Ian V. Hogg. The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World's Firearms

A & W Publishers, 1978. — 328 p. — ISBN: 0894790315, 9780894790317.Although the firearm has a long history, as the introductory section of this book outlines, the amount of technical progress during the first fivehundred years was relatively small. Apart from the flintlock mechanism, there was little in a musket of 1800 which would have puzzled an arquebusier of 1400 had he lived to see one. But the opening years of the19th century saw two significant advances: the adoption of the percussion principle and of rifling and these began a revolution in weapons design. Ignition of the propellant became certain and instantaneous, and the flight of the bullet became accurate. Within a comparatively few years the revolver had taken shape, the bolt-action breech-loading rifle had been devised, and the metallic self-contained cartridge appeared. There has been more technical advance in the last 150 years than had taken place in the previous five hundred or so.In order to keep this book to a manageable size, some decisions had to be taken about the scope of its contents, and the primary decision was of a date at which to begin our survey. After much discussion, we have selected 1830. Forsyth’s percussion principle had been patented and was entering common use; percussioncaps had appeared; Dreyse was working on his bolt-action Needle Gun and Lefaucheaux was developing the pinfire cartridge. From 1830 onward, the inventions and designs, stimulated by the inventive awareness of the 19th century and aided by the rapid improvements in machinery and manufacturing technique due to the Industrial Revolution, became an everwidening stream. Into this stream we have cast a very selective line; the sheer number of firearms designs patented since 1830 would fill several volumes, and we have, therefore, chosen those which we think deserve mention for their innovation, their effect on firearms history and design, their wide use in war and recreation, and their outright fame. It might be thought that there is a bias toward military weapons rather than sporting ones, but the fact, unpalatable as it may be, remains that the far greater part of firearms development has its roots in military requirements, and it is after the military application has been seen to work that the idea then passes to the sporting side. In other hands, the mixture and balance might well have been different; but we believe that the following pages offer the reader the significant elements of the history of firearms in a convenient and concise form.A history of firearms.
The Hand Gonne.
The Matchlock.
The Wheel-lock.
The Snaphaunce.
The Flintlock.
The Percussion Principle.
Breech-loading Firearms.
The Revolver.
The Rifle.
The Machine Gun.
Automatic Pistols.
Automatic Rifles and Submachine Guns.
The Firearms of the Future.
Ann A-Z of firearms.