"The Backwoodsman or Life on the Indian Frontier" Topic

I got this book as a Kindle offer and a cracking read it is. The frustration is that apparently no-one knows who the author was so a lot of the context is unknown.

It'd be nice to know when it is set, for example. I'm guessing 1830s maybe? And what are these 2 barrelled rifles the author uses as he cuts a bloody swathe through the animal life of the west?

I've Googled the book but there's no more information available there so far as I can see so I'm wondering if anyone else has read it and even better, if anyone has any background info they'd like to share?

Doug

i just looked on the project gutenberg website and downloaded. took about ten seconds.
"The Backwoodsman; Or, Life on the Indian Frontier by Sir Lascelles Wraxall"

cheers,

-clark182

I think Sir Francis was introducing or editing it, wasn't he…?

Doug

That's what several sites say. I see a couple of firsts are on sale for $100. USD Do any of the downloadable versions include the illustrations?

Two different possibilities for a two-barrelled rifle circa 1830: a double rifle, or a swivelbore.
A double rifle has two side-by-side barrels, like a double-barrelled shotgun.
The advantage of this mechanism is that each barrel had its own lock – so if you got a stoppage, misfire or even breakage on one side, the other barrel and lock meant the weapon remained fully functional.
Also, there was no quicker way to get a follow-up shot.
Double rifles were premium items because both barrels had to be very precisely aligned with one another.
They were expensive, even when all firearms were essentially handmade – but the real cost issue was that they never got any cheaper. Even when industrialisation lowered the cost of most firearms – double-rifles still had to be handmade. They went from 'premium' to 'stratospheric'.

Swivelbores have a single lock, and two barrels. (Over-&-under).
You fired one barrel, then released a catch which allowed the barrels to swivel, bringing the second barrel into firing position.
There were some very fine examples, but they seem to have been the exception. For the most part, they were problematic due to the inherent structural weakness of the swivel mechanism and inconsistent accuracy due to variation in barrel alignment.
Swivelbores were never commonplace, and soon disappeared when other repeating mechanisms became available.

From what you say (NDL), the author was talking about the former type (double rifle). He doesn't seem to stint on his weapons and was a lethal hunter so the swivel wouldn't have been good enough for him.

Thanks for the input.

Doug