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.
If the L&C air rifle actually did malfunction and fire a burst of slugs down range, THAT alone would scare the daylights of the local Indian tribe. Imagine being introduced to a machine gun when the best weapons you had (or could get) were either a bow and arrow or a muzzle loading flint lock musket! Such a demonstration would have been terrifying.