1861-The Gatling gun (1861) is one of the most well known early rapid-fire weapons and a forerunner to the modern machine gun. Its first combat usage, and the battlefield role it is most well-known for, was its use by the Union forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s. Later it was also famously used in the assault on San Juan Hill during the Spanish-American War.[1]
1865-In Jan. 1865 Gatling's improved Model 1865 gun was tested by the Ordnance Department. Among other things, this weapon used rimfire copper-cased cartridges instead of the steel-chambered paper variety. Though this model did not see service, it was adopted officially in 1866. Having at last received government approval, Gatling began to sell his guns throughout the world; they achieved lasting fame in the post-war years.
1877-In 1877, Gatling lived in Hartford, Connecticut next door to Mrs. Colt, widow of the late Samuel Colt at whose factory the Gatling Gun Company now contracted the manufacture of their guns. Mrs. Colts little niece, Elizabeth Jarvis, was a frequent visitor to the Gatling's hospitable residence, and Gatling explained to her his beliefs at the time he developed the guns
Monday, November 30, 2009
11/30/09
- 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 ingnited 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 exposive 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
- 1862: Gatling Gun
- 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.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
11/10/09
| United States of America |
 This article is part of the series: |
| Original text of the Constitution |
|---|
| Preamble Articles of the Constitution |
| Amendments to the Constitution |
| Bill of Rights I · II · III · IV · V · VI · VII · VIII · IX · X Subsequent Amendments |
| |
The Second Amendment (Amendment II) to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects a right to keep and bear arms.[1] The Second Amendment was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights. The American Bar Association has noted that there is more disagreement and less understanding about this right than of any other current issue regarding the Constitution.[2]
For almost a century following the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the intended meaning and application of the Second Amendment drew less interest than it does in modern times.[3] Notable U.S. Supreme Court interpretations of the Second Amendment include those in United States v. Cruikshank (1875), Presser v. Illinois (1886), Miller v. Texas (1894), Robertson v. Baldwin (1897), United States v. Miller (1939) and District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).
11/10/09
GUN
In military parlance, a gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol, but there are exceptions, such as the USAF's GUU5/P. At one time, land-based artillery tubes were called cannon and sea-based naval cannon were called guns. The term "gun" morphed into a generic term for any tube launched projectile firing weapon used by sailors including boarding parties and Marines.
In modern parlance, a gun is a projectile weapon using a hollow, tubular barrel with a closed end—the breech—as the means of directing the projectile (as well as other purposes, for example stabilizing the projectile's trajectory, aiming, as an expansion chamber for propellant, etc), and firing in a generally flat trajectory.
The term "gun" has also taken on a more generic meaning, by which it has come to refer to any one of a number of trigger-initiated, hand-held, and hand-directed implements, especially with an extending bore, which thereby resemble the class of weapon in either form or concept. Examples of this usage include staple guns, nail guns, and glue guns. Occasionally, this tendency is ironically reversed, such as the case of the American M3 submachine gun which carries the nickname "Grease Gun".
Most guns are described by the type of barrel used, the means of firing, the purpose of the weapon, the caliber, or the commonly accepted name for a particular variation.
Barrel types include rifled—a series of spiraled grooves or angles within the barrel—when the projectile requires an induced spin to stabilize it and smoothbore when the projectile is stabilized by other means or is undesired or unnecessary. Typically, interior barrel diameter and the associated projectile size is a means to identify gun variations. Barrel diameter is reported in several ways. The more conventional measure is reporting the interior diameter of the barrel in decimal fractions of the inch or in millimeters. Some guns—such as shotguns—report the weapon's gauge or—as in some British ordnance—the weight of the weapon's usual projectile.
A gun projectile may be a simple, single-piece item like a bullet, a casing containing a payload like a shotshell or explosive shell, or complex projectile like a sub-caliber projectile and sabot. The propellant may be air, an explosive solid, or an explosive liquid. Some variations like the Gyrojet and certain other types combine the projectile and propellant into a single item.
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