Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - A true American firearm: the Kentucky Long Rifle

laEspadaAncha · 9th February 2011, 08:49 PM

Cap'n Jim!

I see ye ship Work Horse has survived these Arctic strains and am always honored to welcome ye aboard me thread!

You're absolutely right in that it was the right tool for the tactics employed by Colonial forces... When one presents a volley fired by a rigid line of troops, aimed toward an opposing formation of the enemy, precision took a second seat to the sheer volume of shot, sustained by sheer numbers of men. To successfully engage an opposing force using guerilla tactics, accuracy was a necessary condition.

After reading Norman's post referencing the battle at King's Mountain, I did a little reading on the engagement, and it was interesting to read that the Patriot militias would break off their engagement every time the Loyalists would mount a bayonet charge, as they could not affix bayonets to their hunting rifles!

I would have to believe the tactics employed by the sharpshooters were a natural by-product of life on the frontier, where in addition to the skill required to hunt game, frontiersmen were often confronted by an equally stealthy foe in the hostile Native Americans hell-bent on driving the encroaching settlers off their ancestral lands.

Thank you as well for bridging the timeline of the discussion to include the Civil War. It is not difficult to imagine this rifle in the hands of a Confederate sharpshooter in one of North Carolina militia units that fought in the conflict... On the flip side of that coin, the same Sharps rifle used by the U.S. 2nd Sharpshooters was featured last night on the season premier of Top Shot! Sharpshooters have played an integral role in every major conflict in which we have fought, and their history is a long and storied one indeed.

*****

'Nando - The hair trigger on the Plains rifle is indeed a hair trigger! I have the trigger pull on my .308 set to a shade under 3 lbs... which is light. I would estimate the trigger pull on the long rifle to be just a shade under my .308. But with the Plains rifle, once the set trigger is pulled, I swear the air around my finger is enough to release the hammer!

The dual set trigger acted as a safety of sorts, allowing the primary trigger to be set to a very light pull. Breathing and trigger control are the two keys to precision shooting... poor control of the former results in a vertical spread, while poor control of the latter results in a loss of horizontal precision. The lighter a trigger pull, the less the tendency to literally "pull" the trigger.

A light pull = a very gentle squeeze. The long rifle also has an additional integral safety, as the set trigger must be pulled before the hammer will cock, an interesting feature that again speaks to the quality of workmanship that went into its manufacture.

9th February 2011, 08:49 PM	#9
laEspadaAncha Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 608	Cap'n Jim! I see ye ship Work Horse has survived these Arctic strains and am always honored to welcome ye aboard me thread! You're absolutely right in that it was the right tool for the tactics employed by Colonial forces... When one presents a volley fired by a rigid line of troops, aimed toward an opposing formation of the enemy, precision took a second seat to the sheer volume of shot, sustained by sheer numbers of men. To successfully engage an opposing force using guerilla tactics, accuracy was a necessary condition. After reading Norman's post referencing the battle at King's Mountain, I did a little reading on the engagement, and it was interesting to read that the Patriot militias would break off their engagement every time the Loyalists would mount a bayonet charge, as they could not affix bayonets to their hunting rifles! I would have to believe the tactics employed by the sharpshooters were a natural by-product of life on the frontier, where in addition to the skill required to hunt game, frontiersmen were often confronted by an equally stealthy foe in the hostile Native Americans hell-bent on driving the encroaching settlers off their ancestral lands. Thank you as well for bridging the timeline of the discussion to include the Civil War. It is not difficult to imagine this rifle in the hands of a Confederate sharpshooter in one of North Carolina militia units that fought in the conflict... On the flip side of that coin, the same Sharps rifle used by the U.S. 2nd Sharpshooters was featured last night on the season premier of Top Shot! Sharpshooters have played an integral role in every major conflict in which we have fought, and their history is a long and storied one indeed. *** 'Nando - The hair trigger on the Plains rifle is indeed a hair** trigger! I have the trigger pull on my .308 set to a shade under 3 lbs... which is light. I would estimate the trigger pull on the long rifle to be just a shade under my .308. But with the Plains rifle, once the set trigger is pulled, I swear the air around my finger is enough to release the hammer! The dual set trigger acted as a safety of sorts, allowing the primary trigger to be set to a very light pull. Breathing and trigger control are the two keys to precision shooting... poor control of the former results in a vertical spread, while poor control of the latter results in a loss of horizontal precision. The lighter a trigger pull, the less the tendency to literally "pull" the trigger. A light pull = a very gentle squeeze. The long rifle also has an additional integral safety, as the set trigger must be pulled before the hammer will cock, an interesting feature that again speaks to the quality of workmanship that went into its manufacture.