What tools were used by gunsmiths in the 1800s?

Answer 1

While researching the history of American gun culture, I spent quite a bit of time looking for evidence of gunsmiths -- both those who made guns, and those who repaired them. What was quite intriguing to me was how often gunsmithing was a craft that passed down from father to son.

I suppose that this should not have been a surprise. Until the federal government consciously transformed gun making from a craft to an industrial enterprise, starting in the 1790s, gunsmithing would have been like any other occupation of the time: your shop was in your home, or perhaps immediately adjacent to it. It would only be natural that your children would be pressed into service, learn the skills, and take over the family business when the father died, or became too old to perform the most physically demanding aspects, such as forging barrels.

Some families in the gun business stayed in it for generations. Richard Waters emigrated to Massachusetts from England about 1632. A descendant in 1878 observed that Waters "was by profession a gun manufacturer; married the daughter of a gun maker, and it is a noteworthy fact that the business of gun making has been hereditary in some branch of the Waters families almost continuously since."

Eltweed Pomeroy set up gunsmithing at Dorchester in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. The colonial government granted him 1000 acres on the Connecticut River, on the condition that he carry on the business of gun making there. Seven generations of his family continued in that line of work until 1849.

Perhaps the best known of these families are the Henrys of Pennsylvania. An invoice shows that on January 26, 1765, the Lancaster, Pennsylvania gunsmith John Henry bought hundreds of gun parts: "93 Hamers... 77 Cocks... 81 Cock Pins... 90 Bridles... 79 Tumblers... 2 Groce Gun Bolts... 258 Fuzee Main Springs... 281 Hamer Springs... 263 Cocks... 278 Cock Pins... 305 Bridles... 271 Tumblers... 225 Forg'd Britches..." John Henry was making gunlocks, and complete guns-and not on a small scale. This was his primary occupation throughout the 1770s, with receipts for rifles made and money owed for a variety of repair services.

William Henry I, John Henry's brother, was also making guns before the Revolution in Lancaster. In 1766, he paid William Bradford for advertising, apparently for the gun business.5 During the Revolution, William Henry of Nazareth had a number of contracts to produce rifles for the Pennsylvania government6 (along with other military goods), as well a providing gun repair services to the state.7 Henry's contracts with the state and federal government continued after the Revolution.

William Henry I's descendants were making guns for at least five generations, ending with Granville Henry in the 1890s. We are fortunate that unlike many of the other early gunmaking families, for the Henrys, we have a surprisingly complete sets of documents. William Henry I's son, William Henry II, moved gun making operations to Nazareth around 1778, gradually expanding into a modern factory after 1792. The volume of surviving documents provides extensive evidence of the scale of the Henry family gun making business, and the business sophistication of its proprietors.

Throughout much of the period 1808 to 1825, J. Joseph Henry II (grandson of William Henry I) operated the Nazareth gun factory, while his brother William Henry III operated the Philadelphia based sales and parts procurement office. J. Joseph, the elder brother, appears to have received top billing; an undated business card lists his name, "Manufactures Rifles, Fowling pieces, Barels, Gun locks &c. of every description. No. 290 North third Street Philadelphia."

Answer 2

Gunsmith in 1800's were actually called Black Smiths.

Most blacksmith's shops were small and they were quite poorly, with little new iron

to make any product at all. The main tools were a forge and bellows, an

anvil, hammers, water buckets,and a small selection of files and tongs.

the reason why was because the every day Black Smith were trying to find a place in the america to settle down and to build a shop.

Gunsmith only cam out in the 1900's for a short wile.

then major corporations took over to create the newer weapons in World War I

And to this day all weapons of the common era are made in factories, but they still use some of the basic concepts of the black smith when crating these modern weapons