Model 1819 Hall rifle: shooting an original breech-loading flintlock

Key points: Model 1819 Hall rifle

• The rifle is an original Model 1819 Hall made in 1838, with a breech block that tips up for loading; it is primed first, then charged with about 75 grains of 2F powder and a ball.
• The breech does not seal fully, so gas and powder vent into the stock and mechanism, costing energy and caking the action after only a few shots.
• Period trials claimed seven to nine rounds a minute, while River reports three to four a minute with paper cartridges and the host manages four in a timed string from a flask.
• Kneeling and prone loading is far easier than with a muzzleloader, which fits accounts of the Hall working well in wooded country during the 1832 Black Hawk War.
• The host's main complaint is overcharging: too much powder stops the ball from seating, whereas the Ferguson lets excess be scraped away.
• About 20,000 rifles were made at Harper's Ferry through 1841, issued mainly to light and flank companies, before the Army returned to muzzleloaders with the Model 1841.
• Both shooters say they would take the Ferguson into combat; the video carries OpticsPlanet, Sonoran Desert Institute and Badlands Munitions sponsor reads.

About this Gun Review video

Model 1819 Hall rifle, shot and assessed: Administrative Results and guest River 0311 take an original 1838 breech-loading flintlock to the Arizona desert. They load it, fire timed strings, shoot from kneeling and prone, and compare it with the Ferguson rifle. The Hall reloads quickly and works from cover, but its breech leaks gas, fouls fast and is easy to overcharge. They also cover the Fort Monroe trials, the Black Hawk War and the Army's return to muzzleloaders.

Transcript: Model 1819 Hall