According to the American Rifleman, the American long rifle, was also known as the “Pennsylvania” rifle because Lancaster and other towns were the “Silicon Valley” of gun innovation during the 1700s, and as the “Kentucky” rifle, because “Kentucky” was the catch-all word used to refer to Virginia’s backcountry.

"Frontiersmen demanded gunsmiths make changes so they were better suited for hunting and for protection, which produced the version of the rifle that became valuable to soldiers." Considering the huge disparity between the British 'Brown Bess' smoothbore musket and the much superior American long rifle, it's hardly surprising that British officers dreaded sk**led American riflemen, who were known to take out targets at 300 yards with the superior weapon, reportedly calling them “widow-makers.”

https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/04/gun-independence-day/

“I never in my life saw better rifles (or men who shot better) than those made in America,” said British Col. George Hanger, who served in South Carolina.

According to the American Rifleman, the American long rifle, was also known as the “Pennsylvania” rifle because Lancaster and other towns were the “Silicon Valley” of gun innovation during the 1700s, and as the “Kentucky” rifle, because “Kentucky” was the catch-all word used to refer to Virginia’s backcountry.

"Frontiersmen demanded gunsmiths make changes so they were better suited for hunting and for protection, which produced the version of the rifle that became valuable to soldiers." Considering the huge disparity between the British 'Brown Bess' smoothbore musket and the much superior American long rifle, it's hardly surprising that British officers dreaded sk**led American riflemen, who were known to take out targets at 300 yards with the superior weapon, reportedly calling them “widow-makers.”

https://dailycaller.com/2019/07/04/gun-independence-day/

Go here:https://archive.org/stream/historyofrocki00wayl/historyofrocki00wayl_djvu.txt


“I never in my life saw better rifles (or men who shot better) than those made in America,” said British Col. George Hanger, who served in South Carolina.