Ballard's No. 5 Pacific

Guns Magazine, July, 2003 by Jim Gardner

Abraham Zettler was a careful and prudent man. The decision to leave his native Pennsylvania for the rich farming land of the Oregon Territory was not made lightly. With the decision behind him, Abraham commenced preparations for the journey west.

One of the first things Abraham did was to trade off the muzzle-loading percussion rifles he and his son Isaac had used for so many years. They were accurate and reliable, serving every need around the farm. But Abraham knew that along the immigrant trail, the safety of his family might well depend upon his skill with the rifle, and he wanted the best available.

In town, he looked over a new Winchester repeater. It was an impressive rifle, and certainly offered fast repeat shots, but seemed complicated. He was unconvinced it would withstand the rigors of the long trail

The shopkeeper attempted to hand Abraham another rifle. Seeing the loading rod in thimbles under the barrel, Abraham waved him off. "No, I just sold two fine cap-lock rifles, I don't want another." Rather than answer, the shopkeep simply smiled and pulled down on the triggerguard to open the action. The look on Abraham's face told the merchant a sale was near.

"What cartridge does it take?"

The shopkeep answered by placing an open box on the counter. Abraham examined the long lean .40-63 cartridge and compared it to the much shorter .44 Winchester shells. "And what is it called, this rifle?"

"It's a Ballard, Mr. Zettler," the man behind the counter answered, "The Ballard Pacific model."

To Abraham it seemed like fate. A short time later, he headed home with two of the heavy rifles in his wagon box, along with cartridges, loading tools and bullet mold. There would be thousands of miles and many uncertainties before him on the trek toward the distant Pacific ocean, but he knew he had done all a man could to guarantee his family's safety.

Born In Conflict

Charles H. Ballard's original patent for a breech-loading rifle firing self-contained cartridges was issued on November 5, 1861. George Layman's The Ballard Breechloader, reveals the rifle was produced by no less than five different manufacturers prior to 1875, and total production is thought to have been about 20,000. These early Ballards were all chambered for rimfire cartridges, and featured an external, manually operated extractor.

The post-Civil War years were difficult ones for arms makers. The Brown Manufacturing Co., producers of the Ballard rifle, folded in 1873. Doubtless this would have been the end of the Ballard story, but arrangements were made for the Ballard to be manufactured by the John M. Marlin Company, which commenced production in 1875.

Marlin hit the ground running. By January of 1876, Marlin had announced two significant improvements -- a reversible firing pin to accommodate both rimfire and centerfire cartridges in the same rifle, and an automatic, internal extractor. Also in 1876, the Marlin/Ballard rifles began to be chambered for the heavy, centerfire cartridges needed on the frontier.

The rifle was reliable, simple to operate, and gave good accuracy. C.H. Ballard's unique design placed the lock-work inside a split breechblock, securing it against rain and dust. Marlin produced the Ballard rifles in a series of different models designed both for hunting and target work through 1891.

The Ballard Rifle Today

Today, 112 years after Marlin ceased production, you can once again purchase a brand new Ballard rifle. Ballard Rifle LLC, of Cody, Wyo., offers all the most popular versions of the original Marlin/Ballard line. We've mentioned Ballard Rifle a number of times in the past year, and won't go into detail about the company here, but to understand what makes these rifles so special, you must know something about the way they're built.

On a brief tour of the facility a couple of years ago, I had the chance to watch these craftsmen at work. I was absolutely amazed to see the amount of patient handwork that goes into each rifle. As an example, I watched one of the artisans fitting a buttplate.

Rather than using modem power tools in an effort to hurry the job and cut costs, he was doing it the old fashioned way. A coat of inletting black was applied to the buttplate, which was held in position and then struck lightly. Removing it, the high spots were now marked, and were carefully shaved off with a razor-sharp chisel. After a series of patient strokes, the high spots were marked again, and the process repeated continually until the fit was perfect.

Everything about the Ballard operation was impressive, but the incredibly beautiful finish on the completed rifles, particularly the color-casehardening left me speechless.

A great many firearms made today, particularly replica arms, sport "case colored" finishes. Often, this is only an ornamental surface finish produced with chemicals. True casehardening produces a thin "skin" of wear resistant, glass-hard steel over a tough, shock-resistant core. The "colors" come during the quench process and while they may not add to the functional utility of the rifle, they add greatly to its appeal.