Evolution of Longguns

 

Matchlock     SPAR4481

A step beyond the hand cannon was the matchlock which held the match in a mechanical contrivance so that the piece could be aimed and fired more easily. When the trigger is pulled, the burning end of the match is pressed into the priming powder, starting the ignition train. Of course, rainy weather was a considerable inconvenience to its use. This example is a Japanese weapon although the matchlock was introduced in Europe about the mid-fifteenth century.

 

Wheellock     SPAR699

The wheellock operates much like a flint and steel cigarette lighter. A spring, connected to the steel wheel, was wound by a crank. Pulling the trigger released the spring, spinning the wheel against a flint. Sparks showered into the priming starting the powder train. Leonardo da Vinci sketched a wheellock about 1480, but the first wheellock weapons appear to date from about 1517.

 

Flintlock Fowler        SPAR4372

In London, early in the seventeenth century, the first flintlocks made their appearance. In the flintlock mechanism, such as this shotgun made by Ezekiel Baker of London, a pull of the trigger releases the tension of the internal main spring causing the cock with its flint to fly forward. The flint strikes a steel frizzen, sending a shower of sparks into a pan of priming powder to begin the ignition.

 

Flintlock to Percussion Conversion     SPAR4493

Built as a flintlock, this ornate carbine, called a 'Jager,' was converted to a more efficient percussion ignition.

 

Percussion     SPAR4718

The 'Mississippi Rifle,' built by the Harpers Ferry Armory between 1846 and 1855, was the first percussion arm manufactured for the United States military. The specimen shown here was built by Whitney of New Haven, Connecticut.

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Breech Loading Percussion Paper Cartridge SPAR4830

The mid-nineteenth century was a period of great experimentation in firearms. The Merrill carbine exhibits one of the many attempts to develop a breech-loading weapon, in this case combining a paper cartridge and a percussion cap.

 

Breech Loading Percussion Metallic Cartridge SPAR4834

Another version of the breech-loading weapon is the Burnside carbine in which a metallic cartridge and a percussion cap are loaded separately.

 

Cartridge Rifle SPAR7312

The 'Rolling Block' fired a metallic cartridge in which the priming, powder and ball were combined in one unit. The single cartridge was loaded by pulling back the hammer and the thumb piece on the breech block to open the breech, inserting the cartridge, then closing the breech with the breechblock.

 

Magazine Loading Rifle SPAR1454

The rate of fire increased greatly when it was no longer necessary to load a single round before firing. This beautifully decorated Winchester Model 1866 lever action rifle, nicknamed 'Yellow Boy,' is one version of a repeating rifle. Cartridges were stored in a tube magazine below the barrel and loaded by working the lever action.

 

Semi-Automatic Carbine     SPAR1725

The familiar M1 carbine of World War II and the Korean War is representative of semi-automatic weapons in which a round is fired and another automatically loaded each time the trigger is pulled.

 

Automatic Weapon SPAR1546

Recalling the Prohibition era, the Thompson submachine gun, nicknamed the 'Chicago typewriter,' represents the fully automatic weapons which continue firing as long as the trigger is pulled.

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