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See also: Ferguson

The Ferguson rifle was most likely the first breech loading rifle to be adopted by any organised military force. It was a .69 caliber rifle used in the American Revolutionary War at the end of the 1700s.

The breech of the weapon is closed by a multistart tapered screw, and the trigger guard serves as the crank to rotate it. Due to the fact that the weapon was loaded from the breech, rather than from the muzzle, it had an amazingly high rate of fire for its day.

The action was the brainchild of Major Patrick Ferguson (1744-1780), who designed it around 1770. He received an English Patent in December of 1776 (number 1139) on details of the design.

Roughly one hundred of the rifles were manufactured and issued to Ferguson's unit when it transferred to the colonies. The only battle in which the rifles were used was the Battle of Brandywine, in which Ferguson was wounded. While he recuperated, his unit was disbanded and his rifles replaced with the standard Brown Bess musket.

Experience with replicas shows that while reloading was rapid, it is necessary to first lubricate the breech screw (originally with a mixture of beeswax and tallow) or else the rifle will foul up to the point of needing cleaning after a three or four shots. A properly lubricated model can be fired for up to sixty shots.

The Ferguson Rifle is also a book by Louis L'Amour. It's not about the rifle specifically, but a historical fiction story about someone going out west who was given one of the rifles by Ferguson.

• List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces
• M1819 Hall rifle (another early breach-loader)

• A page maintained by an owner of a replica Ferguson rifle
• An article on the Ferguson rifle, complete with cut away views of the action
• Muzzle Blasts Online: "This Barbarous Weapon" by Lance Klein (Article about Ferguson and his rifle)
• Fergusson Rifle at Morristown Park Museum (For reference only)
• Ferguson Rifle at website The Price of Freedom {for reference only}