History of Firearms

Gunpowder 1232: The Chinese who invented gunpowder (black powder) first used it in a weapon - gunpowder filled tubes aka rockets.

MUSKET During the time of the American Revolution the most popular firearm that was in use by the main armies of the world was the "flintlock musket“, a long, heavy, somewhat cumbersome weapon.

MUSKET It was a "muzzleloading" weapon as were most weapons at the time. The powder and projectile had to be loaded down the barrel from the front with the help of a wood or metal. It could only fire one shot, a large round lead ball, before it had to be reloaded.

MUSKET The main use of the Flintlock musket was to provide "volley fire" by the soldiers: that is a large amount of soldiers stood in a line next to each other and fired their weapons at once on command. This could produce a devastating effect if the enemy was within the useable range of under 100 yards, more often 80 yards.

COLT REVOLVER Samuel Colt invented the first mass-produced, multi-shot, revolving firearms in 1836.

GATLING GUN In 1861, Doctor Richard Gatling patented the Gatling Gun, a six-barreled weapon capable of firing a (then) phenomenal 200 rounds per minute. The Gatling gun was a hand-driven, crank-operated, multi-barrel, machine gun. The first machine gun with reliable loading, the Gatling gun had the ability to fire sustained multiple bursts.

WINCHESTER RIFLE 1873: John Moses Browning was the prolific gun designer who invented the Winchester rifle (30/30), the pump shotgun, and the Colt 45 automatic. He is best known for his automatic pistols and was the first one to invent the slide, which encloses the barrel of a pistol and the firing mechanism.

AUTOMATIC PISTOL The first automatic pistol was developed by the Austrian inventor Joseph Laumann in 1892.The Laumann pistol was made by the Steyr factory in Austria

AUTOMATIC RIFLE In 1903 and 1905, the Winchester Company introduced the first semi-automatic rifles designed especially for the civilian market. .