbing on the right face of the stock from wrist to ahead of the lock area is in fact some sort of reinforcement?

 

[krolick]

Yes, there's one on each side. They're called supporters. They are secured to the breech of the barrel by blind screws and solder. They are what holds the receiver and its appendages to the barrel. The 2 square pieces closest to the breech are chocks. They are what absorb the immediate recoil of the receiver. These are adjustable and also control the amount of gas leakage. All of the Halls iron parts except the barrel, bands and cleaning rod are made in close tolerance swedges. Hall made these swedges with extractors to remove the newly formed part without distorting it. Parts were then secured in their specific fixtures and machined. All of his machinery was powered by water wheels. A number of Halls workers absorbed this new technology and went on to do great things with it. One, started as a machine tender and worked his way up to be one of Hall's most skilled machinist. His name was Christian Sharps. Also, worth noting, Sam Colt spent some time at the Rifle Works studying Halls machines and production methods. I've added pictures of my Hall disassembled so one can see how the parts relate to each other. G.S.

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[Grizzled Roberts]

Outstanding pictures of the Hall parts.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Thanks for the photos. One of those little facts of Texas history is that when the Republic got around to getting some cavalry together, it went with "Dragoons" for a name and bought Hall's percussion carbines to arm them. This in spite of the venomous remarks coming from George Washington Hockley, the Quartermaster General, who just knew flint & steel was the only way to go and didn't mind saying so. The Halls, Colt's 'Patersons' and a few Jenks carbines(for the navy) got past ole G.W.! And he was not amused!

 

[M. De Land]

How bad is the gas leakage, about like a revolver?
Is the hook on the bottom, the lock down for the breech face in battery and does it retract the hammer any? Mike D.

 

[robinghewitt]

Hi Gulielmus

That is a totally impressive bench. Look what happens when I image a Hall on my bench :rotf:

 

[Alden]

Great pics Smith -- thanks for putting that together!

 

[BillinOregon]

Gulielmus, yes, thank you so much for the outstanding photographs. The rifling in the bore is in itself a wonderment. Is that a locking plate that is inlet into the stock about where the breech of the barrel rests? What metal is it made of -- just iron?

 

[Mickc01]

I must say....that is just a cool gun!! Thanks for sharing...Mick C :hatsoff:

 

[krolick]

Your work area has great lighting. What year is your Hall? G.S.

 

[MacRob46]

Gulielmus...

Great looking gun. I believe you sent me a photo of it, with a Scottish National rifle and a Trapdoor carbine, some time ago. The photos are great. I will be in touch after New Years re: my Griswold revolver. Just been very busy.

 

[robinghewitt]

Your work area has great lighting. What year is your Hall? G.S.

That would be 1826. I got it from Art Lehman in Florida, don't know if Art is on this list, he was having trouble selling it so I got it cheap.

There is little honour among collectors, I expect 10 of my buddies will be knocking on my widow's door the day after I snuff. I have left her a list so she doesn't sell my guns for less than I paid :rotf:

 

[krolick]

The amount of escaping gas is similar to a colt. However, much of it is defused by the metal plate on the inside bottom of the stock. Any remaining pressure that has not gone straight up is routed thru those large slots under the supporters, their exhaust ports. The hook shape item is called the spur catch. It is indeed what locks the receiver in place. It remains exposed at all times which was an issue for the solders while on the march. It would dig into the top of their shoulders. This was easily remedy by resting the rifle on the shoulder further ahead of the spur or using the sling to carry it. The last Hall rifles made at Harpers Ferry(M1841) did away with this and used a flat wide plate pushed down with thumb pressure, called the fish tail lever. This modification was drafted in the late 1830s but not implemented until the model 41 was under production. G.S.

 

[MSW]

way cool! thanks for the post :grin:

 

[Dphar]

Thank you very much for a detailed look at American history.

Dan