Ballard No. 5½ Montana
Marlin Firearms · Rifle · Out Of Production · 1882
Also known as: Marlin Ballard No. 5½ Montana, Ballard Montana, No. 5 1/2 Montana
Overview
The Ballard No. 5½ Montana is a heavy single-shot, breech-loading falling-block rifle built on Charles Henry Ballard's action and produced by Marlin Firearms of New Haven, Connecticut for roughly two years, from about 1882 to 1884. Improved by John M. Marlin and marketed as the most powerful rifle in the Marlin-Ballard line, the Montana wore an extra-heavy No. 5½ weight octagon barrel as wide as its frame and was chambered exclusively for the potent .45-100 Sharps straight black-powder cartridge. It used double-set triggers offering either a standard eight-pound pull or a hair trigger, an extended loop finger lever sized for the set trigger, and a wooden wiping rod carried beneath the barrel in thimbles, with the whole rifle weighing about fourteen pounds.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 6350 g (224.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1245 mm (49.02") |
| Barrel Length | 813 mm (32.01") |
| Action Type | Falling Block |
| Firing Mechanism | Hammer Fired |
| Trigger Type | Double Set |
| Trigger Pull | 36 N (8.1 lbf) |
| Magazine Capacity | 1 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Muzzle Velocity | 430 m/s (1411 fps) |
| Muzzle Energy | 3290 J (2427 ft·lbf) |
| Effective Range | 270 m (295 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 1000 m (1094 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 8 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Blued |
Calibers
- .45-100 Sharps · primary — also known as .45-100, .45-100 Sharps Straight, .45-100-550
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Single Shot Breech Loading
- Safety mechanisms: Half Cock Hammer
- Features: Falling Block Action, Extended Loop Lever, Double Set Triggers, Heavy Octagon Barrel, Wooden Wiping Rod, Crescent Or Shotgun Buttplate, Tang Sight Provision
Base model
Service history
Operators
- American buffalo and big-game hunters
Production
Estimated total produced: 1,650 · Production years: 1882-1884
Estimates range from about 1,500 to 1,800 rifles; very few survive, making the Montana among the most sought-after Marlin-Ballard single-shots
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Charles Henry Ballard, improved by John M. Marlin
Discontinued: 1884
Notes
One of the rarest of all Marlin-Ballard models. Production estimates run from roughly 1,500 to 1,800 rifles, but surviving examples are scarce; the standard reference 'Ballard: The Great American Single Shot' originally identified only about 14 No. 5½ Montana rifles, with a handful more documented since. The Montana arrived just as the great buffalo herds were vanishing, leaving little market for so heavy a hunting rifle.
Background
Named for the Montana buffalo country it was meant to hunt, the No. 5½ Montana was the biggest and heaviest of the Marlin-Ballard single-shots — a fourteen-pound falling-block chambered for the thumping .45-100 Sharps. It appeared just as the buffalo were disappearing, and so few were built that the model is now one of the rarest prizes among American single-shot collectors.