Lewis and Clark’ Miracle Rifle

By Tim Bean

There’s a good chance Lewis and Clark would have faded into a fog of mystery had it not been for the “miracle rifle” they carried on their 5,000 mile journey.

The Corps of Discovery Expedition set out in 1804 to map the newly-acquired Louisiana Purchase, which would later become the Midwest and Western United States. With no maps, no GPS, and no real idea what awaited them in undiscovered America, Lewis and Clark’s entourage plunged into pure wilderness for the sake of science, economy, and good ol’ curiosity. The greatest unknown—and the primary concern of the expedition—were the pockets of Native Americans they would no doubt stumble across on the journey west.

Lewis and Clark’s solution for establishing (relatively) amiable relationships and trade with Native Americans was simple entertainment and spectacle. Along with their provisions and weapons, they also carried quantities of “souvenirs” marking the expedition’s passage. These included ribbons, mirrors, assorted trinkets, and a large quantity of Jefferson’s Peace Medals. Each meeting also brought a brief cultural exchange, in which Lewis and Clark would demonstrate their Western technology. It was then that Lewis’ Girandoni Air Rifle shined.

Designed in 1779, the Girandoni Air Rifle was fickle, delicate, and expensive, but no rifle on Earth could exceed this air rifle in tactical performance.

Consider this air rifle’s chief contemporary, the Model 1795 Musket. Designed by famed inventor Eli Whitney, this smoothbore was the benchmark military firearm at the time of the Corps of Discovery Expedition. This black powder muzzleloader fired a .65 round ball at over 1200 ft/s, with a practical range of 50 to 75 yards. It left a BIG hole. An experienced soldier could fire approximately three rounds per minute. For the technology of its day, it was a fine, dependable firearm and saw use in combat even into the American Civil War, six decades after its design.

The Girandoni Air Rifle propelled .46 caliber lead balls at 500 ft/s with an effective range of roughly 100 yards. Each air reservoir, which replaced the traditional blackpowder, provided propellent for 30 rounds, and each rifleman carried three air reservoirs. An experienced user could fire around 20 rounds in 30 seconds, thanks to its ingenious spring-loaded feed. It produced no smoke—a frequent problem for muskets, since powder smoke both clouded a soldier’s vision and pinpointed his firing position. It also had a gentle muzzle report. And, unlike muskets, a soldier didn’t need to kneel or stand to reload, allowing them to maintain better cover.

This air rifle had less than half the muzzle velocity of a smoothbore musket, so the great debate today is whether or not it was painfully underpowered. Senior Curator Phil Scherier reports that during a test of an EXACT replica of a Girandoni Air Rifle, its accuracy was superior and its round balls “will put a hole completely through a one-inch pine board at one hundred yards.”

That’s an effective weapon.

Lewis’ “air-gun” demonstrations became a routine part of the expedition. These displayed their rifle’s accuracy, silence, and power. Native Americans were very familiar with contemporary firearms at the time (many owned them), but no tribe had a weapon like this. It came across as a novelty, but also as a friendly warning for any ambitious warriors. Lewis and Clark carefully secured and protected their collection of provisions and equipment, leaving tribes to assume the group had dozens of air rifles, not just the one.

Lewis and Clark had many reasons for carrying only a single Girandoni. Since gunsmiths made each air gun individually, it cost a small fortune to purchase and repair. The air reservoirs were made of thin, leather-covered iron, riveted and brazed, and were delicate even when empty. When full, they held air at hundreds of pounds per square inch of pressure; the slightest puncture would rupture them. This also prevented the attachment of a bayonet on the rifle, an essential component of 18th and 19th century combat. Hundreds or thousands of pumps by hand were needed to refill each reservoir as well, so the rifle couldn’t be used in sustained combat.

The Girandoni Air Rifle was indeed a “miracle rifle” of its day, so unique and original in effectiveness and design that it bordered on science fiction. Lewis and Clark leveraged this technological wonderment not to intimidate Native Americans they met on their long journey, but to project an aura of benevolent strength. How large a part this rifle made in easing the hardships of the expedition is something for historians to debate, but there’s no question the party considered it essential: it’s mentioned in dozens of Clark’s journal entries. It may have contributed to the most amazing feat of the expedition: of the 45 party members, only one died during their voyage—a natural death of appendicitis.

Want to Know More? 

If you’re a Lewis and Clark junkie, then here’s your fix: an annotated, searchable collection of the expedition’s entire journey online at Journals of the Lewis & Clark Expedition, expertly curated by the University of Nebraska Lincoln.