Ferguson Breech-Loader
date: label: date made
content: ca 1776
name: label: licensee
content: Ferguson, Patrick
label: associated person
content: De Peyster, Frederic
label: maker
content: Egg, Durs
notes: label: Description
content: This is one of three prototypes Patrick Ferguson had made in 1776. It is the same rifle Ferguson fired in a demonstration for George III. Ferguson gave the rifle to Frederic De Peyster, a New York loyalist militia officer. The Ferguson was one of the first breech loading rifles used in battle. It employed a breechlock - a vertical rising screw that was lowered by rotating the trigger guard. This opened the breech for loading. This improvement allowed the rifle to fire four to six shots per minute.
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.234203
label: catalog number
content: 234203
label: accession number
content: 44501
objectType: label: Object Name
content: rifle
label: Other Terms
content: rifle; Firearms; Flintlock; .69 In; Rifled; 14; 03
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 1/2 in x 49 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in; 19.05 cm x 125.73 cm x 6.35 cm