Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, it was made up of charcoal or sugar and sulfur. The Chineses shipped gunpowder on the silk road by a lot of different ways. First recorded Firearm was in 1364, which was the “hand cannon.” In Europe, they made the matchlock gun. Colt made their revolver in the 17th century as the beginning of the revolver. After the revolutionary war, the west made the first fully automatic gun, as well as Samuel Colt. Flintlock was the next major weapon technology was in 1640. The Winchester rifle was brought into production in 1873 with the first shotgun.
When gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, it was made up of charcoal or sugar and sulfur.(see appendix A) The carbon from the charcoal mixed with the sulfur and an added heat charge makes the explosion. The carbon dioxide and the charcoal provide the propelling action. Gunpowder makes a lot of smoke that can impair vision.(Partington, 2015) Gunpowder is used for a lot of different warfare weapons.
The Chinese shipped gunpowder on the silk road. Gunpowder was first used for fireworks by the Chinese. In 919 A.D. gunpowder was used for bombs in military combat. The Chineses created the “fire cannon” that was launched by a catapult.(see appendix B) In 1126 the fire cannons were made with bamboo and couldn’t travel very far.(Nelson, 2010) It took two people to reload the cannons.
Gunpowder was sent to a lot of places by many different ways. they would use animals, like birds or hogs to send the gunpowder. Then they used it to put on arrows wrapped in paper or bamboo. They also would put it in craights then on carts and set it on fire to use as a giant bomb. Then later the Chinese used it for what was called a “hand cannon” which was the first recorded gun. (Whips, 2008).
The first recorded use of a firearm was in 1364. It was a hand gun called a “hand cannons.”(see appendix C)
Only 14 years later hand cannons made it to Europe. Early 1400’s they discovered how to change the way they were fired. They started using a string and setting it on fire near where the gunpowder was kept. Wicks (candle) were now attached to a clamp that sprang into gunpowder that was placed in a “flash pan”.(Bellis, 2015)
In Europe, they made the matchlock;(see appendix D) which uses a bar to ignite the powder. By the 1500’s they made the hammer pin that strikes a pin and creates a spark to shoot the bullet. The Europeans used this methode for centries. While the Chinese were still using their hand cannons. The evolution of firearms has developed over centuries.(Edward, 2010)
The rifles were just starting out in Europe. The blacksmiths and carpenters who worked on the rifles had to figure out how to attach the barrel to the wood stalk it would sit in. They eventually figured it out. But England was a little late in the gun making business.(N.P. 2015) They only had one gun maker that ended up buying as many guns that he could.
The Colt revolver(see appendix E) was made in the 17th century as the beginning of the single action revolver. It started as a great idea and ended up to the beginnings of the old west.(Borden, 2015) The gun played a big role in the American West and in the evolution of guns. You can see this gun in the Greg Martin Colt Gallery.
Musket guns were invented by the europeans when they figured out how to attach the barrel to the stalk. It is a flintlock model(see appendix F) that shoots one iron ball at a time. They have perfected the firing pin and hammer to a more powerful gun. The barrels are longer and smoothed down inside.(Spirko, 2015) The musket gun was used in the Revolution war.
After the revolutionary war, the west made the first fully automatic gun.(see appendix G) It was made of 6 barrels that was held together by strips of metal and rested on wheels. The accuracy was horrible because it sits on the ground without sights. The distance was about two and a half miles each bullet. It could fire 400 bullets per minute.(Keller, 2011)
Samuel Colt developed the first mass-produced, multi-shot, revolving firearms.(see appendix H) Various revolving designs had been around for centuries, but precision parts couldn’t be made with available technologies. Colt was the first to apply Industrial Age machining tools to the idea. Mass production made the guns affordable. Reliability and accuracy made the Colt a favorite of soldiers and frontiersmen.”(Pbs, 2015)
In 1892, the first automatic pistol(see appendix I) was created by Joseph Laumann.(Hallowell, 2015) Then in eight years later the automatic weapons were always used. John Moses Browning came up with the .30 caliber and the .50 caliber automatic weapons in 1917.(Hallowell, 2015) Since then the evolution of automatic firearms have been improving for centuries now. Not only have they improved but also been coming up with many different makes and models.
The next major weapon technology was in 1640 was the flintlock gun. This gun solved the problem for shooters. For most of the guns that existed, they had covering over the powder that you had to remove manually. The Flintlock fixed this, by have the cover fly back making a spark automatically. That design lasted for almost 2 centuries without changes.
The Civil War was when they introduced the Spencer repeating guns.(see appendix J) They used cartridges that shot 7 rounds every 15 seconds. The army didn’t want to use them because they thought the soldiers would shoot too much, constantly needing more ammunition. But in 1863, President Lincoln test-fired the Spencer and approved them.(Hallowell, 2012) His approval made the army buy 107,372 Spencer repeating rifles. This gun became the main use of the Civil War.
The Winchester rifles comes into production in 1873. Then in 1887 the first use of a shotgun(see appendix K) was released by Winchester. They made the first automatic rifle.(Hallowell, 2012) This is still used today as sport and a hobby.
Around 1914, the Germans got their hands on the machine gun plans. They first designed the machine gun after they faced one in a German war. The Germans gave two machine guns per battalion group in their military.(Duffy, 2009) Although they didn’t start doing this until around 1915, when the british started doing the same.
The Thompson Submachine Gun or Tommy gun(see appendix L), was invented by General John T. Thompson. This was the first hand held machine gun ever. Thompson wanted to create the Tommy Gun to try and end the First World War. But the first shipment landed in Europe the day after the war on November 11, 1918.(Bellis, 2015)
In 1930 the Italian army made the Breda Modello 30.(see appendix M) British armies created the Bresal Light Machine Gun(see appendix N) in 1940. The ALFA 44(see appendix O) was created in 1944 by the Spanish military. The AAT-52(see appendix P) (Arme Automatique Transformable) was introduced to military in 1952 by the French army. In 1979 the Italian military made the Beretta AS70 LMG assault rifle.(see appendix Q) Then the American military made the Ares Defence Strike 5.56(see appendix R) “Advanced Weapons System” in 2002. Then in 2012 the American military made the Ares Defence Ares-16 Small Arms Family.(see appendix S) (Staff, 2015)
Since gunpowder has been invented by the Chinese, the whole world has altered it, improved it, and used it for good and bad. They have been used not only for guns but for many other items. Like for fireworks, they use gunpowder as well. Bombs of course use gunpowder for their base of explosion. There are many other iem that use gunpowder but those are just a couple. If only there were more responsible people in the world that wouldn’t use it against us.