NFM Treasure Gun - Girandoni Air Rifle as Used by Lewis and Clark

nramuseum.com Lewis and Clark's secret weapon - a late 18th Century .46 cal. 20 shot repeating air rifle by Girandoni , as used bin the Napoleonic Wars. A Treasure Gun from the NRA National Firearms Museum. See more at NRAmuseum.com. Narrated by Phil Schreier.

[@MrKoraskov]

Lewis and Clark explored the west wielding the BB gun from Hell. That is a level of awesome that is seldom matched.

[@charzzbarzz]

That is truly unbelievable. I never knew that they had any technology like that back then.

[@M4rtingale]

"Peace through superior firepower," couldn't be more fitting for today! We can truly learn a lot from history.

[@dgareea31swtg]

This rifle was (as you said) repeatedly mentioned in "Undaunted Courage," and it was fascinating to learn of how L & C used this as a "magic" tool to impress the natives. I was dying to know what it looked like, and how it worked. Thanks so much for doing just that with this excellent video! I must visit your museum before I die...history, guns, and America. It doesn't get any better than that!

[@hoodoo2001]

One of the fun things I think in these videos is that they can be revisited and I can get a refresher. I remember reading about this gun 40 years ago and it is great to see Phil holding it. We will probably all be dead and Phil will be reaching out and telling our great grandchildren about this timeless rifle. The leather condition is magnificent. I wonder if that part of the rifle is a restoration considering what it was exposed to in the expedition.

[@doughitchcock5656]

+hoodoo2001 i believe that he said this wasn't the rifle that lewis and clark used if i heard him right, but one like it.

[@hoodoo2001]

+hoodoo2001 It has been pointed out to me, that this is a Girandoni, not the actual Lewis and Clark Girandoni. Guess I heard what I wanted to hear.

[@doughitchcock5656]

Don't we always

[@markrichardson2684]

For anyone who loves history of this great country, I encourage you to follow the route of Lewis & Clark. We just completed that journey with so many museums and history on their expedition. It was amazing. We saw some beautiful country as well.

[@stumpdaddy39]

Nice

[@Voidsworn]

That is pretty cool :) Would never have guessed they had powerful air rifles back then.

[@Robripslibs]

Amazing technology for the time~~Peace through strength way back then !

[@erictaylor3496]

Sam Yang Big Bore 44 air powered rifle. 3000 psi 45 cal at 700 feet per second. Only 3 shots before you notice reduced power. AWESOME VIDEO!!! THANK YOU!!!

[@pre9120]

This took someone with a lot of imagination to design and put those thoughts into action. I am sure that it was a pain to charge the air chamber, but a repeating rifle in those days would have been a real breakthrough. At least 30 rounds before losing velocity would have been amazing and I would say given the period, still amazing to this day. Think what the designer could have done with todays tools!

[@supressorgrid]

Could you imagine filling a cast iron flask with 800 psi of air and after banging around in a keel boat for months, putting it next to your noggin?

[@randallrun]

Yeah, no kidding. Glad there were no mishaps with it, history might have been significantly rewritten.

[@thederp6505]

dang if i was a soldier during this time period, hand me one of these not a musket

[@nocensorship8092]

wow impressive how they made such a weapon so long ago

[@pattonlaughed8764]

"The perception of peace through superior firepower"

[@Xr8dACE420]

PATTON LAUGHED But technically it was superior AIR power...

[@JJFrostMusic]

Give a Yee to the Haw YEEEEEEEHAAWW

[@ersatzvitamin1]

And....WW2 had... Victory Through Air Power. It kinda holds for U.S, doesn't it?

[@darkmanstudios3828]

big stick

[@Towelietowel]

Grateful for the insight. Gun nuts like myself are gonna love this facet of the Lewis and Clark story that seems to be overlooked by historians.

[@mikepgh09]

Nice video however the expedition actually started before St. Louis. Lewis started near Pittsburgh on the Ohio River with supplies and sailed toward St. Louis where Clark then joined. The first day diary entry calls out Brunot Island where this rifle was demonstrated which is in fact on the Ohio River just north of Pittsburgh. NRG has a natural gas generating station there now only accessible by water or walking across a railroad bridge. Sorry for the slight rant, Pittsburgh guy here and we never get our due on this historical event.

[@leftymadrid]

The best historical airgun information ever! And one of the most interesting historical events of the American History. Simply amazing.

[@unclesamxlr]

I didn't even know about this rifle. At first I thought this was going to be an air soft rifle, in which I would love to see a replica air soft Girandoni. Very cool video.

[@nmr6988]

Wonderful presentation, Mr. Schreier. Thank you, NRA National Firearms Museum, and thank you Mike Carrick (ph?) of Oregon for loaning your beautiful rifle to NNFM.

[@atm4610]

Love the gun! The music made this 50 times more epic.

[@ddsgolfedge]

If there was ever a man meant to have a job as curator, he's that man..

[@keithlacey2007]

Been to the museum on several occasions and never noted this weapon. What a great story and important piece of American history. Live just down the road on Rt 50, will have to check it out next time I am there. So.... learned something new today :-)

[@bigred2989]

I read the title thinking "Holy crap they had AIRSOFT back then, WTF?" I'm glad I was proven wrong and even amazed that we had weapons of war like that EVER! I've always liked uniquely designed or abnormal weapons and this is no exception.

[@larrypesek8818]

one of the most amazing times in our history...

[@clintonearlwalker]

I'm in "awe and amazement" at this thing also, never heard of it or anything even close to an air rifle in 1800. Why does it have a hammer?

[@RotorMedic7]

A very interesting note on history , I am sure most, including my self, were unaware of. Thank you for the presentation.

[@porko882]

I didn't know air rifles were this old I assumed they came out in the early 1900s.

[@cherokid]

This was an outstanding video. Thank you. With the effectiveness of this air rifle, it's a wonder they weren't more widely used. I would imagine there were some problems with the tanks integrity, and individual cost, however with a repeating rifle like this you could really cause a lot of damage. Anyway, very interesting and entertaining.

[@o0INickI0o]

Such an amazing piece of history, and that someone designed and constructed it without modern-day machining tools.

[@gerardbach4403]

A very good presentation, but one correction at the very end of the presentation. The expedition ended at the mouth of the Columbia River, not the headwaters of the Potomac. There is a small park near Warrenton (Astoria) Oregon where the expedition spent the winter. It is gray, cold, and wet all winter there. It is difficult to imagine their misery living in the type of housing they had.

[@sisselsnewestfan1240]

Ambrose describes it very well in "Undaunted Courage." Good book; I'm currently reading it for the third time.

[@annemariefritz4388]

The voyage did not END on the Columbia River. From the Columbia River they turned around and returned home. The voyage was not over until they reached Washington D.C which is on the Potomac River. Over 8,000 miles ROUND TRIP.

[@JDMatthias]

Ann Marie Fritz said what I was going to say. Think about the aspect of returning to Washington after traveling as far as they did.

[@senatorjosephmccarthy2720]

@michaelatw86 , It was the biggest, most important land acquisition in modern history. Foundational in the growth of the wealth, power and influence of the United States toward, imperfectly, keeping the peace in the western hemisphere for c 200 years.

[@FLyAgaric421]

@Commenter Five ..yep, it was. But the new biggest acquisition is still yet to come. Greenland!

[@davidallen9441]

RB, the "lost wax casting" method (which has been in use ~5000 years) can easily produce hollow cones. It is routinely used for MUCH more complex shapes. NOTE: Other sources (see: beemans[dot]net/Austrian airguns[dot]htm) confirm your theory that the original iron air tank (at least as used by the Austrian Army) was made of riveted sheets of iron. It's possible, though, that L & C's gun was equipped w/one made of cast iron (Girandoni designed the system - LOTS of people built these things).

[@Philip3rd]

@Seaprimate You can recharge it in the field if you have the pump with you and have time to charge it, which took 1,500 strokes to achieve the max of 800psi.

[@jffrocks]

That rifle takes 1500 strokes of a hand pump to put 800 psi into the tank in the stock. It will then fire up to 40 times before running out of air pressure. The tube magazine holds the round balls which can be fed quickly into the chamber and "fired" consecutively.

[@davedelta2325]

I will treasure my air rifle forever now that I have in my attic

[@steve41557]

"Peace through Superior Firepower" - I like it!

[@hambone307]

my high school history teacher talked about one of these, and I thought he was full of it... until now... very interesting piece!

[@spookerr]

Absolutely wonderful exhibit.

[@sisselsnewestfan1240]

Good presentation. I'm very much "into" the Lewis & Clark adventure - currently reading Ambrose's book for the third time and I've been to several L&C sites along the lower Missouri. This goes far in explaining just why they were able to make the trip with the loss of just one man. To appendicitis.

[@Philip3rd]

@Travisab1 The air reservoir was filled with 1500 strokes from a bicycle pump style apparatus. 20 rounds a minute is true as I have fired the gun myself. The reason it wasn't used in vast quantities was that it was hugely expensive and took a lot of labor to prime the pump.

[@LevinsonBill]

It gives the line "Don't tread on me" a whole new meaning.

[@schlusselmensch]

@Seaprimate Normal procedure would have been to charge and carry several air flasks. I believe historical accounts suggested that an air rifle squad would have around 10 flasks per weapon with them.

[@oledahammer8393]

It's curious, given the advantage have that many rounds available, that the rifle is not better known or was used more widely even later. Having a 20 round repeater in general use at say, the Alamo, even the Civil War (Aside from the Henry repeating rifle) would have been a game changer. Surprising a more updated version was in wider use in those later eras. Wonder why?....

[@ValMartinIreland]

I think the butt screwed off exposing a long rod which was housed in a cavity under the barrel. This rod had a small piston in a brass cylinder inside the but. The surface area of the piston was very small enabling the pumper to force high pressure air in. The other end was on the ground. The real mystery is how they managed to stop the air getting past the valve. I think they used a stag-horn seal. An ingenious invention for its time.

[@olstar18]

@comradeshow No that wasn't till 25 or so years later that percussion caps were introduced. They did however have another design that had a small container of something similar to the active chemical in percussion caps in it. Can't remember the name of the gun but you turned the container and it put a small amount of the stuff on a plate and when the hammer struck it set off the gunpowder. Not sure why it wasn't used by the military but saw mostly use in hunting.

[@Philip3rd]

@dvdfabber I call it their "secret weapon" because they were very coy about how much of the gun they let the natives view. They also kept them from finding out how many air rifles they had with them. Thanks for viewing the video.

[@saffordpastor]

Absolutely wonderful lecture....great piece of info. More substance there than you will find on 99% of youtube...

[@gameboy228]

I love the history told in this video. Being a great fan of the "Antique Road Show" and given the history of this gun what would be the value of such a rare gun such as this?

[@valraesimonaro6391]

I often wondered about how "they" made such an undertaking without inciting riot. I thought Sacagawea must have been a truely remarkable women. Which she was...this is THE REST OF THE STORY! Thank you for sharing this notable piece of history!

[@crazyjorge2111]

That was an amazing bit of learning. I love the way this guy tells the story. Thanks for posting the video!

[@poikaa3]

Lewis and Clark Expedition + Girandoni Air Rifle diplomacy = Success!

[@KowboyUSA]

It may be a mystery how the Girandoni air rifle ended up here, but it's a fortuitous thing for our people that it did.

[@charlieFXjustice]

Fantastic mini lecture.

[@demonxanthwataru]

@ironman052992 I don't think there are restrictions really given that modern designed .177 and .22 caliber air rifles are generally sold without restrictions. Your mileage may vary based on local laws however.

[@Threetails]

Are there any accurate replicas of this one around? I'd love to get hold of a piece like this.

[@quakebot1]

Great story and a great story teller. I hope you continue doing so. Thanks and keep up the good work.

[@xenothorpehuxtable9371]

Lewis essentially lets down the ramp and demonstrates the plasma pistol.

[@Kratt1313]

That's an awesome little bit of history. Thanks for posting this video.

[@MrReneManuel]

Just recently read entries of Lewis and Clark Expedition. Thank you for new information. Pretty ingenius.

[@Wh0rse]

This rifle is amazing. So after firing 40 shots, would it take a full 300 pumps to "charge" it again? Or would it just take like 100 pumps because its still partially full of air?

[@Dagored154]

Fantastic. Ronald Reagan must have read Undaunted Courage. Meriweather Lewis and the Corps of Discovery left Pittsburgh PA on August 31, 1803 at 1100hours. The island is Brunot's Island. It is just downstream from the Point, on the Ohio river. While the gun was being demonstrated to the locals the gun went off and grazed a woman's head. She was not mortally wounded. According to his journals the trip began in Pittsburgh not St. Louis. Clark was picked up in Clarksville, Indiana.

[@aaokiwan]

From 1790 to 1815, the Austrian Army used a 22-shot .46 caliber repeating air rifle known as the Girandoni air rifle because unlike single shot gun powder muskets there was no smoke to be seen and very little noise to be heard. Soldiers had to be specially trained and hand pumping the air reservoir 1500 times to a working pressure of 800 psi finally gave way to newly developed repeating gun powder air rifles that were arriving on the scene.

[@yaahme]

Very interesting, I have never heard of this "air rifle" before. Thanx for that bit of important history to go with!

[@cshubs]

You don't pump it for each shot. You fill the butt stock once, using something like a bicycle pump, up to 800 psi, and shoot until the pressure comes down. The pressure doesn't come down significantly for 40 shots (according to the vid).

[@hoodoo2001]

A truly magnificent and historic firearm. Great presentation.

[@qqw52]

@NFMCurator what is the kick and if any what amount of sound does this firearm make

[@masterrobber]

listened only to half of it but your voice was very comfortable to listen to anyway!

[@Redbob86]

@GusKillah23 Actually firearms in the hands of North American tribes were very common. Firearms were a common trade item, and tribes would aquire them often, as well as ammunition. Most did not have the technical knowlede or resources to build them, but it was pretty easy for them to learn how to fire and maintain them.

[@JSHarbison]

Wow! Amazing. I have never heard of this rifle.

[@IMAHOBO2]

Im a senior in high school and my history teacher did not talk about any of this with lewis and clark... I wish this guy was my teacher.

[@groovyUtube]

Very cool, well done segment

[@MFZeier]

Great and fascinating story expertly told.

[@blewis618]

Megga Grats on an American History type video going into trending! Hope it drives a lot of visitors to the museum. Well presented Phil!

[@dannumbers]

The armorers at Harpers Ferry were told to make whatever weapon's L&C wanted. In their journals they talked of some custom made "short rifles with half stocks." There is further evidence that these "short rifles" were essentially the prototypes for the 1803 rifle. Being that no firearm goes into mass production without a few prototypes, it is a safe assumption that L&C carried with them the rifle that was mass produced as the 1803 Harpers Ferry Rifle.

[@blewis618]

Super outstanding video & presentation!

[@MrSpinteractive]

I’ve always wondered about this air rifle. Many thanks for the history lesson.

[@jakedizzle]

For a sec, I thought this was going to be a Girandoni replica used for airsoft matches. That would've been pretty hilarious. Either way, nice video. I love history.

[@cuyler49]

The "why" I love airguns...

[@sirjacobthe8]

I saw that at the NRA headquarters when I was there this summer!!

[@odeese]

Im australian and i found the video very interesting very good work NFMCurator

[@JWA8402]

That is a very cool gun ahead of its time and demonstration of a design philosophy sadly missing in modern society. A good historical lesson too.

[@expat2010]

800 psi - wow!! Good job on the commentary - thanks for posting!

[@jaydixon487]

Would love to see the ballistics on this rifle

[@louisbecker5799]

If this bit of information helps... I read that velocities ranged from 700 to 450 fps, depending on how many shots had been fired before being repressurized.

[@davidkharat1]

Great show, thank you

[@Nyoggzathulhu]

This was actually surprisingly interesting video. Well done.

[@jamescooper562]

You would never shoot something so old and valuable as that!

[@AirelonTrading]

Excellent presentation.

[@YoureRightAbsolutely]

great presentation.

[@xzqzq]

Go check out the firearms museum.... Outstanding. They must have every single variant of the model 70 Winchester, among other collections.

[@squarewave808]

That is impressive manufacturing capability for the late 1700s, when this rifle was designed. It had to not only contain 800 psi of compressed air, but the trigger mechanism had to be capable of accurately metering the right volume of air and then shutting it off. That is impressive machinery for 230+ years ago. I imagine charging the pressure cylinder was a long, laborious process. I wonder if they carried spare, interchangeable cylinders for their version of a "tactical reload"?

[@Bucky1836]

1500 hundred strokes with the pump that was supplied and that pump was also ingenious too, and they were issued with 3 cylinders....later the austrians had a wagon drawn pump......way ahead of its time

[@ryleynoyes]

Check out sand casting. Very easy to use sand to form a hollow. After forming, just knock the sand out. Done. Used all the time for engines.

[@oldGB1]

Many missing the point, "Peace through superior fire power", not flower power.

[@SquirrelDarling1]

Same as a modern pcp rifle.

[@Chrisamos412]

Outstanding thank you! One of the best books I’ve read was Undaunted Courage by AS.

[@GreatBritishGamers]

This is such an awesome video, I love American History! Such an interesting time in history, Looking forward to more videos :)

[@miohai7190]

Wow, GREAT presentation! WELL done! Huzzah, boys, HUZZAH!

[@PaulMauser]

@waypasthadenough You could get high power .45 or .50 caliber from $300-$500, and it is legal during rifle seasons.

[@yingthings]

This was a great presentation.

[@mlguad]

I love a good air-rifle! I wish I could plink with that one for just an afternoon with the kids. A reproduction of these are about $850! Very interesting video and a nice bit of history!

[@TravisFisher]

@JosephR4570 I wonder if the previous air rifles were single shot or multi-shot like this one? The 22 available rounds was one of the reasons it was such an impressive weapon for it's time.

[@chevygearhead454]

How did they get compressed air into the stock?

[@redsawdom]

@farmgent The gun wasn't even in production during the Civil War. It stopped being produced around 1815, it was just too expensive for the Austrian Army to afford and it's battlefield reliability was questionable. Besides, the Henry Repeater rifle was already available during the Civil War. Same problems arose though, individual soldiers saved their salaries to buy it, but it was too expensive to be integrated into entire units.