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History
musket


Short History of Firearms


source: A History of Firearms
Maj. H.B.C. Pollard

275 Julius Africanus mentions the use of "Shooting Powder".
668 Some sort of explosive powder is used during the siege of Constantinople.
1044 Gunpowder-like mixtures containing charcoal, sulfur, and saltpetre, are known in China.
1200 Saltpetre, the principal ingredient of Black Powder first appears in the writings of Arabian, Abd Allah.
1232 The Chinese develope rockets and a weapon called "Heaven-shaking Thunder".
1247 The first record of the actual use of gunpowder in Europe is a statement by Bishop Albertus Magnus in 1280 that it was used at the Siege of Seville.
1267 English medieval scholar Roger Bacon writes explicit instructions for Black Powder preparation in his Opus Majus.
1270 Simple mortars began to see use on the battlefield in Europe to fire rocks at the enemy.
1280 The second kind of flying fire is made in this way. Take 1 lb. of native sulfur, 2 lb. of linden or willow charcoal, 6 lb. of saltpetre, which three things are very finely powdered on a marble slab. Then put as much powder as desired into a case to make flying fire or thunder. Note; The case for flying fire should be narrow and long and filled with well-pressed powder. The case for making thunder should be short and thick and half-filled with the said powder and at each end strongly bound with iron wire.
~~Marcus Graecus, Liber Ignium
1304 The Arabs produce the first gun, a bamboo tube reinforced with iron that used a charge of black powder to shoot an arrow.
1313 Franciscan monk Berthold Schwarz invents gunpowder independently.
1319 Cannons are used at the siege of Berwick-on-Tweed.
1324 Earliest record of European cannon made at Metz.
1325 An illustration of a gun appears in the Oxford manuscript De Officiis Regum.
1326 Cannon are used by the Florentines.
1327 Archdeacon of Aberdeen John Barbour states that cannons (Crakys of War) were employed in Edward IIIs invasion of Scotland.
1346 The battle of Crécy, France is the first reported use of hand gonnes in battle.
1347 English use cannon at siege of Calais.
1364 Hand Cannon appeare on the field of battle.
1375-97 Hand guns are known in England and Italy.
1380 The Harquebus is invented.
1399 Richard II of England reportedly takes eight gonnes with stands and 200 rounds of shot to Ireland.
1400 The first cannons are made of cast iron.
1411 An early version of the Matchlock, the Serpentin is introduced in Spain.
1412 The first Chinese book detailing proportions for black powder is written by Huo Lung Ching.
1415 The Battle of Agincourt, France, made famous in Shakespeare's play, "King Henry V" occurs. Although the battle is famed for the effect of the English archers, stories concerning the use of English hand gonnes also exist.

And that it was great pity, so it was,
This villanous salt-petre should be digg'd
Out of the bowels of the harmless earth,
Which many a good tall fellow had destroy'd
So cowardly; and but for these vile guns,
He would himself have been a soldier.
~~ Shakespeare - Henry IV, Part 1, Act 1, Scene 3
1424 The first mechanical device for firing the hand gun makes its appearance.
1425 Armour is being penetrated by bullets and the hand gun is showing signs of becoming a weapon capable of rudimentary precision.
1426 The Burgundians from Burgundy mount the first known notch-and-post sights on their hand gonnes and arbalests.
1427 The pistala, meaning pipes, is developed in Bohemia. These long- barreled handguns are so named because of their resemblance to whistles-pipes.
1429 Corned powder is developed and mentioned in the Fire Book of Conrad von Schongau.
1430 Introduction of the Matchlock.
1448 After their archers are slaughtered in battle by Hungarian firearms, the Ottoman Janissaries switch from bows to hand cannons and hand gonnes.
1450 The first cast-iron gun is introduced, the "Mad Marjorie."
1485 Henry VII organizes the corps of Yeomen of the Guard, half of whom are to carry bows and arrows while the other half are equipped with Harquebuses. This represents the first introduction of firearms as an official weapon of the Royal Guard.
1494 Charles VIII's French army invades Italy with a highly developed artillery train and guns mounted on carriages with trunions.
1498 Rifling is invented and the first known rifle is made by William Renwick.
1517 The first Wheellock or "Rose Lock" is invented by Johann Kiefuss of Nuremberg, Germany.
1522 In an effort to reduce the continuing fear surrounding the black magic of guns and black powder, a Bavarian necromancer states that rifles are more accurate than smoothbores because the spinning bullet doesn't allow a demon to gain purchase upon it.
1540 The hair trigger is invented in Germany.
1547 The Archbishop of Mainz has two members of a shooting club compete at 200 paces, one using lead balls and the other balls of silver blessed by the Church and etched with cross. The silver balls all miss the target while the lead balls scored hits on 19 out of 20 shots. This disproves the theory put forth by the Bavarian of 1522 and causes the Church to declare that round bullets can indeed be controlled by demons.
1560 The invention of the typical Spanish Lock is attributed by some writers to Simon Macuarte the Second.
1570 The Snaphaunce Lock, the forerunner of the true Flintlock, is invented.
1586 Invention of the cartridge.
1612 The Flintlock is developed in France by Marin le Bourgeoys who is assigned to the Louvre gun shops by King Henri IV.
1616 Italian Giuliano Bossi invents the double-barreled gun.
1630 The standard Flintlock gun is invented.
1640 The screw or cannon barrel pistol is invented.
1675 The first powder mill on the continent is opened in Milton, Massachusetts.
1689 The earliest known English breech-loading rifle is made by Willmore, who was apprenticed to Foad.
1690 The .75 calibre smooth bore "Brown Bess" is known in Ireland as a "King's Arm" from its use by William at the Battle of the Boyne.

The entire English army is equipped with flintlocks.
1730 The large box lock type pistol makes its appearance.

A few hammerless flintlock sporting guns are made by Stanislaus Paczelt, of Prague in Bohemia.
1733

Kentucky
Kentucky Rifle

Skillful immigrant craftsmen from Germany and Switzerland create the first truly American firearm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the state of the art Kentucky rifle, also known as the Kentucky, the hog rifle, or the long rifle.
1746 The French introduce the double-necked hammer and the steel ramrod.
1750-65 The use of pistols for duelling purposes becomes general as the practice of carrying the rapier or small sword dies out.
1760 Double shotguns are rather peculiar arms, usually of the under and over revolving barrel type.
1763 The French introduce the muzzle band with a funnel or guide for the ramrod and acorn sight integral with the band.
1774 The chief army physician to Louis XV of France discovers Fulminate of Mercury.
1777 Duelling pistols become officially standardized weapons. It is laid down that they should be 9 or 10 inch barreled, smooth bore flintlocks of 1 inch bore, carrying a ball of forty- eight to the pound.
1780 The top rib in double-barreled guns appeares.
1781 Spring bayonets are common on blunderbusses and pistols of the period subsequent to the date of the patent (John Waters, Pat. No. 1284).
1788 Frenchman C. L. Berthollet discovers Fulminate of Silver by acting ammonia upon precipitated silver oxide.
1789 Single trigger pistols, with side by side, and also under and over barrels, are made by Egg.

The first patent for single trigger locks for double arms (James Templeman, Pat. No. 1707).
1792 Joseph Manton's first patent (No. 1865) introduces the "break-off" breech, into which the barrel fits with a lump instead of being secured by a tang and screw as previously used.
1795 The Springfield Armory is established.
1798 Barrels with a number and the letters D.C. (Dublin Castle) are personal arms registered at Dublin Castle after the rebellion and disarmament of Ireland.
The first "gun registration" scheme in Ireland to prevent gun violence, totally failing for over 200 years, but politicians want to try it in the U.S.
1800 White Chapel gun maker Ezekiel Baker creates the "First Baker Rifle".

The first swivel ramrod is attached to the piece by a stirrup.

The first half stocked pistol with the lower rib beneath the barrel is fitted to carry the ramrod.

Black Powder is standardized at 15/2/3 of KNO/S/C.
1804 DuPont establishes his first powder mill on Brandywine Creek, near Wilmington DE.
1805 The Reverend John Forsythe of Aberdeenshire, England patents the detonating or percussion cap principle.
1807 The "Second Baker Rifle" is issued.
1810 The revolving principle is as old as firearms, but manufacturing methods permitting sufficient accuracy of workmanship and precision of boring for a really safe cylindered or chambered weapon come into being.
1811 The first serious military breech loader is invented by American Colonel John H. Hall. This is made first as a flintlock, then as percussion, and is the first breech loader officially adopted by any army. The flintlocks were made until 1832, the percussion model from 1831.
1815

scull

Jake and Sam Hawken open their gunshop in St. Louis. Hawken's "Rocky Mountain Rifle" was used by many of the explorers who opened up the West and is most sought after by the Mountain Men.

The Wild still lingered in him and the wolf in him merely slept.
~~Jack London
1820 The first true flintlock revolver is the very rare weapon made by Collier.
1826 The percussion cap is in universal use on private arms.

The Delvigne service rifle is invented in France.
1830 The "Third Baker Rifle" is issued.

The back action lock makes its appearance.
1831 The Robert rifle is invented by Paris gunsmith Robert.

The needle fire cartridge is patented by Adolph Moser.
1835 The rim fire cartridge evolves naturally out of the percussion cap, and is first made by Flobert of Paris, a maker of saloon arms.

Sam Colt claims the ratchet motion, locking the cylinder and centre fire position of the nipples as particular points of his specification.

The Enfield percussion carbine .65 inch calibre with hinged spring triangular bayonet folding below the barrel is made for Constabulary service.

Coach pistols supplied to the guard of public stage coaches are extremely rare, and are made with flintlocks and brass lock plates.
1840 William Bush (Pat. No. 8513), introduces the breech-loading needle gun cartridge.

The Brunswick rifle supersedes the Baker model.
1845 A double-barreled 26 inch barrel .67 inch calibre armi is issued for constabulary use.
1847 The pinfire cartridge is invented by the Parisian gunsmith, Houiller.
1848 The classic Sharps rifle is patented.
1850 The shot-gun or fowling piece begins its separation from the musket in the latter half of the 18th century.

The Minie service rifle is introduced in England.
1852

jennings
Mr. Jennings' rifle.

Charles Lancaster brings out his central fire under lever gun with extractor and the first true centre fire cartridge.
1853 The Pritchett bullet, a plain lead cylindroconoidal plug with a shallow base depression, is selected as the best type of bullet for the new Enfield rifle. Later this is superseded by the Enfield bullet.
1854 During the Crimean War, 25,000 Enfield rifles are made in America. This war is the last in which all combatants use muzzle loaders.
1857 Whitworth rifles are produced.
1859 The first recorded European revolver for central fire cartridges is patented by Perrin and Delmas.
1860 Tyler F. Henry introduces the Henry rifle.
1862 The first effective and widely used magazine repeater is undoubtedly the Spencer breech-loading .52 calibre forged steel barrel carbine.

irish brigade

The first Spencers used by Union soldiers, which are bought privately or by individual units, may have appeared on battlefields as early as late spring 1862. By the end of the war, 200,000 Spencer carbines had been put into service.

The centerfire cartridge is patented by George Henry Daw.
1863 The first central fire repeater, Ball's carbine is made by the Lamson Arms Co., Windsor Vermont, U.S.A.

Metallic cartridges are widely introduced.
1866 The first cartridge repeater shot-gun is introduced, the Roper.

The Snider service rifle is issued.

The Henry is merged into the Winchester Company.

Claims have been made for an American origin for choke boring, but these have never been proved, and there is no doubt that it was the invention of Pape of Newcastle.
1869 The Martini-Henry rifle is issued.

The first European magazine military arm is the Swiss Vetterli rifle.
1870 The Chassepot is authorized and all branches of the French army are equipped with the weapon.
1871 Theophilus Murcott invents the first true hammer-less gun.

The Franco-German War is almost entirely a breech-loading affair.

The National Rifle Association is founded.
1874 The Edge rifle (Pat. No. 3643) is the first bolt action military repeater.

J. Needham introduces the cartridge ejection system to double guns in the form of a system designed for drop-down style breechloader shotguns.
1886 Paul Vieille invents a smokeless gunpowder called Poudre B. Made from gelatinized nitrocellulose mixed with ether and alcohol, it is passed through rollers to form thin sheets, which are cut with a guillotine to flakes of the desired size. It revolutionizes the effectiveness of small guns and rifles giving them an accurate range of up to 1000 yards.
1887 Winchester repeating shot-guns are introduced.

The Maxim is officially adopted by the German army as a machine gun.

The French adopt the Lebel rifle and the Gras-Kropatschek rifle is issued for the French Marines.
1888 The Lee-Metford rifle is adopted by Great Britain.
1889 Colt makes its first swing out cylinder revolver.
1893 The first automatic weapon to appear on the market is the Borchardt pistol.
1894 The Bergmann pistol and the first Mannlicher automatic pistol are introduced.

The United States Military adopts the Krag-Jorgensen magazine-fed rifle, chambered for .30-40 smokeless powder, jacketed bullet.
1895 The .30-30 Winchester Smokeless cartridge which carried the .30 W.C.F. (Winchester Center Fire) designation on the head stamp, first appeares in Winchester's August catalog No. 55.
1898 The Browning automatic pistol, .32 inch calibre, makes its appearance.

The Mauser combination automatic pistol or carbine, the wooden holster serving as a stock attachment, is introduced.
1903 The Winchester Firearms Company brings out the first widely sold automatic rifle.

The Wright Brothers Fly.
1905 The Webley self-loading .455 inch calibre pistol is adopted by the British Navy.

The pointed Spitzer bullet is introduced in Germany.
1911 John Moses Browning's M1911 .45 inch calibre pistol is adopted by the U. S. Army.

Tree
A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.
Unless a man is master of his soul, all other kinds of mastery amount to little.
~~Theodore Roosevelt - the Bullmoose


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Taconic Valley Rod & Gun Club

420 Dater Hill Road
Troy, New York 12180