2. Early Guns: Matchlock
The matchlock was the first firearm ever invented.
The matchlock was invented in the mid 15th
century.
The first illustration of the matchlock was in 1475 in
Austria.
A Primer on firearms, from matchlock to flintlock . (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.google.com/imgres?
imgurl=http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/matchlock.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/primerW.html&usg=__71zOP8duJC5-
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3. How the Matchlock Works
When you pull the trigger, the
burning end of the match is pressed
into the priming powder, shooting the
gun.
Pros: First gun ever introduced.
Cons: Wick was easily extinguished
by rain. Dangerous around
gunpowder. Wick burns out
eventually. Slow reload.
4. Early Guns: Wheel Lock
•The Wheel Lock first appeared in 1517.
•It was an updated version of the Matchlock.
•It was invented in Germany.
•Leonardo da Vinci drew diagrams of a similar
device.
http://www.silcom.com/~vikman/isles/scriptorium/firearm/wheel.html
5. How the Wheel Lock Works.
•The wheel lock works much like a cigarette
lighter. A spring, connected to the steel wheel, is
wound by a crank. Pulling the trigger releases the
spring, spinning the wheel against a flint. Sparks
fall onto the priming, lighting the powder.
•Pros: More reliable and less dangerous than the
Matchlock.
•Cons: Slow reload. Heavy. Mechanism breaks
down. Parts wear out. Hand winding the spring
became tiresome.
6. Early Guns: Flint-Lock
The Flint-Lock was
invented in London in the
early seventeenth century.
Ezekiel Baker from London
invented the shotgun,
which was an example of a
Flint-Lock.
Some Flint-Locks had
rifling, which is a swirled
pattern inside the barrel,
which improves accuracy. http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/412-
pkRLueL.jpg&imgrefurl=http://press.pakpost.net/mp7airsoftgun/tag/holster/&usg=__2Uhq8dHm8w_05n-
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ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=103&ty=46&safe=active
7. How the Flint-Lock Works
When the Flint-Lock’s trigger is released,
the tension of the spring’s tension causes
the flint to fly forward. The flint strikes a
steel object, giving off sparks into a pan of
gun powder to begin the ignition.
Pros: Rifling introduced, You can cock it
like some of today’s pistols.
Cons: flint and springs wear out or break,
slow reload and number of shots limited to
number of barrels.
8. Cartridges and Magazines
The Breech Loading Percussion Paper
Cartridge combined paper cartridges
and percussion caps. They were
introduced in the mid-nineteenth
century.
Also invented at the same time were
Breech Loading Percussion Metallic
Cartridges.
10. Cartridge and Magazine Guns
A cartridge gun is a single shot gun.
Cartridge guns are still used today.
Magazine guns use a magazine full of
bullets, which inserts a new bullet after
the previous one has been fired.
11. Cartridge and Magazine Guns
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Openboltcr
opped.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:G36_C
Mag.jpg
12. Semi-Automatic Guns
A semi-automatic gun is able to fire
each time you pull the trigger without
having to cock it.
A famous example of a semi-automatic
gun is the M1 carbine.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Garand.jpg
13. Automatic Guns
An automatic gun allows you to fire
continuously when you hold the trigger
down.
The gun will keep firing until it needs to
be reloaded.
The first automatic gun was invented in
1862 by American Richard Gatling.
14. Automatic Guns
The automatic didn’t become widely
used until the Prohibition Era, when the
Thompson 1928A1 was invented.
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dsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0
15. Bibliography
Evolution of firearms. (1998). Retrieved from
http://6fbd21e64bc817fd097aa54148bd3dab37bc10
ee.gripelements.com/documents/pg03_evolution.pdf
Evolution of firearms. (2010, September 11).
Retrieved from
http://www.nps.gov/spar/historyculture/evolution-of-
firearms.htm
History of firearms. (2010, September 10). Retrieved
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_firearms
Pirates of the carribean. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://blindkat.hegewisch.net/pirates/primer_main.ht
ml
