Firearms the Illustrated History

Description

The definitive visual guide to the history of firearms and guns The Illustrated History of Firearms charts the evolution and history of the gun, from the pistol, flintlock musket and rifle to the shotgun, machine gun and revolver. This book features over 300 firearms and guns spanning centuries of development, with the world's most iconic gun brands such as Colt, Smith and Wesson, Maxim and the Kalashnikov AK-47 covered with amazing photographic features. You can appreciate the incredible engineering behind guns through stunning visuals with close-up details of key weapons, from the intricate inlaid shotgun to the modern army sniper rifle, tracing the history of the gun from army flintlocks to modern day military guns. If you are interested in military history and the history of weapons, The Illustrated History of Firearms is ideal for you. Contents 4 INTRODUCTION 8 Early cannon 12 Field and naval artillery 14 Naval cannon 16 Harquebuses 20 Early matchlock guns 22 Showcase: Matchlock musket 24 Turning point: Ready-to-fire guns 26 Sporting long guns 28 European hunting guns 30 Early pistols and carbines 32 Combination weapons 34 Turning point: Guns for all 38 Early flintlock guns 40 Flintlock pistols (1650–1700) 42 Flintlock pistols (1701–75) 44 Flintlock pistols (1776–1800) 46 Flintlock pistols (1801–30) 48 Muskets (1650–1769) 52 Muskets (1770–1830) 54 Flintlock rifles, carbines, and shotguns (1650–1760) 56 Flintlock rifles, carbines, and blunderbusses (1761–1830) 58 Showcase: Baker rifle 60 Great gunsmiths: Springfield Armory 62 European hunting guns 64 Field and siege artillery (1650–1780) 66 Field and siege artillery (1781–1830) 68 Naval guns 70 Asian firearms (1650–1780) 72 Asian firearms (1781–1830) 74 Ottoman firearms 78 Turning point: Failsafe guns 80 Early percussion guns 82 Percussion-cap pistols 86 American percussion-cap revolvers 88 Showcase: Colt Navy revolver 90 British percussion-cap revolvers 92 Great gunsmiths: Colt 94 Muskets and rifles (1831–52) 96 Turning point: Practical rifles 98 Showcase: Enfield rifled musket 100 Muskets and rifles (1853–70) 102 Showcase: Le Page sporting gun 104 Visual tour: Dreyse needle-fire rifle 108 Breech-loading carbines 110 Turning point: Self-contained cartridges 112 Single-shot breech-loading rifles 114 Manually operated repeating rifles 116 Great gunsmiths: Winchester 118 Breech-loading shotguns 120 Sporting rifles 122 Metallic-cartridge pistols (1853–70) 124 Metallic-cartridge revolvers (1871–79) 126 Great gunsmiths: Smith and Wesson 128 Muzzle-loading artillery 132 Breech-loading artillery 134 Early machine-guns 136 Visual tour: Gatling gun 138 Turning point: Smokeless powder 142 Manually operated repeating rifles (1880–88) 144 Manually operated repeating rifles (1889–93) 146 Manually operated repeating rifles (1894–95) 148 Great gunsmiths: Lee-Enfield 150 Manually operated repeating rifles (1896–1905) 152 Manually operated repeating rifles (1906–16) 154 Manually operated repeating rifles (1917–45) 156 Rifles for special purposes 160 Centre-fire revolvers 162 Great gunsmiths: Mauser 164 Self-loading pistols (1893–1900) 166 Self-loading pistols (1901–24) 168 Showcase: Luger Lange P.08 pistol 170 Great gunsmiths: Beretta 172 Self-loading pistols (1925–45) 174 Self-loading rifles 176 Showcase: Colt Model 1911 178 Great gunsmiths: Browning 180 Combat and police shotguns 182 Turning point: Machine-guns 184 Recoil-operated machine-guns (1884–95) 186 Recoil-operated machine-guns (1896–1917) 188 Recoil-operated machine-guns (1918–45) 192 Gas-operated machine-guns 194 Heavy machine-guns (1900–10) 196 Heavy machine-guns (1911–45) 198 Light machine-guns (1902–15) 200 Light machine-guns (1916–25) 202 Light machine-guns (1926–45) 204 European submachine-guns (1915–38) 206 European submachine-guns (1939–45) 208 American submachine-guns (1920–45) 210 Showcase: Thompson submachine-gun Model 1928 212 Self-loading and fully automatic rifles 214 Artillery (1885–96) 216 Artillery (1897–1911) 218 Special-purpose guns 220 Spy and covert forces guns 222 Sporting and hunting firearms 224 Artillery (1914–36) 228 Artillery (1939–45) 230 Anti-tank artillery 232 Anti-aircraft guns 234 Man-portable anti-tank weapons (1930–39) 236 Man-portable anti-tank weapons (1940–42) 238 Self-loading rifles 242 Turning point: Assault rifles 244 Assault rifles (1947–75) 246 Showcase: AK47 248 Assault rifles (1976–Present) 250 Sniper rifles (bolt action) 252 Sniper rifles (self-loading) 254 Great gunsmiths: Heckler and Koch 256 Light machine-guns (1945–65) 258 Light machine-guns (1966–Present) 260 Modern revolvers 262 Self-loading pistols (1946–80) 264 Self-loading pistols (1981–90) 266 Self-loading pistols (1991–Present) 270 Submachine-guns (1946–65) 272 Submachine-guns (1966–Present) 274 Showcase: Mac M-10 276 Hunting rifles (bolt action) 278 Hunting rifles (other types) 280 Double-barrelled shotguns 282 Shotguns (repeating and self-loading) 284 Improvised arms 288 Great gunsmiths: Steyr-Mannlicher 290 Specialized and multi-purpose arms 292 Grenade-launchers 294 Recoil-less anti-tank weapons 296 Modern artillery (1946–Present) 298 Disguised firearms 300 How guns work: Before the 19th century 302 How guns work: From the 19th century 304 Ammunition before 1900 306 Ammunition after 1900 308 GLOSSARY 310 INDEX 312 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 318