Existing comment:
The Ingenuity of John Hall
200th Anniversary of Hall's Breechloader Patent
"I have succeeded in establishing methods for fabricating arms exactly alike & with economy, by the hands of common workmen..."
-- John H. Hall, 1822
Producing rifles with interchangeable parts required precision machines and a rigorous inspection system involving gauges. When John H. Hall received a government contract in 1819 to manufacture breechloading rifles at Harpers Ferry, he spent the next four years developing his machinery. The results were revolutionary.
"Almost everything is performed by machinery, leaving very little dependent on manual labor."
-- Lt. Col. George Talcott, US Ordnance Department, 1832
"One boy by the aid of these machines can perform more work than ten men with files, in the same time, and with greater accuracy."
-- John H. Hall, 1834 |