At that time, the Indians were using single shot muzzle loaders (few of them who had contact with the French or British) or the ubiquitous bow and arrow. The Indians knew the limitations of the L&C muzzle loading firearms. But, they were blown away by a nearly silent, smokeless, flashless, repeating air gun that was very accurate and killed game. They did not know how many L&C had or how long it took to charge the air flask, but they observed the results and were impressed (and frightened if they had to go up against L&C armed with these guns).
The article I read that mentioned the mis-fire causing the rifle to shoot five or six rounds like a machine gun due to worn parts was in the Washington Arms Collector’s monthly news magazine. Sorry but I don’t know what issue it was in.