Ken Jewett's "Valley" Series of Historical Novels published by Ithaca Press Home To the Valley Defend the Valley About guns in Colonial America
Order To the Valley Order Defend the Valley Order both books now Price of Each Book $28.00 US Price of Both Books $56.00 US Questions? E-Mail to Ithaca Press books@ithacapress.com (607) 273-2870		Gunne Versus Rifled Gunn in Colonial America by Ken Jewett An explanation of smooth bored guns and rifles in colonial America Everytime you read or hear about the smooth bored weapons in Colonial America, the muskets and fowlers are always labeled as "inaccurate". And yet, most of the individually held arms you see mentioned in estate documents are inventoried as guns, in all their colorful spellings, a term applied to a smooth bored weapon. If they were so inaccurate why were they so popular? Smooth bored long arms of the colonial era, today's shotguns, are muskets, military arms; fowlers, civilian arms of lighter construction; or trade guns, inexpensive arms designed for trade to the native tribes. At a range of less than 75 yards in the hands of a skilled person, they are very capable weapons. Judging by some of the scores at the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association annual shoots, at 25 and 50 yards they are capable of returning scores near those of rifles of the same era. Their great advantage over a rifled gun is, like their modern counterparts, their ability to handle shot of various sizes for small game and birds or a round ball for larger game or man. The accuracy of colonial era weapons is described further inmy books, To the Valley and Defend the Valley. The rifled gun, more expensive to make, appears to have been most popular along the frontier. Slower to load and with rifling grooves that held the gunpowder residue, they were thus less capable as a line infantry weapon. Still, for civilian use, while they only fired a patched round ball, the improved ballistics allowed for smaller calibers, conserving the limited supply of lead. Their great advantage came from their ability to place shots accurately and consistently out to 150 yards. In 1775 Daniel Morgan reportedly placed a wood shingle at 250 yards and only those skilled enough to hit the shingle were allowed to join his company of riflemen bound for Boston. For more information about colonial era weaponry, read my books, To the Valley and Defend the Valley.

Ken Jewett's "Valley" Series of Historical Novels

published by Ithaca Press

Order To the Valley Order Defend the Valley
Order both books now

Special Education Battlefield Book

Price of Each Book
$28.00 US
Price of Both Books
$56.00 US

Questions?
E-Mail to
Ithaca Press
books@ithacapress.com
(607) 273-2870

Gunne Versus Rifled Gunn in Colonial America

by Ken Jewett

An explanation of smooth bored guns and rifles in colonial America

Everytime you read or hear about the smooth bored weapons in Colonial America, the muskets and fowlers are always labeled as "inaccurate". And yet, most of the individually held arms you see mentioned in estate documents are inventoried as guns, in all their colorful spellings, a term applied to a smooth bored weapon. If they were so inaccurate why were they so popular?

Smooth bored long arms of the colonial era, today's shotguns, are muskets, military arms; fowlers, civilian arms of lighter construction; or trade guns, inexpensive arms designed for trade to the native tribes. At a range of less than 75 yards in the hands of a skilled person, they are very capable weapons. Judging by some of the scores at the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association annual shoots, at 25 and 50 yards they are capable of returning scores near those of rifles of the same era. Their great advantage over a rifled gun is, like their modern counterparts, their ability to handle shot of various sizes for small game and birds or a round ball for larger game or man. The accuracy of colonial era weapons is described further inmy books, To the Valley and Defend the Valley.

The rifled gun, more expensive to make, appears to have been most popular along the frontier. Slower to load and with rifling grooves that held the gunpowder residue, they were thus less capable as a line infantry weapon. Still, for civilian use, while they only fired a patched round ball, the improved ballistics allowed for smaller calibers, conserving the limited supply of lead. Their great advantage came from their ability to place shots accurately and consistently out to 150 yards. In 1775 Daniel Morgan reportedly placed a wood shingle at 250 yards and only those skilled enough to hit the shingle were allowed to join his company of riflemen bound for Boston.

For more information about colonial era weaponry, read my books, To the Valley and Defend the Valley.