POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Notes

There were many attempts to produce a weapon that was loaded at the breech rather than the muzzle. It was very slow, particularly if you were on horseback, to load a weapon by ramming the powder and balls down the length of the barrel. This example was probably the most successful breech-loading flintlock rifle. The J.H. Hall rifles of the 1820's and 1830's were not made at the U.S. Harpers Ferry Arsenal but were made in a separate facility near the U.S. arsenal, by Mr. Hall's own private company. Although the breech stamping includes "H. Ferry" (often leading to the erroneous U.S. arsenal attribution), that refers to the town, not the U.S. Arsenal. There are no U.S. arsenal inspector marks on the various parts. Later production in the early 1840's was contracted to the long time military arms maker Simeon North, located in Middleton, Connecticut. It was one of the first fully machine-made weapons and most of the components could be interchanged with similar guns. This was the first breech loading rifle to be a standard U.S. Firearm. Many years of work went into developing the design and specialised machinery required to successfully manufacture the new design.