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Title:	RIFLE, MILITARY -  ELLIS-JENNINGS RIFLE REPEATING FLINTLOCK .54
Maker/Manufacturer:	ELLIS, REUBEN
Date of Manufacture:	1828-1829
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 5378
Measurements:	OL:130.1CM 51 1/4" BL: 91.4CM 36"

Object Description:

ELLIS-JENNINGS RIFLE REPEATING FLINTLOCK .54
Manufactured by Robert & J.D. Johnson, Middletown, Ct. c. 1828 - Four-shot flintlock Ellis-Jennings rifle with sliding self-priming lock to fire four superimposed loads. Weapon made from M1817 "Common Rifle" parts. Metal finished bright. Has brass tipped trumpet shaped ramrod and oval patchbox. Weapon has an overall length of 51 1/4" and a barrel length of 36". Rear vent cover, top jaw and screw, connecting rod from cock to magazine missing.

Markings:
Barrel breech: US/JM/P in sunburst.
Stock: Wood behind lock: N. THAYER.
Buttplate: 554 (possibly old museum rack number).

INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION, 1876. MUZZLELOADING MUSKETS AND RIFLES. Match and flint locks. No. 26 - "Ellis (pat.) repeating flint-lock rifle; caliber, .54; seven grooves. The gun was loaded by ramming down the four charges, one on top of the other. The lock was then pushed opposite to the foremost vent and held there by the little apron closing the vent nearest to the rear. It was supposed that the flame was kept from reaching the next charge by tight ramming of the intervening ball. The apron having then been lifted, the lock was slid back to the next hole, and the process continued. A small reservoir for the priming powder is seen attached to the pan. By raising this up before each shot, and rapping the piece, the pan was filled. This rendered the piece self-contained, as the powder horn or cartridge box were not required for its service. All mountings browned; rifling shallow; grooves about .01 inch deep and .03 inch wide."

CATALOGUE OF THE EXHIBIT OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT AT THE CENTENNIAL EXPOSITION OF THE OHIO VALLEY AND CENTRAL STATES, AT CINCINNATI, OHIO, JULY 4 TO OCTOBER 27, 1888. "REPEATING ARMS. Repeating arms here include revolving arms and magazine guns proper, the latter arranged in three classes, according to form and position of the magazine: tubular magazines in the butt-stock; tubular magazines under the barrel; and what are here called box magazines, placed under, or beside the receiver, with cartridges touching lengthwise instead of endwise. Still earlier forms of repeating arms are first shown. 65. Ellis' Repeating Flint Lock Muzzle Loading Rifle; calibre, .54. This illustrates one of the earliest forms of repeating arms. The barrel has three vents along the side of the breech, with a single lock made to slide back and forth to bring the pan opposite one vent after another. It was intended to put three loads in, one above another, with the wads between, the powder of each load coming opposite one of the vents. On firing the front charge the lock would be slipped back to the next vent, and so on, firing the rear charge in succession, if they had not gone off at first shot."

Notes: Ellis contracted to State of N.Y. for 520 of these in 1828. They were based on a patent by Jennings in 1821, and the actual production seemed to have been done by the Johnsons. All 520 were delivered by 1829.

This may be pattern model made by Starr. Starr made two pattern models. The rest of the weapons were made by R. and J.D. Johnson of Middletown. Ct.

"About the period of 1815 single-barreled arms were experimented with in America which were merely flintlock versions of Emperor Maximillan's early repeaters, notably the 'superimposed loading' system. In this dangerous system a charge of powder and ball was rammed down the muzzle, a heavy wad pounded down, and then another load placed in on top of the wad. Some of these arms were provided with separate locks which would fire the charges in succession - the shooter fervently hoped! - starting with the one nearest the muzzle. Others like that of L. Jennings of New York (his later percussion rifle was one of the first reasonably successful repeating arms and was a forerunner of the present Winchester line) were fitted with a sliding lock which was pushed forward on a track until it was opposite the first flash hole. It was moved progressively back as each charge was fired. A single trigger and one sear only were needed in this design. In 1824 by that master gunmaker, Simeon North of Middletown, Connecticut. Sooner or later, of course, flame from charge one managed to bypass the wad and reach the other charges - a situation which speedily discouraged use of this system. Hope lives long in the human breast, however, and research is not utilized as it might be; and so in 1862 we find Springfield Armory experimenting with this superposed load system in the later percussion days under Lindsay's patent." - Smith

"On April 21, 1828, the legislature of the state of New York authorized Reuben Ellis of Albany to contract with the U.S. Ordnance Department '...to furnish to this state so many rifles constructed upon the principles of Jennings' repeating fire arms, with sliding self-priming lock, and improvements therein by the said Ellis, not to exceed twenty-five dollars per stand, as shall amount in value to one half of the quota due this state under the said act (Congressional Act of April 23, 1808) for one year....'
'The said arms shall be delivered to the commissary-general of this state, who is authorized to receive the same in lieu of such arms as have heretofore been furnished by the United States under the said act.'
By doing so, the state of New York set into motion the machinery which would evolve in the manufacture of the only martial repeating flintlock firearms produced in quantity in the United States.
Isiah Jennings of New York City was granted a patent in September, 1821 for a repeating firearm, the basis of which was simply a self-priming flint lock mechanism which rode on a track within the stock which ran parallel to the barrel. The barrel itself was designed to take superposed loads with corresponding touch holes adjacent to the propellant charge. Each touch hole was protected by a swivel cover....Firing the forward charge first, the lock could then be manually drawn rearward to the second position. The act of cocking the piece also actuated the self priming mechanism which was accomplished by an arm secured under the top jaw of the cock and attached to the charger....The lock itself is secured in a cradle which is essentially of the same shape as the lockplate.
....the rifles produced by Reuben Ellis on Jennings' patent were of two basic types; a four and ten shot variety. Except for the additional capacity of the latter and the consequent additional length of the arm, they were very similar.
The basic arm used to adapt the Jennings mechanism was the U.S. Rifle, Model 1817....The overall length of the four shot rifle remained as originally produced at 51 3/8 inches. The ten shot arm, however, was extended to about 56 1/2 inches utilizing a 42 inch barrel to which a bayonet could be fired....
It has generally been assumed that the locks for these arms were standard Model 1817 rifle locks which had been fitted to the original rifles. This, however, does not appear to be the case. As Figures 529 and 530 show, the rear of the plate has been rounded, the extension forward of the frizzen screw hole squared, and most important, no hole for the front lock screw was ever drilled and tapped. It is thus believed that the lockplates for these arms were fabricated specifically for them, and possibly under subcontract to Simeon North of Middletown, Connecticut....
Whether all 520 Jennings/Ellis rifles were actually delivered is not known. Surviving specimens are all but non-existence which may indicate that only a small number were actually manufactured.
The other possibility, of course, is that they may have proved unsatisfactory and were disposed of. The number of four and ten shot types which comprised the total is also unknown, but the latter appears to be far rarer than the four shot type. Since the New York contract specified that the barrel '...shall conform...both in length and...bore to the rifle barrels now made for the service of the U. States....' it may well be that the longer ten shot variety was strictly experimental.
None of the Jennings/Ellis rifles were purchased by the Federal governme
"On September 22, 1821, a patent gun was granted to J. Jennings for an improvement of the Chambers gun. Reuben Ellis of New York City in 1828 received an Ordnance contract for 520 rifles for the New York State Militia, 'constructed on the principles of Jennings' repeating firearms with the sliding self-priming lock and the improvements therein...to receive at least four charges.' These were based on the Model 1819 rifle, using parts purchased by Ellis from contractors for that arm (North, Johnson, etc.). The Springfield Armory Museum has one of these, of 4-shot capacity, which appears to have a pistol lock. Another 10 shots owned by Edwin Pugsley of the Winchester Repeating Arms Co., had a 'North' lock dated 1825. The barrels of these rifles were made by R & J.D. Johnson, who also did the assembling." - Lewis

"About 1828 a New York State maker, Reuben Ellis, made military rifles under contract on the Jennings principle. Perhaps similar pieces were made, or assembled, by other makers. One of these rifles, bearing U.S. inspection and property marks, and probably made by Ellis, is shown in illustration 198. The gun is a 'common rifle' of the 1819 model, equipped with a sliding flintlock and having a barrel with four touch holes. The lock has an attached magazine that automatically supplies priming powder to the flash pan when the hammer is cocked. There are covers for three touch holes - none is needed for the foremost touch hole. These covers also index the lock. The illustration shows the gun ready to fire its second shot. The first shot has been fired, the forward vent cover thrown up, the lock drawn back until its pan is opposite the second vent, the hammer cocked. Pressure on the trigger will raise a bar that is sufficiently long to release the sear, regardless of where the sear has been placed by movement of the lock." - Winant

See, Hicks, UNITED STATES ORDNANCE, VOL. II, pg. 161.

References:
Hicks, James E. UNITED STATES ORDNANCE, VOL. II. James E. Hicks. Mt. Vernon, N.Y. 1940. Lewis, Berkeley. SMALL ARMS AND AMMUNITION IN THE UNITED STATES SERVICE. Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C. 1960.
Reilly, Robert. UNITED STATES MARTIAL FLINTLOCKS. Andrew Mowbray Inc. Lincoln, RI. 1986.
Smith, Joseph E. SMALL ARMS OF THE WORLD. Stackpole Books. Harrisburg, Pa. 1969.
Winant, Lewis. FIREARMS CURIOSA. Bonanza Books. N.Y., N.Y. 1955.

See catalog folder.