Posted November 20, 2015 8:51 am by Comments

By Bob Owens

girandoni

The historically illiterate might be amazed that the Founding Fathers had much more advanced weaponry that muskets, including this 20-shot, magazine-fed repeater that changed world history.

On Tuesday, November 17, the 144th birthday of the National Rifle Association, I was afforded the luxury of a private tour of the National Firearms Museum with Senior Curator Phil Schreier.

We spent two hours discussing the various firearms on display, but stopped and spent the longest amount of time in front of a case displaying a number of long guns from the late 1700s and early 1800s, looking at what I regard as the single most important firearm in world history.

The 20-shot Girandoni rifle was designed circa 1779, and went to war in 1790 with the Austrians against Napoleonic forces.

Through a path lost to history, this particular rifle is thought to have come into the possession of President Thomas Jefferson, and was provided to Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery.

It is believed that the more than 70 firepower displays provided by the 20-shot rifle to awe the large and sometimes hostile Plains Indians tribes allowed the small expedition of only 33 men to reach the Pacific Ocean …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms

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