Ralph Waldo Emerson once said,“Shallow men believe in luck or in circumstance. Strong men believe in cause and effect.” The need for firearms did not come into existence overnight instead, the military has demanded dreadful weapon for so long. firearms have been in existence for more than a thousand years, not only have they affected the warfare but also the society in general. They have amended the armies around the world and have provoked an era of warfare at reduced cost.
The first cartridge breechloader was probably used in as early as 1400s which was actually a little cannon (Maiorino, 2006, p.107). In the ninteenth century military demanded breechloaders which fired cartridge, this lead to the invention of many different kinds of sliding breech bolts,tilting barrels, breechblocks,trap doors, and falling, rotating, and tilting breechlocks (Maiorino, 2006, p.111).The innovation of the breech-loading rifle and the machine gun presented the Euro-African armies with a distingushable advantage in battles. The breech loading rifles were considerably faster than the old muskets. Instead of loading and packing wadding, musket ball and gunpowder, a cartidge could be inserted into the breech, the gun could be fired and then reloaded, constantly (Maiorino, 2006, p.108). The machine gun allowed a quicker way of terminaniting enemies.
Bolt action rifles were produced at large amounts by the time of World war I(Maiorino, 2006, p.137). They were very useful for troops to pin each other down in the trenches from long distances with greater accuracy (Maiorino, 2006, p.131). The purpose was to shoot down enemy combatants. The soldiers were able to fire decent rate of shoots at a time, as they would pull the bolt back to discharge the spen...
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...e machine guns brought a revelution, it changed the ways wars were fought. To prevent mass killing, wars became more strategic. The armies didn't have to line up on a field and shoot at each other, they were able to use protective measures.The Maxim Machine gun entirely evolved the future of guns and had a significant effect on the society. The machine gun is a great invention that has the power to construct or demolish a society. The Automatic weapons come in all shapes and sizes, from pistols and assult rifles to vehicle and aircraft-mounted machine guns (Maiorino, 2006, p.227).
The old-guard weapons were slowly replaced by firearms because they were inexpensive. They did not only expand the battle feild for soliders but have had a sweeping affect on the nature of armed conflicts, from the distance the army combat fought eachother to the types of injury incur.
One weapon used in the Civil War is a Sharps Carbine. It was developed primarily for Calvary, because of the shorter barrel. They were much easier to handle on horse back than their longer brother the Breech-Loader. Sharps were preferred because they could be loaded on a moving horse, something virtually impossible with a Muzzle-Loader. Also, Breech-Loaders carbine which fired moisture proof metallic cartridges, where more reliable than rifles that fired paper cartridges. As I said be fore it is easier to load a Sharps than a Muzzle-Loader. A Muzzle-Loader took 9 long hard steps just to fire one shot. Even the most skilled solder could only get three rounds off in a minute on the old Civil War Muzzle-Loader. And No wonder. After each shot you have to (1) steady the gun on the ground take out a new cartridge out of a belt pouch. (2) Tear open a piece of paper with your teeth. (3) Empty the powder in the barrel and insert a bullet in to the muzzle. (4) Draw the long “rummer” out of its carrying groove under the barrel. (5) ram the bullet all the way down. (6) Return the rod back to its groove. (7) Lift the weapon half-cocked the hammer. (8) Fully cock the hammer, aim, and finally,(9) fire.
There were many technological developments in WWl. Machine guns were invented to help soldiers kill many people at the same time. Machine guns could fire
Firearms: A Global History to 1700 provides a knowledgeable narrative on why there were such stark differences between the militaries of Europe and Asia, as well as other societies in and around the Oikoumene. This monograph will appeal to anyone interested in learning about the development of firearms and its close relationship with
Weapons have been around from the Neanderthals of the post-ice age, to the Taliban in Afghanistan. Rocks became knives, sticks became spears, and bayonets became AK-47’s. The technology from the French and Indian War was revolutionized and manufactured by the newly opened weaponry companies. Colt and Winchester had a new end of the market during the times of conflict in the United States.
...waste ammunition.” During the war colonel Hiram Berdan formed a regiment of sharpshooter for the union army called Berdans sharpshooters. These new soldiers would be better shooters against their enemy and would be save great amounts of ammunition and money. Contests were held across the country to find these elite sharpshooters. To make the cut you had put 10 consecutive shots into a target at two hundred yards. Each shot couldn’t be more than to inches from the center of the bull’s eye. At the end of these contests 1,000 winners were enlisted in the 1st United States sharper shooters. The next generation of breechloaders called magazine rifles would prove ever more deadly to confederate opponents. “Guns such as Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were deigned to carry preloaded magazine of seven to fifteen bullets which could be inserted into the rear of the gun.”3
A popular weapon used by both sides was the rifle. Rifles were invented before the Civil War and were greatly used in the War of 1812. However, more types were built and a larger amount was used during the Civil War. Rifles added a spin to bullets for a greater accuracy at longer ranges. Using this weapon, soldiers could fire 400 yards away, as opposed to the average 80 yards (Robertson 50). Rifles were the fastest and hardest weapon of the time. Rifles allowed their bullets to be shot harder and faster towards its target. New inventions, used by the Union more than the Confederate, included Parrott rifles. They were composed of iron. Robert Parker Parrott, an American soldier and inventor, created these weapons, hence the name Parrott rifles. Despite its name, the Parrott rifle was actually a cannon. Its size ranged from 10 to 300 pounders. It was not favored by most because it was considered unsafe (“Civil War Artillery”). Because of its bulkiness and heaviness, it seldom led soldiers to inaccuratel...
Since its declaration of independence from Great Britain, the United States has experienced wars of many different sorts. Each war introduced a new kind of warfare. The Revolutionary War introduced for the first time in American history, the idea of naval warfare. Ships were armed with dozens guns and carried several dozens of men. The musket, armed with its bayonet as well as the cannon proved to be worthy weaponry advancements in the infantry together with various pistols. The Civil War introduced the revolving pistol as well as the Gatling gun which enabled soldiers to produce rapid fire and destroy enemies in large quantities with a single round. New technological advancements in transportation such as the railroad, enabled large quantities of troops to travel to a given area in nearly half the amount of time. However, the turn of the twentieth introduced new technological advancements in the country as well as the military. This ignited a century of technological advancements in the military that has enabled the United States to excel in militaristic domination.
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
Riczo, Steven. "Guns, America, and the 21st Century." EBSCO.com. USA Today Magazine, n.d. Web. Mar. 2001.
The first guns used in America were a simple machine where the person did most of the work. The user measured and put the powder down the barrel of the gun. Next some shotgun pellets were put in the same way. This was then all compacted and the gun was ready to fire. This reloading took over a minute before each shot could be fired and the guns weren't very accurate by today's standards. If too much powder was used then the gun could explode or if the powder were wet then the gun wouldn't fire. One of inventions during the Revolutionary War was a way to reload faster. The powder was already pre-measured and kept in little sacks. This made reloading faster because the user no longer had to measure the powder between each reloading. These guns were crude but in that day was a powerful modern invention that was considered very useful. The American Revolution was a political war to obtain what the people of that era wanted. By today's standards the destruction of gun was minimal so war was used to obtain political objectives.
The defense gun developed by James Puckle is the most recognized earliest form of automatic weaponry in the world. The weapon could fire up to nine rounds per minute with the rounds being fed to the barrel from a rotating cylindrical contraption. The barrel was a whooping 0.91m in length with a 32 mm bore. Puckle developed two versions of the gun, one customized for use on Christian enemies and the other version which was potent was customized for killing Turkish Muslims (Willbanks 154). The gun never found sufficient market in Europe and thus its further development was halted until the British army started engaging in the external aggressions. In particular, much of the development of the gun occurred during the American Revolutionary War of 1775-1783 (Willbanks, 154).
The problem with guns is fairly obvious: they decrease the difficulty of killing or injuring a person. In Jeffrey A. Roth's Firearms and Violence (NIJ Research in Brief, February 1994), he points out the obvious dangers. About 60 percent of all murder victims in the United States in 1989 (about 12,000 people) were killed with firearms. Firearm attacks injured another 70,000 victims, some of whom were left permanently disabled. In 1985, the cost of shootings was an estimated $14 billion nationwide for medical care, long-term disability, and premature death. In robberies and assaults, victims are far more likely to die when the perpetrator is armed with a gun than when he or she has another weapon or is unarmed.
nature for the stronger to dominate the weaker. Firearms are a way that the weaker can
“Volley Guns” (Chivers, 2010, p.26) or also known as “Organ Guns” (Ellis, 1975, p.10) were first attempts at increasing firepower by adding several barrels at the firing itself, rather than simply attempting to increase the rate of fire. “Gunsmiths had long ago learned to place barrels side by side on frames to create firearms capable of discharging projectiles in rapid succession. These unwieldy devices, or volley guns, were capable in theory of blasting a hole in a line of advancing soldiers” (Chivers, 2010, p.26). An example of such weapons can be seen on July 28, 1835 when Giuseppe Fieshi unleashed terror on King Louis-Phillipe in Paris, France. He fired his 25 barrel “volley gun”, killing 18 of the king's entourage and grazing the King's skull. The weapon was ineffective however. Four of the barrels failed and another four ruptured. Two other barrels had exploded inside, grievously wounding Giuseppe. (Chivers, 2010, p. 27)