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The History of Guns, Rifles, and Machine Guns

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The History of Guns, Rifles, and Machine Guns

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Since the introduction of the flintlock musket in the 17th century, military small arms have gone through a series of significant changes over the years.

Puckle Gun

In 1718, 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.

Puckle demonstrated two versions of the basic design. One weapon, intended for use against Christian enemies, fired conventional round bullets, while the second variant, designed to be used against the Muslim Turks, fired square bullets, which were believed to cause more severe and painful wounds than spherical projectiles. The "Puckle Gun" failed to attract investors and never achieved mass production or sales to the British armed forces. One newspaper of the period observed following the business venture's failure that "those are only wounded who hold shares therein."

According to the Patent Office of the United Kingdom, "In the reign of Queen Anne, the law officers of the Crown established as a condition of a patent that the inventor must in writing describe the invention and the manner in which it works." James Puckle's 1718 patent for a gun was one of the first to provide a description.

Revolvers

History of the Colt Revolver
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. See also - Samuel Colt and the Revolver

Rifles

The breech-loading rifle was invented by Captain Patrick Ferguson of Pitfours, Scotland.

John Moses Browning - Winchester Rifle
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.

John Moses Browning

Modern Assault Rifles - M16 History
The history of the modern assault rifle begins with the German Sturmgewehr used during WW2, the first rifle that could fire a medium size bullet at high rates of fire. 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 Rifle
Canadian, 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
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 - 1861
Doctor 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 - 1885
In 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 Gun
The 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.

History of Guns Timeline

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

1364: First recorded use of a firearm - shooter lit wicks by hand that ignited gunpowder that was loaded into the gun barrel.

1400s: Matchlock guns - first mechanically firing of guns. Wicks were now attached to a clamp that sprang into gunpowder that was placed in a "flash pan".

1509: Wheel lock guns - wicks were replaced the wheel lock that generated a spark for igniting the gunpowder.

1630: Flintlock guns - the flintlock did two things mechanically, it opened the lid of the flash pan and provided an igniting spark.

1825: 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

1830: Back action lock

1835: Colt revolver - first mass-produced, multi-shot, revolving firearms

1840: Pin-fire cartridges

1850: Shotguns

1859: Full rim-fire cartridge

1860: Spencer repeating carbine patented

1861: Breech loaded guns

1869: Center-fire cartridge

1871: Cartridge revolver

1873: Winchester rifle

1877: Double-action revolver

1879: Lee box magazine patented

1892: Automatic handguns invented by Joseph Laumann

1893: Borchardt pistol - automatic handgun with a separate magazine in the grip

1903: First automatic rifle a Winchester.

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Do You Know the Full History of Guns and Firearms?

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Since the introduction of the flintlock musket in the 17th century, military small arms have gone through a series of significant changes over the years. Puckle Gun In 1718, 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.

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How does an automatic rifle work? - Quora

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How does an automatic rifle work? - Quora

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How Do Firearms Work? | MT | Hunter Ed.com™

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How Do Firearms Work? | MT | Hunter Ed.com™

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How Do Firearms Work? | MT | Hunter Ed.com™

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Study the topic "How Do Firearms Work?" from the official Montana Hunter Ed Course Study Guide.

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How Does a Rifle Work? | Gone Outdoors | Your Adventure Awaits

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How Does a Rifle Work? | Gone Outdoors | Your Adventure Awaits

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Rifles are commonly used for hunting and target shooting.

David De Lossy/Digital Vision/Getty Images

A rifle works similarly to other types of guns, but its design allows for more accurate and higher velocity shooting. Because of a rifle's long barrel, it's designed to be held with the butt of the gun pressed against the shoulder. It's the length of the barrel, as well as grooves inside the barrel which spin the bullet, that improve velocity and accuracy.

How a Rifle Shoots a Bullet

The firing of a bullet from a rifle begins with a pull of the trigger. Once pulled, the firing pin snaps forward to strike the primer at the base of the cartridge case, which is inserted into the chamber at the base of the barrel. The cartridge case (shell) contains a primer charge, gunpowder and bullet. When the firing pin strikes the primer, a spark ignites the gunpowder which rapidly burns, creating an explosive expansion of gas which forces the bullet out of the cartridge and through the barrel at a high velocity.

The Barrel of a Rifle

What distinguishes a rifle from most shotguns is the rifling, or spiraled grooves, within the interior of the rifle barrel. As the bullet moves through the barrel, the grooves cause it to rotate. This spinning introduces other forces that keep the tip of the bullet pointed at the target, limiting the wobbling and tumbling that cause the bullet to stray off its straight-line path.

Reloading Types

Rifles can either feature a bolt-action, semi-automatic or automatic reloading mechanism, depending on its design. Bolt-action rifles have to be manually reloaded by the shooter after each shot. Semi-automatic rifles use the recoil from the last shot bullet to automatically feed a bullet into the firing chamber from a magazine which contains multiple rounds. A semi-automatic rifle requires a pull of the trigger for each shot. An automatic rifle functions much in the same way, but can fire multiple rounds in rapid succession by pulling and holding the trigger.

Role of Sights and Scopes

Optical sighting devices, including sights and scopes, are commonly mounted to the tops of rifles to improve aiming and accuracy. Iron sights feature two components, one at the muzzle end of the barrel referred to as the bead or post, and one at the other end, closer to the shooter's eye, called the notch. By aligning the post within the notch, your rifle is "sighted" and pointed in the direction of your target. Rifle scopes are essentially telescopes that feature lenses which magnify light and makes the distant target appear significantly closer than if viewed by the unaided eye. Some rifle scopes feature a power ring on the outside of the scope that can be turned to increase or decrease magnification. Many scopes also include elevation and windage knobs to compensate for the bullet drop over greater distances and the deflection caused by air and wind. The rifle mounted with a scope is aimed at the target by holding the reticle within the scope -- or crosshairs -- steady on the target.

About the Author

Kim Nunley has been screenwriting and working as an online health and fitness writer since 2005. She's had multiple short screenplays produced and her feature scripts have placed at the Austin Film Festival. Prior to writing full-time, she worked as a strength coach, athletic coach and college instructor. She holds a master's degree in kinesiology from California State University, Fullerton.

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A rifle works similarly to other types of guns, but its design allows for more accurate and higher velocity shooting. Because of a rifle's long barrel, it's designed to be held with the butt of the gun pressed against the shoulder.

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A Brief History of U.S. Military Rifles | Range365

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A Brief History of U.S. Military Rifles | Range365

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Small arms innovation has been the determination of what an infantry-based army is capable of for centuries. In ancient times, soldiers with iron swords and spearpoints made cheese-graters out of Bronze-Age armor. Troops carrying muskets made heavy steel armor, the standard of warfare for generations, obsolete. Later, soldiers armed with repeaters and revolvers were far more effective in combat against enemies armed with single-shot muzzleloaders.

On and on the progression marches, through the trenches of WWI and the European and Pacific theaters of WWII, all the way to modern times. The rifle is the modern sword and shield, the tool of a soldier on the battlefield so intimate that many veterans still remember the serial number from the gun they were first issued.

Here we take a quick tour through the long-guns that have served U.S. armed forces since the nation began, from the first rifles that earned Americans the reputation of expert marksmen to the modern battlefield implements of today.

The original American small arm was the muzzleloading long rifle, also known as the Pennsylvania Rifle or the Kentucky Rifle, which helped the fledgling nation win its independence from Britain. The musket known as the Brown Bess was also quite common in the colonies at the time, which was the standard British long gun from 1722 until 1838-but unlike the American long guns, the Brown Bess was a smoothbore flintlock with no rifling.

The long guns were mostly modified small frame rifles that were originally designed in Europe and could be accurate out to about 270 yards, but fired a relatively small caliber projectile, usually somewhere between .32 and .45 caliber, from very long barrels.

A piece of flint was grasped in the vice-like jaws held in place by a screw wrapped in a felt pad to keep it from cracking. When the trigger is pulled, the flint strikes the frizzen which generates a spark that ignites powder in the flash pan, which in turn ignites the main charge in the barrel and fires the weapon.

Each time the weapon was loaded, powder had to be poured into the flash pan as well as the barrel before the rifle could be cocked and fired-not exactly easy to do under battle stress and/or in wet conditions. Even so, these weapons dominated the battlefield for about 100 years.

Flintlocks were eventually succeeded by muzzleloading caplock rifles. To ignite the main charge, a percussion cap, which is basically just a big primer, was struck by the hammer and, in turn, ignited the main charge in the barrel. It replaced the entire flint assembly, frizzen, and flash pan with a simple hammer and the step of placing a cap on the nipple cone, creating a significant advantage for battlefield troops.

The system was actually patented way back in 1807 by Rev. Alexander John Forsyth, because he got sick of birds getting spooked by the smoke from the flash pan before his shot was fired, though he never got beyond that point. It wasn't until Forsyth's patents expired that the system was actually developed. Many older flintlock weapons were converted to caplocks once their use became common.

An example from this era is the Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket, which was a .577 caliber Minié-type muzzleloader and was used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867. On the American side of the pond, the Springfield Rifle Musket or the Springfield Model 1861, a .58-caliber Minié ball rifled muzzleloader, became a common arm during the Civil War. It was capable of hitting a man-sized target at distances as great as 500 yards. Along with the revised 1863 model, it was the last muzzleloader adopted by the U.S. Army.

By the end of the Civil War, about 1.5 million Springfield rifle muskets had been produced.

Next up is 1873 Trapdoor Springfield, representative of the beginning of the age of the metallic cartridge and the breech-loading rifle, forever making muzzleloaders and other actions curiosities for hunters and collectors.

At the tail end of the Civil War, cartridge guns like the first lever rifles and the Spencer rifle began appearing on the battlefield. But that was a time of great transition for firearms, and the military was slow to catch up. In the 1870s the military officially adopted the Trapdoor Springfield in full length and carbine versions. It was a single-shot rifle that took a .45-70 rimfire cartridge that was originally made of copper-which expanded too much in the breech when the round was fired, and grew a green film of oxidation when carried in leather shell holders that often jammed the Springfield.

This was a serious problem for the carbine version, which had no ramrod to clear it. Brass eventually replaced copper and became the new standard for all cartridges.

The Model 1873 was replaced by the Springfield Model 1892 bolt-action rifle, which had an action based on the Norewegian Krag-Jorgensen action. It was the first rifle in .30 caliber, and the first using smokeless powder in a rimmed centerfire cartridge, bringing us closer to the modern age of firearms. It had an unusual feeding system and wasn't around for long, but it represented two huge advancements for U.S. military arms.

It held more than one round and fired a pointed (spitzer shaped) cartridge increasing it's range, accuracy, and velocity over the round or flat-nosed bullets which were required for use with a lever-action rifle.

After the Spanish American War in 1898 the U.S. copied the design of the Mauser action to create the Springfield M1903 bolt-action rifle.

It had an internal magazine, with some variants holding up to 25 rounds, and could be quickly loaded with stripper clips.

The bolt-action rifle most commonly held five rounds and was originally chambered in .30-03, but was soon manufactured in the new .30-06 cartridge.

The M1903 was officially adopted as the U.S. military's service rifle in 1903 and was our go-to rifle in World War I. It saw continued use in WWII, even as it was being phased out and was officially replaced by the semi-auto M1 Garand beginning in 1937.

It was also used as a sniper rifle in WWII, in the Korean War, and even in the early stages of the Vietnam War.

Now, it's a classic bolt-gun that's still very effective and is popular with civilians, collectors, and as a military drill rifle.

During World War II, the semi-automatic M1 Garand began to replace the Springfield '03, representing a permanent shift for the U.S. military toward semi-auto gas-operated rifles. In fact, it was the first semi-auto rifle every issued by any military.

As the '03 was the definitive American rifle during WWI, the Garand was such for the Second World War, seeing heavy action and gaining a reputation as a rugged, and reliable rifle, even if it was a little heavy.

The only wide criticism of the rifle was the fact that it had an internal magazine that was loaded by an en-bloc, a metal clip that holds 8 rounds, instead of a detachable box magazine. The clip ejected with the last round, making a distinctive ping sound, which some speculated the enemy could hear and use as an indicator of when to attack, though this is unlikely. Another down-side the Garand shared with almost every rifle of the time was that its wood stock tended swell and warp in humid and wet climates, affecting the rifle's accuracy.

The Garand was fielded by U.S. troops through the Korean war, until the M14 came along.

While the M1 Garand was a fine, reliable, and powerful, it was large, heavy, and cumbersome for many combat roles, with a length of 43.5 inches and a weight of as much as 11.6 pounds. The M1 Carbine filled the roles that a Garand could not, especially for troops serving in specialized roles such as paratroopers and tank crewmembers.

The original design for the M1 Carbine, which won a military competition in 1941, was designed by Jonathan "Ed" Browning, brother of the more famous John Moses Browning for Winchester. After Browning's death, Winchester hired David Marshall Williams to complete the design. After much testing and refinement, the M1 Carbine was approved on Oct. 22, 1941.

The M1 Carbine weighed 5.8 pounds fully loaded with a sling with a length of just 35.6 inches and an 18-inch barrel. The gun feeds from a detachable box magazine of varying capacities and is chambered for the .30 Carbine round, which is a rimless version of the old .32 Winchester Self-Loading cartridge, introduced with the Winchester Model 1905 rifle, though with modern propellant, the .30 Carbine was about 27 percent more powerful.

At 100 yards, the M1 Carbine could delivers groups between 3 and 5 inches with a maximum range of 300 yards, though bullet drop is significant beyond 200 yards. A paratrooper version of the carbine was later issued during the war with a folding wire stock that made the gun even more compact for jumps. It could be fired with the stock folded or extended and quickly deployed once troopers hit the ground.

The M2 Carbine was also introduced during the war in 1944 with a selective fire switch, allowing it to run in full-auto at 750 rounds per minute.

Though it was never intended to serve as a primary weapon for combat infantrymen, the M1 and M2 Carbines were superior to the .45 ACP 1911 pistol and soldiers could carry more .30 caliber ammo than they could .30-06. it was eventually widely issued and used, though there were regular reports of poor stopping power from the .30 Carbine round-however its use of non-corrosive primers was a godsend to troops serving in the humid Pacific jungles.

The M1 and M2 received small updates through Korea and Vietnam, and semi-auto versions became quite popular on the civilian market for many years.

The M14 was intended to replace the M1 Garand and was issued from 1959 until 1964. It was, for the most part, an M1 Garand with a detachable box magazine and a tweaked gas system. It was a big advantage over the M1 in some respects, but it was still a very heavy rifle, though it fired the .308 Win, or 7.62 x 51mm NATO, a smaller round than the .30-06. It fired in full-auto, but it was not very accurate in that mode. It's still regarded as a very accurate in semi-auto fire.

While it was quickly replaced during the Vietnam War by the M16 and was never really viable as a widely-issued infantry arm, the M14 didn't die and became useful as a special-purpose long-range rifle. In the 1970s, the Army converted several thousand M14s to M21 sniper rifles, which remained the standard issue semi-auto long-range rifle until the adoption of the M24 SWS in 1988.

In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Marine Corps chose a new gun to serve as a Designated Marksman Rifle and gave the old M14 a new life. They chose M14s modified by the Precision Weapons Shop in Marine Corps Base Quantico designated the DMR. It was intended to be used by security teams and Marine Scout Snipers in the cases where a semi-auto rifle would be more appropriate than a bolt gun.

The USMC still uses the M14 in shooting competitions, and various configurations are still used in specialty roles by various branches.

The M14 was replaced early in the Vietnam War by the much lighter and smaller M16 rifle, which also boasted a synthetic stock and forend that would not swell and warp in the jungle humidity.

The first M16 issued to troops was based on Eugene Stoner's AR-15 designed by Armalite, and included modern materials for the time like aluminum and polymers. Instead of the M14's .308 Win. or the .30-06 before it, the M16 opted for smaller, faster projectiles and a greater ammo capacity instead of longer-range, harder hitting battle rifle calibers. Consequently, the new rifle was chambered for the small and speedy 5.56x45 round.

The original M16 had a lot of problems, mostly due to the ammo issued for it being loaded with the wrong powder, and the barrel not being chrome-lined as the prototypes were, leading to a lot of jams and hatred for the new "plastic" rifle, not to mention resulting U.S. casualties.

It didn't help that the M16 was billed as a self-cleaning rifle and wasn't even issued with a cleaning kit at first. It was quickly realized that a direct impingement rifle, which channels gas from the bore directly into the action to move the bolt, is far from self-cleaning. The M16A1 fixed a lot of these problems along with changes to the rifle's magazine construction. It added a forward assist, which was designed to help seat a round in the chamber when reloading, a bras deflector, chrome lined chambered and barrel, and a new flash hider that wouldn't catch on straps and foliage. Most remaining design flaws were solved with the introduction of the M16A2.

The most current version of the rifle, the M16A4, ditched the integrated carry handle for a full-top rail and removable carry handle with additional Picatinny rail sections, so a variety of modern optics and accessories could be more easily integrated, though it retains the M16's integrated front sight, which is part of the gas block.

Variants of the M16 are still in service today, though it has been replaced by the shorter M4 Carbine for many applications.

The M4 is the carbine version of the M16, with a collapsible stock and shorter length (usually a 14-inch barrel), but still chambered for the 5.56.

It's an evolution of the Colt Automatic Rifle-15 Military Weapons System, better known as the CAR-15, which was made by Colt in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was used by some units in Vietnam. Afterward, it was issued as the Colt Commando for applications that required more mobility and compactness, but better range and a harder-hitting round than the pistol-caliber MP5 submachine gun or the aging M3 "Grease Gun".

The M4 carbine was developed from a variety of shortened M16A1-style carbines. The XM4 (Colt Model 727) started its military trials in the mid-1980s with a 14.5-inch barrel. It was officially adopted in 1994 as a replacement for the M3 submachine gun as well as for the Beretta M9 pistol and the M16A2 for some troops.

It has since seen extensive use in the Afghanistan and Iraq theaters, where it's compact size and versatility has proven advantageous in the often confined, building-to-building fighting U.S. troops most often engage in. The smaller M4 is also easier for vehicle-mounted troops to handle.

Currently, the Marine Corps and U.S. Army are both in the process of phasing out the M16 and bringing in the M4 as their standard service weapon.

The M4 has three-round-burst and semi-auto firing modes, while the M4A1 carbine has a fully automatic firing mode instead of the burst. Both have a full Picatinny top rail for mounting optics and accessories.

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Small arms innovation has been the determination of what an infantry-based army is capable of for centuries. In ancient times, soldiers with iron swords and spearpoints made cheese-graters out of Bronze-Age armor. Troops carrying muskets made heavy steel armor, the standard of warfare for generations, obsolete.

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Firearms History, Technology & Development: Actions: Bolt Action

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Firearms History, Technology & Development: Actions: Bolt Action

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In the last couple of posts, we studied the break-open action and the sliding barrel action. Now we will study another type of action that is known for its sturdiness and is still with us. This action is the bolt action.

We actually studied the first weapon to use a bolt action a while earlier. It happens to be the Dreyse Needle Gun. This gun had a number of firsts to its name:

1. It was the first mass-produced military weapon using breech-loading technology.

2. The ammunition it used burned almost completely, so it didn't need to eject the paper casing after firing the weapon. This was a precursor to caseless ammunition.

3. It was the first bolt-action breechloading weapon.

The action was a significantly new invention in 1841, when the Dreyse needle gun was first introduced. It allowed the user to reload significantly faster than the opposition who were still using muzzle-loading weapons (almost 5 times the shooting speed). It also had the advantage that the user didn't need to stand up to reload the weapon and therefore could hide behind cover.

The basic idea of a bolt-action weapon is a manually operated bolt, which is manipulated by a handle, typically on the right side of the weapon. The handle is used to unlock the bolt and open the breech cover. The old cartridge case is then ejected from the breech chamber. The opening of the bolt may also cock the weapon in some models. Then a new cartridge is put in the chamber and the handle is then moved forward to close the bolt. In some models, the action of closing the bolt cocks the weapon. The weapon is then ready to fire.

In some models, opening the bolt causes an extractor lever to automatically pull the old cartridge case out of the chamber to eject it. The magazine has a spring that pushes a new cartridge into the chamber, when the old cartridge case is pulled out by the extraction lever. Such a mechanism is used in many bolt-action rifles, such as the Springfield M1903 rifle which carries a 5-shot magazine under it. This speeds up shooting because the user doesn't need to waste time pulling out the old cartridge or feeding a new one by hand.

Compared to other actions, the bolt-action has a few advantages. It is extremely simple to make, yet has very high accuracy. It is very cheap to manufacture and very light-weight. Best of all, it is a very strong action and can handle powerful cartridges. The only downside to it is that it doesn't support a very high rate of fire compared to some other alternatives. Since most modern military rifles are semi-automatic or selective fire weapons, they don't use this mechanism. However, the simplicity combined with the accuracy and the ability to handle high powered cartridges make it ideal to be used in sniper rifles. In fact, the bolt-action is overwhelmingly the action of choice in most of the sniper rifles used throughout the world. This mechanism is also used in many hunting rifles, where rate of fire is not as important as accuracy and power.

There are three major variants of bolt-action rifles which we will study below.

The Mauser M-98 system was first introduced in 1898 (hence M-98) with the Mauser Gewehr 98 rifle, which was used by the Germans between 1898 and 1935. This highly successful bolt-action design was later used in a lot of other rifles and is the dominant form of bolt-actions used today. In this type, the rifle is cocked when the bolt-action is opened. The Gewehr 98 has a 5-round magazine.

The image above shows an original Mauser model from 1898. The weapon was designed with a lot of thought. The bolt handle is securely attached to the bolt and there are a couple of gas vent holes built into the bolt, so that if there is a rupture in the cartridge case or primer, the hot gases will vent out of the magazine hole instead of near the user's face. The "controlled feed" extractor claw holds on to the cartridge the moment it has fed from the magazine and holds on to it until the cartridge case is ejected. The weapon is cocked as the bolt is opened (actually, it specifically cocks as the bolt handle is rotated upwards, before pulling back to open the bolt) and the rear part of the striker protrudes from the back of the bolt, which allows one to quickly check if the rifle is cocked or not visually. The original mauser design was not given to cheap mass-production.

Another variant of bolt action is the cock-on-bolt-closing design. This is famously called the "Lee Enfield design" as it was first used in the Lee-Enfield rifle of 1895, otherwise known as the SMLE (Short Magazine Lee-Enfield) rifle. This rifle was heavily used in the British Commonwealth and its descendant is still used by Indian police, which makes it the longest serving bolt-action rifle model in existence.

The above is an example of a Lee-Enfield Mark I rifle. In this rifle, pushing the bolt closed cocks the rifle. This makes opening the bolt a lot faster and smoother, compared to the cock-on-opening design of the Mauser. This feature, coupled with its larger capacity 10-round magazine meant that a user could shoot 20-30 times in 60 seconds, making it the fastest bolt-action rifle of its day. The Lee Enfield rifles fire a 0.303 bullet. Note that the 0.303 bullet actually measures 0.311 inches in diameter, as we have noted previously.

The Indian Ordnance board later made a variant of this rifle called the Ishapore 2A1, which was based on the Lee Enfield Mark III rifle model.

The main difference is that the Ishapore 2A1 rifle is chambered to fire a standard NATO 7.62 x 51 mm. round. As a result of this, the steel used in this weapon is also improved to handle the higher pressures of the NATO cartridge. This rifle has the distinction of being the last bolt-action rifle designed to be used by a regular military force (other than sniper rifles, which are for special forces only). It is still used by police in various states in India. It is also popular with civilian shooters in the UK and USA.

The Lee-Enfield cock-on-closing-bolt system was also used on a number of other rifles, mostly made in the UK and other commonwealth countries.

A third variant is the Mosin-Nagant system, which was first used by the Mosin-Nagant rifle in 1895. Unlike the Mauser system, the bolt head rotates with the bolt and lugs, whereas the Mauser has the bolt head is an integral (non-removable) part of the bolt. It is also unlike the Lee-Enfield where the bolt head remains stationary and the bolt alone rotates. It is a rugged design, but is complicated. This type of bolt-action was mostly used in Russia, but one version called the M28 was manufactured by the Finns. The M28 is widely regarded as one of the finest and most accurate military rifles ever produced and was used by the most successful sniper of all time, a Finn named Simo Hayha.

There are other bolt-action systems, but never caught on as much as the above three systems.

Bolt actions are more accurate than semi-automatic rifles, which is why hunters and military snipers still use them. The reason is because when the cartridge is fired, the entire energy is devoted to propelling the bullet out of the rifle, unlike a semi-automatic or automatic weapon, where part of the energy is diverted to eject the old cartridge, auto-cock the weapon and load a new cartridge. It also has less moving parts than most other action types. The only parts that really move in a bolt-action when it is being fired are the spring and the firing pin. This simple and strong design means it can fire magnum cartridges as well. One more advantage for snipers is that it does not eject the spent round automatically, which is beneficial to the sniper because it does not give away his position and he can decide to eject the round himself when it is safe to do so. The only disadvantage is that it is slower to use than some other actions. So, while it may not be as useful to an ordinary infantryman, this action is more valuable to snipers and hunters and has thrived for these reasons even to the present day.

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In the last couple of posts, we studied the break-open action and the sliding barrel action. Now we will study another type of action that is known for its sturdiness and is still with us. This action is the bolt action. We actually studied the first weapon to use a bolt action a while earlier.

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The history of the rifle is a long one, but the term rifle was originally applied to the grooving inside a barrel with the first examples being referred to as "rifled guns" or "rifled muzzleloaders". As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary: "Rifle: a gun that has a long barrel and is held against the shoulder when you shoot it, or to cut spiral grooves into the bore of." It is also possibly from the French term, rifler, which is to scratch or file.

Rifling in itself is not specific to shoulder fired guns, as cannons had been rifled as early as 1664, and examples used in 1776 by the British. There are common features which separate cannons from rifles; a stock, barrel and trigger/ignition mechanism. There are variations on these three features as technology progressed and, for many years, early rifles shared characteristics of their non-rifled contemporaries such as muskets and shotguns. It's hard to talk about rifles without also talking about ammunition. In the history of the rifle technological evolution and innovation have affected each other. I will cover a few specific examples of both firearms and ammunition that shaped what became a modern rifle.

History of the Rifle Stock

The first step in the history of the rifle was the stock. A stock is the part of the gun placed against the shoulder to facilitate aiming and recoil management. This can be made of wood, plastic or metal depending on the manufacturer and time period. It is often a permanent part of the assembly that holds the mechanical working parts of the rifle. Folding, collapsible or attachable versions have also been developed. A stock is not exclusive to a rifle, as machine guns, shotguns, submachine guns and even pistols have had them through the years. The term stock dated to 1571 is derived from the Germanic word stoc, meaning tree trunk, referring to the wooden nature of the gunstock.

The first hand cannons simply had a wooden pole attached to the breech end to provide a handle. They could not be aimed and fired by one man effectively. The Arbuequest, a matchlock with a long barrel, was the first appearance of a stock that could be braced against the shoulder and held with two hands. This was due to the innovation of the slow burning match, which allowed one man to light the fuse, brace the gun and sight down its barrel.

History of the Rifle Barrel

The most distinct feature that makes a rifle is the way its barrel works. Helical grooves are formed in the barrel, which impart a spin to a projectile along its axis. Machining or forging created these grooves. The spin creates gyroscopic stability, which improves the aerodynamic properties and therefore accuracy. Invented in Germany in the 15th century, rifling was first polygonal and shaped in a spiral pattern. This created hills and valleys and created a spin on the projectile. This was replaced for a time by conventional rifling where deep groves are cut into the barrel, which also created spin and increased accuracy. The soft metal of the projectile would deform into the rifling and start the spin, and in some cases fins or ribs where added to the ball to fit into the rifles grooves. Polygonal rifling has come back into common use today in many handguns by CZ, H&K and Glock, with claims that it provides longer service life and has higher velocities.

Conventional Polygonal

Smooth bore muskets do not have rifling. The spherical projectile was smaller in diameter than the barrel, and the projectile would bounce against the sides creating instability. One of the first adaptations of the musket was the Kentucky rifle, in the early 1700s. German immigrants created long barreled rifled muzzleloaders. The smaller diameter barrel and tight fitting lead ball made it more accurate, but it was slower to load. It was the slower reload time of the rifled guns that made them less desirable as a military firearm at the time.

Ammunition

In the history of the rifle it was the introduction of the "Minie" Ball in 1840 that allowed rifled muskets to replaced smoothbore muskets as the primary military firearm. The Minie was a conical projectile that would expand and deform. This would create friction and engage the rifling. For the most part the longer the barrel the more spin and more accuracy one would have. However, barrel length had little to do with the definition of a rifle. Until the 19th century there was little standardization of barrel length. The Brown Bess musket the British army carried had a barrel length of 42 inches, while cavalry units would have short-barreled guns ranging from 24 to 32 inches. In the 20th century, a barrel length of about 20 inches sets the difference between rifles and carbines. A carbine is simply a smaller length rifle.

Powder Fired Rifles

The way the powder was ignited has changed the efficiency and ammunition capacity of rifles.

First, fulminate of mercury, then potassium chlorate and now lead styphnate is used for propellant. The ignition of the powder, or deflagration, creates expanding gas pushing the bullet out of the barrel. The first simple hand cannons simply had a hole in the barrel to insert a fuse and ignite the powder. This was followed by matchlocks, which used a slow burning match and a small pan holding powder. Flint and wheel lock guns followed in the 15 and 1600's, which were of similar design and function. These early firearms had to be cocked and caught by the sear, which holds the hammer back, before each shot. In 1610 Marin le Bourgeois developed the flintlock rifle. The trigger releases a spring-loaded mechanism that causes a flint to strike a steel surface; the ensuing spark ignites gunpowder and propels a spherical bullet.

In 1825 Reverend John Forsyth invented the percussion cap. The significance of this is the percussion cap made rifles reliable in inclement weather by enclosing the ignition system.

In 1836, Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse created a needle gun that would become a staple of the Prussian army. Dreyse's breech-loading rifle relied on cartridges that included a black-powder charge, a percussion cap and a bullet wrapped in paper. While not a muzzleloader, Dreyse's design of the entire firing mechanism in a straight line is thought to have led to the development of the inline muzzleloader and the bolt-action rifle. It also leads to the development of cartridge ammunition.

The first pin fire cartridge was created in 1840 and was followed by both rim fire cartridges (1859) and center fire (1869). The advent of cartridges fundamentally changed the way rifles we loaded and paved the road for multiple capacity, repeating firearms. Pulling the trigger allows the hammer or striker to fly forward, striking the firing pin, which then strikes the primer, igniting an impact-sensitive chemical compound which shoots a flame through the "flash hole" into the cartridge's propellant chamber, igniting the propellant.

Magazine Fed Rifles

In 1860 the Spencer repeating rifle was the first adoption of a removable magazine fed infantry rifle. The Spencer used rim fire metallic cartridges in a tubular magazine.

In 1884 Paul Vieille invented a smokeless powder that gave off almost no smoke and was three times more powerful than black powder. Cartridges became smaller and lighter, and led to the development of magazine fed rifles such as the Lebel Model 1886.

The Lee-Metford was a bolt action .303 Caliber bolt action, box magazine rifle created in 1884. This was the predecessor of the famous WWI and WWII rifles such as the Lee- Enfield and Mauser. Many of the rifles of this period used a striper clip to load the magazine.

Ferdinand Ritter von Mannlicher unveils the model 85 semi automatic rifle in 1885. Introducing the recoil operated action. It is accepted that the model 85 inspired the M1 Garand, and his 1900 short stroke piston inspired the M1 Carbine.

A fundamental change in the employment and role of rifles quickly developed during and after WWII. Many countries developed intermediate cartridges, bridging the gap between pistol and heavy rifle rounds. It was believed that the standard .30-06 round was too powerful for average engagement distances. The US Army for instance, had staunch opposition to issuing the semi automatic M1 as they believed its higher rate of fire would lead to wasted ammunition. During Operation Barbossa, the German invasion of Russia in 1941, the Russians had already equipped many units with STV-38, STV-40 and PPSh-41 submachine guns. The high volume of fire over that of the German units caused the Germans to reconsider their doctrine and increase production of semi automatic and select fire guns. Select fire guns using a rifle cartridge are seen as far back as 1890 with the gas operated Cei-Rigotti, and the short recoil Fedorov Avtomat in 1915. In the history of the rifle the first accepted "assault rifle" was the German Sturmgewhr 44. Sometimes known as the MP 43/44, this rifle set the stage for today's modern systems such as the AR-15 and the AK-47. Two of the most prolific and controversial weapon systems ever created.

Even today new designs like the British SA-80 and Steyr AUG which use a "bullpup" design make us rethink of what we consider a rifle. Into the 21st century, innovations will again change how we define rifles, such as caseless amunition, smart optics and better metallurgy. The U.S. Army's experimental XM 25 crosses the line between a grenade launcher and a rifle. The questions of what the next steps will be and how will we classify what a rifle is, are to be determined.

~ Aegis Academy Staff

#historyoftherifle, #rifle, #shootingrifle

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The history of the rifle is a long one, but the term rifle was originally applied to the grooving inside a barrel with the first examples being referred to as "rifled guns" or "rifled muzzleloaders".

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The Modernization of the Muzzleloaded Rifle

In 1610, artist, gunsmith and inventor Marin le Bourgeois develops the first flintlock for King Louis XIII of France. The trigger releases a spring-loaded mechanism that causes a flint to strike a steel surface; the ensuing spark ignites gunpowder and propels a spherical bullet. Bourgeois's design becomes highly popular-and is the main weapon of European armies until about 1840. One of the king's flintlocks, designed by Marin's brother Pierre, is housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

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The Modernization of the Muzzleloaded Rifle In 1610, artist, gunsmith and inventor Marin le Bourgeois develops the first flintlock for King Louis XIII of France. The trigger releases a spring-loaded mechanism that causes a flint to strike a steel surface; the ensuing spark ignites gunpowder and propels a spherical bullet.