How did they do this 150 years ago?

[Windy City Kid]

https://youtu.be/enjz1atvJRw?si=rkGBRiQ5qs8HZdSc

 

How 1873’s are made today. How did they do this 150+ years ago?

Edited February 1 by Windy City Kid

[Sarge]

Remarkable what they were able to accomplish with the technology of the day.  They were true craftsmen.

[Colorado Coffinmaker]

With machinery similar to modern machinery but driven by Overhead shafts connected to the production machines by leather belts.  After the components were made, they were hand fit one rifle at a time.  Highly trained "fitters."  Lots of them.

 

This is actually true for most manufacturing at the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and the Machine Age.

Edited February 1 by Colorado Coffinmaker
Information added

[Rye Miles #13621]

They also built steam locomotives and built a railroad, they built buildings some of which are standing today. They were very talented and I have tons of respect for them folks back then!

[Sedalia Dave]

Our ancestors were not stupid. The Vernier scale dates to the 1630s. The micrometer dates back to the 1640s. Thanks to the efforts of Joseph Whitworth in the mid 1800s, a single measurement standard was adopted in England and eventually most of Europe so that screws made by one company would work with a nut made by another company. 

 

Machine tools were widely in use by civil war. The ability to create precision parts was common by the end of the civil war. This virtually eliminated the hand fitting of parts.  

 

 

[Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L]

I hate it when people refer to it as a "leever" action rifle

[Ashley D Austin]

On 2/1/2025 at 4:38 PM, Colorado Coffinmaker said:

With machinery similar to modern machinery but driven by Overhead shafts connected to the production machines by leather belts.  After the components were made, they were hand fit one rifle at a time.  Highly trained "fitters."  Lots of them.

 

This is actually true for most manufacturing at the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution and the Machine Age.

The belts were made from buffalo hide

[Ashley D Austin]

16 hours ago, Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L said:

"leever" action rifle

Yep, we pronounce with a short e too! Webster notes it both ways - that's American English for you!

[Long Hunter SASS #20389L]

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

Amazing to think about all the hand fitting that had to be done back in the day to build a rifle like that for 18.00 .

True Craftmen way back when .

Rooster. 

PS. 

Good Video. 

Thank you 

 

[Tom Bullweed]

I have owned four 1873s, all built at the peak of production in 1890-1891.

I have worked in metal fabrication and machining since 1989, but I was impressed with the consistency of the work from 120+ years ago.  The very precise cuts for the side plates and the fit of the receiver after heat-treating is amazing.

[El Sobrante Kid]

21 hours ago, Tom Bullweed said:

I have owned four 1873s, all built at the peak of production in 1890-1891.

I have worked in metal fabrication and machining since 1989, but I was impressed with the consistency of the work from 120+ years ago.  The very precise cuts for the side plates and the fit of the receiver after heat-treating is amazing.

 

Yep. You know that someone, or some group, spent a lot of time working out the assembly procedure in order to sort out the tolerance stack-up of all the different parts. I would love to read that report. Pretty Remarkable!

[John Kloehr]

On 2/2/2025 at 10:52 AM, The Old ways said:

Two words, Craftsmanship and dedication.

 

On 2/2/2025 at 3:54 PM, Sedalia Dave said:

... The ability to create precision parts was common by the end of the civil war. This virtually eliminated the hand fitting of parts.  

 

On 2/3/2025 at 8:01 PM, Rooster Ron Wayne said:

Amazing to think about all the hand fitting that had to be done back in the day to build a rifle like that for 18.00 .

True Craftsmen way back when .

 

21 hours ago, Tom Bullweed said:

... 1890-1891.

I have worked in metal fabrication and machining since 1989, but I was impressed with the consistency of the work from 120+ years ago.  The very precise cuts for the side plates and the fit of the receiver after heat-treating is amazing.

 

21 minutes ago, El Sobrante Kid said:

Yep. You know that someone, or some group, spent a lot of time working out the assembly procedure in order to sort out the tolerance stack-up of all the different parts. I would love to read that report. Pretty Remarkable!

 

Pre Civil War, the expression "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" meant "the whole thing" and the three parts were typically made by different craftsmen fitted by either the maker of the stock or a fourth craftsman.

 

I tried to find the reference as my memory was Winchester but it may have been Eli Whitney. Towards the end or shortly after the war, the government wanted guns and one of these companies won the contract my showing operational firearms, disassembling them in  front of the decision makers, scrambling the parts in a pile, assembling arms from the random parts, and firing them all again.

 

Wow! Contract awarded! What the procurement officers did not know is they were being sold a promise more than the capability, those particular arms were all built from hand-selected parts which would fit together interchangeably, choosing from the middle of the tolerance variations.

 

The advance payments from the war department provided the funding to turn the promise into (mostly) reality. One of the challenges Eli Whitney faced was finding good workers. He needed qualified machinists to work out bugs in the process, but skilled artisans did not want to work on only one piece over and over again, they had the skills and desire and experience to produce a rifle "lock, stock, and barrel." The factory work was not personally rewarding for them.

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

1 hour ago, John Kloehr said:

 

 

 

 

 

Pre Civil War, the expression "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" meant "the whole thing" and the three parts were typically made by different craftsmen fitted by either the maker of the stock or a fourth craftsman.

 

I tried to find the reference as my memory was Winchester but it may have been Eli Whitney. Towards the end or shortly after the war, the government wanted guns and one of these companies won the contract my showing operational firearms, disassembling them in  front of the decision makers, scrambling the parts in a pile, assembling arms from the random parts, and firing them all again.

 

Wow! Contract awarded! What the procurement officers did not know is they were being sold a promise more than the capability, those particular arms were all built from hand-selected parts which would fit together interchangeably, choosing from the middle of the tolerance variations.

 

The advance payments from the war department provided the funding to turn the promise into (mostly) reality. One of the challenges Eli Whitney faced was finding good workers. He needed qualified machinists to work out bugs in the process, but skilled artisans did not want to work on only one piece over and over again, they had the skills and desire and experience to produce a rifle "lock, stock, and barrel." The factory work was not personally rewarding for them.

Correct "Lock, Stock and Barrel" refers to the 3 main parts of any musket, so yes "The Whole Thing".  It was actually John Hall who pattened his breech loading rifle in 1811 and the "Rifle Works Factor" was built factory next to Harpers Ferry Armory.  The Model 1819 was made to standards for interchangability.  The first 1,000 rifles were ordered in 1818 and production of machinery and then parts was started in 1819 but delivery of those rifles was not made until 1824.  At some point after production and delivery of the first contract the Army took 100 rifles apart and interchanged parts and then put them together again and they all worked.

 

This is a link to Forgotten Weapons video on the Model 1819 Hall Rifle Hall Model 1819: A Rifle to Change the Industrial World - Forgotten Weapons and here are photos of my 3 Hall rifles and 1 Hall carbine.

 

This is the Model 1819 Rifle dated 1831, so it is part of the 3rd US Contract.

Edited February 7 by Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L

[Old Irish Shooter]

When I was in Cody Wyoming last year I went through the museum and took these pictures. This is a set up that once made barrels.

 

[Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L]

These are photos I took at Harpers Ferry Historic Site on my trip from Texas to the east in 2019.

 

 

Here are the mockups of how they would have been set up to operate.

Edited February 7 by Cowtown Scout, SASS #53540 L

[Dapper Dave]

Throw a belt in there and someone loses their head!

[JackSlade]

On 2/2/2025 at 3:20 PM, Wyatt Earp SASS#1628L said:

I hate it when people refer to it as a "leever" action rifle

Or a "Car Been", or "Yu-berty". 

[John Kloehr]

35 minutes ago, JackSlade said:

Or a "Car Been", or "Yu-berty". 

 

[JackSlade]

20 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

 

Definitely a good reason to stop pronouncing it "kar been"... It's from the french 🤮

[John Kloehr]

30 minutes ago, JackSlade said:

Definitely a good reason to stop pronouncing it "kar been"... It's from the french 🤮

 

At least the French helped is in the war for independence, where we fought against the British.

[Rooster Ron Wayne]

7 hours ago, John Kloehr said:

 

At least the French helped is in the war for independence, where we fought against the British.

Nothing wrong with the French .

They had a lot of unfired rifles only dropped once sold on the American market