History+of+Guns

=The History of Guns= For Centuries wars were won and men died by the sword. All of that changed with the invention of the gun.

Hand-held firearms had their beginnings in early medieval times but they were not perfected until the sixteenth century. The knight's shining armor had its swan song during this period.

The matchlock, although cumbersome, was the first real useable hand-held gun. A section of match cord burned very slowly and was used to ignite powder in a flash pan, which ignited powder in the barrel sending a lead ball in the general direction of the target. This system had several flaws however. The smoldering match cord was a dead giveaway of your position to an enemy at night. Also, keeping an open spark in very close proximity to open gun powder was very dangerous and resulted in many accidents.

The wheel lock gave the marksman a truly modern firearm that was relatively safe and sophisticated. A serrated, spring-loaded wheel, rested against a fixed piece of iron pyrite. When the trigger was pulled it released the tightly wound wheel. This created sparks which ignited the powder in the lock. The wheel lock had its short comings also. Although reliable, it was expensive, complicated and difficult to maintain and repair.

media type="custom" key="9529950" The invention of the flintlock, gave the average foot soldier an inexpensive and reliable firearm that was easy to operate. A small piece of flint was attached to a hammer with a thumb cocking mechanism. A small portion of powder was placed in flash pan. A lock was pulled down over this powder to protect it. When the trigger was pulled, it released the hammer. The flint struck the lock flipping it out out the way of the pan while simultaneously creating a sizable spark. This spark was sufficient to ignite the powder. Gun makers perfected mass production and delivered consistent quality during this time.

my expert is Dick from Dick's Gunsmith and he is a licensed gunsmith and also a certified gun safety instructor. This design prevailed for nearly two hundred years until cartridges and repeating rifles were invented. Cartridges and repeating rifles and pistols added firepower to guns as well as accuracy and range. On this website you will learn about different types of firearms and the companies that make them. Q:how does rifling stabilize a bullet A:it spins the bullet and sends it down the barrel at a high speed and it stabilizes the bullet in the air Q:what do you do for your job A:I repair guns that are broken and or need to be fixed and i also fix and make triggers safer Q:how much would an original flintlock rile cost A:it would start at a cost of 3,000-4,000 dollars Q:what is the basic mechanism for a firing pin A:first of all the bullet leaves the cartridge and the way that it does that is the cartridge has a primer and a chamber of gun powder so when you pull the trigger it moves the firing pin and that hits the primer which creates a miniature explosion and that ignites the gun powder which then send the bullet on its way how do you become a gunsmith A:well there are five schools in the united states and there is one in Minnesota in pine city and there is one in Texas,Arkansas,California,Oklahoma, it takes about 110-120 hours of class time to become a gunsmith Winchester History of the firearm My guns History of guns bibliography