Ames Mountain Rifle
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 838 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.40 kg
- Introduced
- 1841
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Ames Mountain Rifle is a .54 caliber muzzle-loading percussion rifle produced by the N. P. Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts in the 1840s and 1850s. A half-stock arm of the type contemporaries called a mountain rifle, it loads a patched round ball and powder charge down a rifled bore, fired by a percussion cap struck on a side-mounted hammer. Ames was one of several New England contractors that supplied .54 caliber percussion rifles to the United States government during the era of the Model 1841 rifle, building on the company's reputation for swords, edged weapons, and military hardware.
The Ames Manufacturing Company of Chicopee, Massachusetts grew from a Chelmsford metalworking shop into one of the most important American makers of swords, edged weapons, and military hardware in the 19th century, and was an early contractor for percussion firearms such as the Jenks carbine.
The term mountain rifle was a period designation for the half-stock fur-trade and frontier rifles of the mid-19th century, distinct from the full-stock military rifle musket. Ames Manufacturing was best known for swords and the Jenks breech-loading percussion arms, and supplied .54 caliber percussion long arms as a government contractor.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- N. P. Ames Manufacturing Company
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- United States
- Status
- Discontinued
- Produced
- 1841 to 1855
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 838 mm
- Overall length
- 1232 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.40 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Muzzleloader
- Firing mechanism
- Percussion
- Trigger
- Single action
- Capacity
- 1
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Frame
- Steel
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Walnut
- Finish
- Browned
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 340 m/s
- Effective range
- 180 m
- Maximum range
- 730 m
- Rate of fire
- 3 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Half stock
Percussion lock
Rifled bore
Iron sights
Ramrod
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,612 rifles | 4.40 kg | 3.50 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 1232 mm | 1080 mm | Longer than about 80% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 838 mm | 584 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Magazine capacityAmong 1,611 rifles | 1 | 5 | Holds fewer rounds than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Ames Mountain Rifle
How much does the Ames Mountain Rifle weigh?
The Ames Mountain Rifle weighs 4.40 kg (9.70 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Ames Mountain Rifle?
The Ames Mountain Rifle is chambered in .54 Caliber Ball.
How many rounds does the Ames Mountain Rifle hold?
The Ames Mountain Rifle holds 1 rounds.
How long is the Ames Mountain Rifle?
The Ames Mountain Rifle is 1232 mm (48.5 in) long overall, with a 838 mm (33.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Ames Mountain Rifle?
The Ames Mountain Rifle is made by N. P. Ames Manufacturing Company (United States).
When was the Ames Mountain Rifle introduced?
The Ames Mountain Rifle was introduced in 1841 and discontinued in 1855.
How does the Ames Mountain Rifle operate?
The Ames Mountain Rifle uses a muzzleloader action, and its firing mechanism is percussion.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- United States Army
- 1841
Provenance
Confidence in this record
55%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/ames-mountain-rifle' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "ames-mountain-rifle", "name": "Ames Mountain Rifle", "manufacturer": { "id": "ames-manufacturing", "name": "N. P. Ames Manufacturing Company", "countryCode": "US", "foundedYear": 1829, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": "defunct", "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "f774428dc1e66aade8405b6ac17c62c1a406054c24878a5277aabe881fdb6437" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "US", "year_introduced": 1841, "barrel_length_mm": 838, "weight_empty_g": 4400, "action_type": "muzzleloader"}