For the non-Americans, the Lewis & Clark Expedition was ordered by President Jefferson in 1804 to explore the land acquired in the Louisiana purchase and beyond.
On this voyage Captain Lewis brought with him one Giradoni air rifle. The .46 caliber gun featured a 22 round capacity and was capable of firing all of its ammo in under 60 seconds. Each ball weighed approximately 153 grains and would travel at a speed of 400-450 feet per second.
Lewis would use this rifle in demonstrations when encountering new groups as a show of force. It was received with universal amazement. But he would zealously guard their expeditions cargo from prying eyes so as to ensure no one they encountered would know that they didn’t have one for each of man on the expedition.
Ian’s video: [11:30] https://youtu.be/2dZLeEUE940?si=MRRkSDcBAClK8x2y
A more Lewis & Clark centric explanation: [7:05] https://youtu.be/-pqFyKh-rUI?si=
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I did not even realize we had air rifles back then.
When we think about technology we need to remember that there’s when it gets invented and when it becomes popularized (ie commercially viable). We had revolvers in the late 1500s but they wouldn’t become mass producible until the 1800s.
