The Kentucky Long Rifle
Daniel Boone was known for his expertize with the Kentucky Long Rifle.While Virginia settlers thought of themselves as living more splendidly than their families in England, Kentuckians were true explorers and adventurers. Their success weighed heavily upon their personal ability to survive in a wilderness country setting laced with hardship and Indian tribes. Yet, such primitive conditions actually carved the trail which led further Westward. First, people came down out of Pennsylvania and crossed the Shenandoah Valley treking through the Blue Ridge Mountains and settled in remote regions dominated by various Indian tribes. By the time that Daniel Boone and other explorers began surveying this country, there were already families of Scotch-Irish and German immigrants who had traveled the trail together and created little communities. The longrifle which was used by Daniel Boone is an early example of a firearm which used rifling (spiral grooves in the bore). This gave the projectile (a round lead ball) a spiraling motion to help increase the stability of the trajectory. Rifled firearms saw their first major combat use in the American colonies during the Seven Years war, and later the American Revolution in the eighteenth century. The disadvantage of a long rifle to a musket was a slower reload time due to a tighter fitting lead ball and greater susceptibility to the fouling of the bore after prolonged use. When the minie ball was developed, the rifle replaced the musket.
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