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The 1792 contract rifle is not a specific model of gun, rather it is a modern way to categorize a collection of rifles bought by the United States government in that year. United States 1792 contract rifles are Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifles with a 42-inch octagon barrel in .49 caliber, with a patchbox built into the buttstock.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=US Contract Rifles )〕 What distinguishes them from civilian rifles is that they were bought by the government under military contract. ==History== Before the United States military used standardized weapons with interchangeable parts, it bought rifles that are difficult to distinguish from their civilian equivalent. The process was similar to today, in which the government requests weaponry of certain specifications and then finds a manufacturer to build them. In 1792 there was a need for rifles, and a contract was drawn-up with Lancaster, Pennsylvania gunsmiths to deliver rifles.〔 In January 1792, Henry Knox, the Secretary of War for the period, authorized former General Edward Hand to contract with manufacturers for the rifles.〔 The rifles were to be delivered in units of 100 as quickly as possible.〔 He told General Hand that the contract was for 500 rifles, but that he was willing to extend it to 1,000. 〔 The 1792 contract specified rifles with a 44 1/2 inch barrel in .47 caliber. That was modified to a 42 inch barrel in .49 caliber, with a well-seasoned maple stock and a flintlock with a fly. Eleven different gunsmiths took the contract on, delivering 1,476 rifles between April 1792 and December 1792. A second contract for the same weapon took place in 1794. Seventeen gunsmiths delivered 2,000 rifles by November 1794.〔 These military- or militia-issued rifles were of civilian style, and it has been very difficult for collectors to identify them from this contract. However, the military issued them to regular troops and militias and called them back to the arsenals as needed. Edward Flanagan, who wrote a paper on the 1792 and 1807 contract rifles, stated that he believed that the weapons were marked by the US government, a lesson learned from gun thefts during the Revolutionary War.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1792 and 1807 Contract Rifles )〕 He pointed to a "US" stamp on the barrel of a weapon known to have been a contract rifle.〔 A second contract rifle has been identified, the 1807 Contract Rifle, which has different specifications than the weapons of 1792 and 1794.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1792 contract rifle」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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