I’m on board with mass production. Specifically American from 1942-45. Honorable mention to Soviets pumping out masses of crude tanks to defeat superior German machines.
Greatest invention in firearms history
- Thread starter Bill_in_TR
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trackskippy
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- Oct 2, 2010
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Credit cards. 
P5 Guy
Member
The external mounted primers.
Before that rimfire and inside primed cartridge brass were one shot and trash.
Now the hunter could travel with a supply of black powder, lead and primer caps reloading the brass as needed.
Benet inside-primed cartridge made during the two year period between January 1874 and March 1875. These early cartridges are identifiable by the wide spacing, this one measuring .285" or approximately 9/32", between the ends of the indentations that hold the primer anvil in place inside the case against the head of the cartridge.
Before that rimfire and inside primed cartridge brass were one shot and trash.
Now the hunter could travel with a supply of black powder, lead and primer caps reloading the brass as needed.
Benet inside-primed cartridge made during the two year period between January 1874 and March 1875. These early cartridges are identifiable by the wide spacing, this one measuring .285" or approximately 9/32", between the ends of the indentations that hold the primer anvil in place inside the case against the head of the cartridge.
tws3b2
Member
Cotton Patches and Hoppes#9 ????
lysanderxiii
Member
Considering you can't have a firearm at all without the basic components of a barrel, chamber of some sort, firing mechanism, and a means of holding the gun, I would say the greatest advancement is the metallic cartridge.
You can have a firearm without metallic cartridges but that invention revolutionized repeating firearms and is going strong today virtually unchanged.
You can have a firearm without metallic cartridges but that invention revolutionized repeating firearms and is going strong today virtually unchanged.
tark
Member
Absolutely correct for a number of not so obvious reasons:
For the first time, guns were completely waterproof. The could be loaded in the rain and even submerged...and still fired reliably.
For the first time, guns could be reloaded while lying prone. Try loading a muzzle loader while prone. It is an exercise in frustration.
No more fumbling with separate components required for loading. Powder, bullet and primer were all together in one unit.
The words cover and concealment took on a whole new meaning. With muzzle loaders, army's fought standing, across from one another, in opposing columns, because of the difficulty in loading a muzzle loader in any position other than standing. There was no place to hide. This changed somewhat with the concept of trench warfare, but trenches are a defensive concept. They took time to construct and were not mobile.
The way battles were fought changed completely after the invention of the self contained metallic cartridge. No more opposing columns and the resultant slaughter. Soldiers could load and fire from any position, especially prone. Massed formations were no longer necessary to provide a sufficient volume of fire.
Jim Watson
Member
Reminds of Stuart Slade's alternate history/SAC porn: "The United States is the arsenal of democracy, not the garrison." We didn't invade Normandy, we glassed Germany in his version.
P5 Guy
Member
Non-corrosive primers.
Pudge
Member
The K Frame Smith and Wesson.
Ignition Override
Member
Moderator hso said "smokeless powder".
Isn't that what the "Dutch" farmers successfully used in their Mausers against the British in the Boer Wars (Suid-Afrika / South Africa) ?
Unrelated sidenote: young Winston Churchill escaped Boer captivity and somehow traveled alone for a few days to reach British lines.
To contradict my comment on a previous page, it might have been the rifled bore, allowing much better rifle accuracy and range?
Iirc the rifled bore was used by some Union forces in the US Civil War. It also seems to have worked well in whichever cannons.
Isn't that what the "Dutch" farmers successfully used in their Mausers against the British in the Boer Wars (Suid-Afrika / South Africa) ?
Unrelated sidenote: young Winston Churchill escaped Boer captivity and somehow traveled alone for a few days to reach British lines.
To contradict my comment on a previous page, it might have been the rifled bore, allowing much better rifle accuracy and range?
Iirc the rifled bore was used by some Union forces in the US Civil War. It also seems to have worked well in whichever cannons.
Simple Shooter
Member
Steel.
lysanderxiii
Member
The Second Anglo-Boer War went fro 1899 to 1902. The British were loading the .303 with smokeless propellant since 1891. (The use of black powder in the .303 from 1888 to 1891 was a stop-gap measure.)
.308 Norma
Member
Simple Shooter
Member
Polymer.
I can make a steel gun without polymer.
But I can’t make a polymer gun without steel.
Put that in your Glock and smoke it!
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