| Error creating thumbnail: File missing Join our Discord! |
| If you have been locked out of your account you can request a password reset here. |
Kentucky Flintlock Rifle
The Kentucky rifle, sometimes also known as the "Long Rifle" or "Pennsylvania Rifle" is famously known as the first American-made long-arm with a rifled barrel, featuring lands and grooves causing the bullet to spin as it leaves the gun, making it far more accurate than the smoothbore muskets of the time, including the British Brown Bess Flintlock Musket.
The Pennsylvania or "Kentucky" rifle was perfected by dozens of gunsmith shops large and small centered around Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and was popular with the American pioneers venturing into the land called Kentucky over the Appalachian Mountains in the late 1700s and early 1800s. In the newly settled over-mountain areas, local copies such as the "Tennessee Poor Boy" were made by gunsmiths and blacksmiths.
The colonists during the Revolutionary War favored Kentucky Rifles since they had used them for hunting and when fighting the British, they definitely knew how to use them. The gun is also well known as being the first true sniper rifle, based on how an experienced marksman could shoot a redcoat off his horse at up to 250 yards. The gun was used all the way up to the War of 1812 before the Scottish Percussion design slowly phased the flintlock design out. Some Percussion models of the rifle were made, but by that time the rifling had become so common, the gun became obsolete as a frontline weapon after the Mexican American War.
Specifications
- Weight: Variable
- Length: over 65 in.
- Barrel length: 35 in. (889 mm), to over 48 in. (1220 mm)
- Cartridge: none
- Caliber: 0.500 in, approximately, .36 cal to .45 cal also were common
- Action: Flintlock
- Rate of fire: User dependent, Usually 1+ rounds a minute
- Muzzle velocity: Variable
- Effective range: Variable, 80 to 100 yards typical, to well over 250 yards by an experienced user
- Feed system: Muzzle loaded
The Kentucky Flintlock Rifle and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergeant York | Gary Cooper | Alvin C. York | 1941 | |
| Sergeant York | Dickie Moore | George York | 1941 | |
| Sergeant York | Ward Bond | Buck Lipscomb | 1941 | |
| The Glass Key | Seen on the wall in Clyde Matthews' villa | 1942 | ||
| Comanche Territory | Stacey´s men | 1950 | ||
| The Witch (Noita palaa elämään) | can be seen hanged on the wall of Baron's castle | 1952 | ||
| Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier | Fess Parker | 1954 | ||
| The Alamo | John Wayne | Davy Crockett | 1960 | |
| The Alamo | Alamo defenders | 1960 | ||
| How the West Was Won | Jimmy Stewart | Linus Rawlings | 1962 | |
| Ten Little Indians | Seen on the gun rack | 1965 | ||
| The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming | A townsman | 1966 | ||
| Bad Company | A trapper | 1972 | ||
| The Big Sleep | mounted on the wall | 1978 | ||
| Police Academy | Seen on Lt. Harris' gun wall | 1984 | ||
| Revolution | Al Pacino | Tom Dobb | 1985 | |
| Revolution | Graham Greene | Ongwata | 1985 | |
| Revolution | Dexter Fletcher | Ned Dobb | 1985 | |
| Pale Rider | A townsman | 1985 | ||
| The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! | Ricardo Montalban | Vincent Ludwig | 1988 | |
| The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear | Trappers | 1991 | ||
| The Last of the Mohicans | Daniel Day-Lewis | Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe | 1992 | |
| Tombstone | A townsman | 1993 | ||
| Maverick | Paul L. Smith | Russian Grand Duke | 1994 | |
| Maverick | Graham Greene | Joseph | 1994 | |
| Kidnapped | Jonathan Ryan | Hamish MacDonald | Plains Flintlock Musket | 1995 |
| Kidnapped | Armand Assante | Alan Breck Stewart | Plains Flintlock Musket | 1995 |
| Kidnapped | David Kelly | Angus the gunsmith | Plains Flintlock Musket | 1995 |
| Tom and Huck | Eric Schweig | Injun Joe | 1995 | |
| Tom and Huck | Lanny Flaherty | Emmett | 1995 | |
| Forest Warrior | Chuck Norris | John McKenna | 1996 | |
| Almost Heroes | Chris Farley | Bartholomew Hunt | 1998 | |
| The Patriot | Mel Gibson | Benjamin Martin | 2000 | |
| The Patriot | Trevor Morgan | Nathan Martin | 2000 | |
| The Patriot | Chris Cooper | Col. Harry Burwell | 2000 | |
| The Patriot | Leon Rippy | John Billings | 2000 | |
| The Patriot | Donal Logue | Dan Scott | 2000 | |
| The Patriot | Hank Stone | Rollins | 2000 | |
| Wonderland | Val Kilmer | John Holmes | 2003 | |
| Bell Witch Haunting | Jason Jones | Jesse Bell | Pennsylvania Rifle | 2004 |
| Asa Wiggins | Richard Bell | |||
| Asa Wiggins | Richard Bell | Kentucky Flintlock Musket | ||
| The Alamo | Billy Bob Thornton | David Crockett | 2004 | |
| Tremors 4: The Legend Begins | Seen on Christine Lord's gun wall | 2004 | ||
| The Brothers Grimm | A villager | 2005 | ||
| Life of Crime | Seen in Richard's collection | 2013 | ||
| The Last Witch Hunter | seen in the Kaulder's armory | 2015 | ||
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Gillian Jones | Vuvalini woman | Traditions Kentucky Rifle | 2015 |
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Joy Smithers | Vuvalini woman | Traditions Kentucky Rifle | 2015 |
| Mad Max: Fury Road | Antoinette Kellermann | Vuvalini woman | Traditions Kentucky Rifle | 2015 |
| The Revenant | Leonardo DiCaprio | Hugh Glass | Pennsylvania Flintlock Rifle | 2016 |
| The Revenant | Tom Hardy | John Fitzgerald | Pennsylvania Flintlock Rifle | 2016 |
| The Ritual | 2017 |
Television
| Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazing Stories | Kelly Reno | Alamo Jobe | "Alamo Jobe" (S1E03) | 1985 |
| North and South: Book II | Genie Francis | Brett Main Hazard | Percussion cap | 1986 |
| John Nixon | Washington | |||
| Beau Billingslea | Ezra | |||
| Confederate snipers | With sniper scope | |||
| Black Fox | Christopher Reeve | Alan Johnson | Episode 01 "Pilot" | 1995 |
| The Unit | Michael Irby | Sgt. Charles Grey | "Sacrifice" (S4E1) | 2008 |
| Mail Call | R. Lee "Gunny" Ermey | 2002-2009 | ||
| Top Shot - Season 1 | 2010 | |||
| Salem | "The Beckoning Fair One" (S2E07), hanged on the wall | 2015 | ||
| The Great | Elle Fanning | Catherine II | Modern replica, "The Devil’s Lunch" (S02E04) | 2021 |
| Raphael Acloque | Ambassador Sunduk | |||
| Douglas Hodge | General Velementov |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trophy Hunter 2003: Legendary Hunting | "Old Smokley" | 2002 |
Anime
| Film/Television Title | Character | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amagi Brilliant Park | Isuzu Sento | 2014 |