Puckle Gun

James Puckle of London, England, demonstrated his new invention, the

"Puckle Gun," a tripod-mounted, single-barreled flintlock gun fitted with a
multishot revolving cylinder. This weapon fired nine shots per minute at a time
when the standard soldier's musket could be loaded and fired but three times per
minute.

REVOLVERS

Samuel Colt invented the first revolver -- named after its revolving cylinder. He
was issued a U.S. patent in 1836 for the Colt firearm equipped with a revolving
cylinder containing five or six bullets with an innovative cocking device.
In 1854, Eugene Lefaucheux introduced the Lefaucheux Model 1854, the first
revolver to use self-contained metallic cartridges rather than loose powder, pistol
ball, and percussion caps. It is a single-action, pinfire revolver holding six rounds.
Elisha Collier of Boston, Massachusetts patented a flintlock revolver in Britain
in 1818, and significant numbers were being produced in London by 1822.

The M1877 was designed by one of the inventors of the M1873 Colt Single Action
Army, William Mason, as Colt's first attempt at manufacturing a double-action
revolver.

Rollin White (June 6, 1817 March 22, 1892) was an American gunsmith who
invented a bored-through revolver cylinder that allowed metallic cartridges to be
loaded from the rear of a revolver's cylinder.

RIFLES

The breech-loading rifle was invented by Captain Patrick Ferguson of

Pitfours, Scotland.

John Moses Browning - Winchester Rifle 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.
In response the U.S. military began developing their own assault rifle, the result
was the M16 assault rifle, first issued to American Soldiers in Vietnam in 1968
and designed by Eugene Stoner, a Marine Corps Veteran.

John Garand - M1 Semiautomatic RifleCanadian, John Garand invented

the M1 semiautomatic rifle in 1934

The Johnson Rifle-The Johnson Model 1941 Rifle one of the most innovative
rifles of its time period. The Johson rifle was invented by Melvin M. Johnson
Jr.

Samuel Gardiner, Jr. received a U.S. Patent in 1863 on a "high explosive rifle
bullet" in .54, .58, and .69 calibers. Fused to explode 1 1/4 seconds after firing, it
ensured that any soldier hit by the projectile with a range of 400 yards faced the
danger of the bullet exploding within the impact wound. The U.S. Government
purchased 110,000 rounds of such ammunition for issue during the Civil War.
Criticizing the use of similar ammunition by the Confederates, General Ulysses S.
Grant complained that "their use is barbarous because they produce increased
suffering without any increased advantage to using them."

Rifle Scopes- A rifle scope is a refractor telescope used on a rifle. In 1880,

August Fiedler (Stronsdorf), forestry commissioner of Prince Reuss,
managed to build the first telescopic sight that really did work.

MACHINE GUNS

Gatling Gun - 1861Doctor Richard Gatling patented his design of the "Gatling
Gun", a six-barreled weapon capable of firing a (then) phenomenal 200 rounds
per minute.

Maxim Machine Gun - 1885In 1881, a friend of Hiram Maxim, the American
inventor, told him: "If you wanted to make a lot of money, invent something that
will enable these Europeans to cut each other's throats with. Hiram Maxim was
born in Sangersville, Maine in 1840 and was the inventor of the Maxim Machine
Gun and the Maxim Silencer.

Thompson Submachine Gun - Tommy GunThe Thompson submachine

gun or Tommy gun was invented by General John T. Thompson, it was the first
handheld machine gun. Thompson was driven with the thought of creating a
handheld machine gun that would help end the First World War, However, "the
first shipment of prototype guns destined for Europe arrived at the docks in New
York city on November 11, 1918, the day the War ended."

SILENCERS

Hiram Maxim (born 1853) invented the Maxim Silencer or Suppressor: that
attached to the front of the barrel of a pistol and allowed the firearm to be fired
without a loud bang. Invented in 1909, the Maxim Suppressor was the first
commercially successful silencer.

Others

Percussion-cap guns invented by Reverend John Forsyth - firing mechanism

no longer uses flash pan, a tube lead straight into the gun barrel, the tupe had
an explosive cap on it that exploded when struck

Hugo Borchardt was a firearms inventor and engineer, born in Magdeburg,

Germany. He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the
Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle.

The name Kalashnikova comes from the fact that its inventor is Mikhail
Kalashnikov. The original development for this rifle started in 1945 and a
prototype (the AK-46) was submitted for evaluation in 1946, but it was only in
1947 that it was cleared for production for use by select Soviet forces. There have
been several improvements to the original design over the years and there are
now many models in the AK family. With that little bit of history said, let's now
study some of the key features of some models.

The name "derringer" derives its name from Henry Deringer, a Philadelphia
manufacturer, who became famous for his pocket pistol designs. The original
pistol he made in 1825 was a single-shot muzzleloading weapon with
a flintlock firing mechanism, which was the predominantly common firing
mechanism of that time. The caliber of his pistols was pretty large.