Firearms the Illustrated History

322 Pages·2014·85.649 MB·English

by  DK

FIREARMS
A N I L LU S T R AT E D H I S TO RY

FIREARMS
A N I L L U S T R AT E D H I S T O RY
T H E D E F I N I T I V E V I S U A L G U I D E
CONTENTS
LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE,
MUNICH, AND DELHI
DK INDIA
Senior Art Editor Anis Sayyed
Editorial team Suneha Dutta, Deeksha Saikia, Rupa Rao,
INTRODUCTION 8
Bharti Bedi, Priyanka Kharbanda,
Sonia Yooshing
Art Editors Pooja Pipil, Mahipal Singh
Assistant Art Editors Vidit Vashisht, Tanvi Sahu
DTP Designers Sachin Singh, Vishal Bhatia, Nand Kishor Acharya BEFORE THE FLINTLOCK
Picture Researcher Aditya Katyal
Deputy Managing Editor Kingshuk Ghoshal (UP TO 1650)
Deputy Managing Art Editor Govind Mittal
Production Manager Pankaj Sharma
DTP Manager Balwant Singh
Early cannon 12
Jacket Designer Govind Mittal
Managing Jackets Editor Saloni Talwar Field and naval artillery 14
Senior DTP Jacket Designer Harish Aggarwal
Naval cannon 16
DK LONDON Harquebuses 20
Senior Editors Rob Houston, Christine Stroyan
Early matchlock guns 22
Senior Art Editor Gillian Andrews
Photographer Gary Ombler
Showcase: Matchlock musket 24
DK Picture Library Claire Bowers
Pre-Production Producer Adam Stoneham Turning point: Ready-to-fire guns 26
Producer Linda Dare
Managing Editor Stephanie Farrow Sporting long guns 28
Managing Art Editor Lee Griffiths
European hunting guns 30
Jacket Editor Manisha Majithia
Jacket Designer Mark Cavanagh
Early pistols and carbines 32
Jacket Design Development Manager Sophia MTT
Publisher Andrew Macintyre Combination weapons 34
Art Director Phil Ormerod
Associate Publishing Director Liz Wheeler
Publishing Director Jonathan Metcalf
THE FLINTLOCK YEARS
CONTRIBUTORS (1650–1830)
Primary Consultant Graeme Rimer
Consultants Herbert G Houze, Peter Smithurst,
Philip Wilkinson, Christopher Henry Turning point: Guns for all 38
Early flintlock guns 40
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by
Dorling Kindersley Limited, Flintlock pistols (1650–1700) 42
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
001 – 187518 – 04/14

Copyright © 2014 Dorling Kindersley Limited
A Penguin Random House Company

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

A CIP catalogue record for this
book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4093-4797-2

Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Products

Discover more at
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Flintlock pistols (1701–75) 44 Showcase: Colt Navy revolver 90
Flintlock pistols (1776–1800) 46 British percussion-cap revolvers 92
Flintlock pistols (1801–30) 48 Great gunsmiths: Colt 94
Muskets (1650–1769) 52 Muskets and rifles (1831–52) 96
Muskets (1770–1830) 54 Turning point: Practical rifles 98
Flintlock rifles, carbines, and shotguns (1650–1760) 56 Showcase: Enfield rifled musket 100
Flintlock rifles, carbines, and blunderbusses (1761–1830) 58 Muskets and rifles (1853–70) 102
Showcase: Baker rifle 60 Showcase: Le Page sporting gun 104
Great gunsmiths: Springfield Armory 62 Visual tour: Dreyse needle-fire rifle 108
European hunting guns 64 Breech-loading carbines 110
Field and siege artillery (1650–1780) 66 Turning point: Self-contained cartridges 112
Field and siege artillery (1781–1830) 68 Single-shot breech-loading rifles 114
Naval guns 70 Manually operated repeating rifles 116
Asian firearms (1650–1780) 72 Great gunsmiths: Winchester 118
Asian firearms (1781–1830) 74 Breech-loading shotguns 120
Ottoman firearms 78 Sporting rifles 122
Turning point: Failsafe guns 80 Metallic-cartridge pistols (1853–70) 124
Early percussion guns 82 Metallic-cartridge revolvers (1871–79) 126
Great gunsmiths: Smith and Wesson 128
THE AGE OF CHANGE (1830–80) Muzzle-loading artillery 132
Breech-loading artillery 134
Percussion-cap pistols 86 Early machine-guns 136
American percussion-cap revolvers 88 Visual tour: Gatling gun 138
A WORLD IN CONFLICT Turning point: Machine-guns 184
(1880–1945) Recoil-operated machine-guns (1884–95) 186
Recoil-operated machine-guns (1896–1917) 188
Turning point: Smokeless powder 142 Recoil-operated machine-guns (1918–45) 192
Manually operated repeating rifles (1880–88) 144 Gas-operated machine-guns 194
Manually operated repeating rifles (1889–93) 146 Heavy machine-guns (1900–10) 196
Manually operated repeating rifles (1894–95) 148 Heavy machine-guns (1911–45) 198
Great gunsmiths: Lee-Enfield 150 Light machine-guns (1902–15) 200
Manually operated repeating rifles (1896–1905) 152 Light machine-guns (1916–25) 202
Manually operated repeating rifles (1906–16) 154 Light machine-guns (1926–45) 204
Manually operated repeating rifles (1917–45) 156 European submachine-guns (1915–38) 206
Rifles for special purposes 160 European submachine-guns (1939–45) 208
Centre-fire revolvers 162 American submachine-guns (1920–45) 210
Great gunsmiths: Mauser 164 Showcase: Thompson submachine-gun Model 1928 212
Self-loading pistols (1893–1900) 166 Self-loading and fully automatic rifles 214
Self-loading pistols (1901–24) 168 Artillery (1885–96) 216
Showcase: Luger Lange P.08 pistol 170 Artillery (1897–1911) 218
Great gunsmiths: Beretta 172 Special-purpose guns 220
Self-loading pistols (1925–45) 174 Spy and covert forces guns 222
Self-loading rifles 176 Sporting and hunting firearms 224
Showcase: Colt Model 1911 178 Artillery (1914–36) 228
Great gunsmiths: Browning 180 Artillery (1939–45) 230
Combat and police shotguns 182 Anti-tank artillery 232
Anti-aircraft guns 234 Showcase: Mac M-10 276
Man-portable anti-tank weapons (1930–39) 236 Hunting rifles (bolt action) 278
Man-portable anti-tank weapons (1940–42) 238 Hunting rifles (other types) 280
Double-barrelled shotguns 282
Shotguns (repeating and self-loading) 284
THE MODERN ERA
(1945–PRESENT DAY) Improvised arms 288
Great gunsmiths: Steyr-Mannlicher 290
Specialized and multi-purpose arms 292
Self-loading rifles 242
Grenade-launchers 294
Turning point: Assault rifles 244
Recoil-less anti-tank weapons 296
Assault rifles (1947–75) 246
Modern artillery (1946–Present) 298
Showcase: AK47 248
Disguised firearms 300
Assault rifles (1976–Present) 250
Sniper rifles (bolt action) 252
Sniper rifles (self-loading) 254
Great gunsmiths: Heckler and Koch 256 How guns work: Before the 19th century 302
Light machine-guns (1945–65) 258 How guns work: From the 19th century 304
Light machine-guns (1966–Present) 260 Ammunition before 1900 306
Modern revolvers 262 Ammunition after 1900 308
Self-loading pistols (1946–80) 264
Self-loading pistols (1981–90) 266
Self-loading pistols (1991–Present) 270
GLOSSARY 310
Submachine-guns (1946–65) 272
INDEX 312
Submachine-guns (1966–Present) 274
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 318
8 • I N T RO D U C T I O N
Introduction
THROUGHOUT THEIR HISTORY, firearms have had a profound effect on human activity.
Created to wage war, guns soon provided a means for hunting and defending life and property.
They also helped sustain traditions of target shooting that began with bows and arrows.
The first firearms appeared in China in the Middle Ages. At the time, gunpowder was already
being used to create explosives. The Chinese discovered that by putting some of this powder, and
a projectile, into a metal tube, and then igniting the powder, they could propel the projectile
with enormous force. So, as far as we can tell, the first guns were born. While the earliest guns
were artillery pieces, portable handguns were not far behind. Personal arms would never be
the same again.
For several centuries, guns remained simple metal tubes, loaded at the muzzle and firing
spherical balls of lead or stone, propelled by burning gunpowder. At first, they were fired
manually by smouldering match-cord, but later, mechanical devices called locks ignited the
powder, freeing the hands to concentrate on aiming. Matchlocks, and then wheellocks and
flintlocks, made guns quicker and simpler to fire.
The 19th century was the greatest period of advance in the development and manufacture
of firearms in their entire history. Muskets developed into rifles, smoothbore artillery evolved
into rifled weapons, gunpowder was replaced by smokeless powder, and muzzle-loading gave
way to breech-loading. Fulminates – compounds that exploded when struck – were discovered,
and for the first time, guns would fire reliably even in the rain. Fulminates would eventually
be incorporated into self-contained metal cartridges, loadable in an instant from magazines.
Arms manufacturers such as Samuel Colt pioneered technologies for mass-producing
guns with precision-made interchangeable parts, creating a blueprint for how firearms would
come to be manufactured. The turn of the 20th century saw the almost universal adoption of
repeaters, self-loading pistols, and machine-guns. With evolving firearms technology, military
tactics also changed forever.
Firearms development has consistently pushed the limits of available manufacturing
technology and spurred the creation of new materials. Modern manufacturers utilize materials
such as plastics and pressed steel to build guns using computer-controlled production processes.
Today’s designs still owe much to earlier periods. Many modern revolvers, pistols, and rifles
are rooted in the genius of their 19th century designers. This book provides a fascinating visual
survey of firearms, from their earliest forms until the present day. It celebrates the inspiration
of great firearms designers and also the traditional craft skills which are still vital for the
creation of fine sporting guns.
GRAEME RIMER
CONSULTANT
COLT MODEL 1911
(TOOLROOM MODEL,
DISASSEMBLED VIEW)