History and Development of Firearms

The history of firearms started in the 9th century when the Chinese accidentally developed gunpowder. After this, the gunpowder spread to the whole world from the middle east to Europe and Africa. So, here is the development of firearms since the 13th century.

1. Hand Canon (1271-1368)

Hand Canon

It was first used by the Chinese Yuan dynasty in 1300. These hand canons were made of bamboo and the projectile along with gunpowder was loaded through the muzzle end. Also, a small hole is placed at the breech end which is ignited that causes an explosion realizing the projectile from the canon. Hand cannons required much strength to hold for better stability.

2. Match lock (The early 1400s)

Match lock

In the matchlock firing mechanism, a wick was placed near the propellent/primer through the breech end of the weapon, and when that wick is ignited it causes a spark in the propellent which burns rapidly and pushes the projectile into a forward direction. The main disadvantage of this system is that it can't be used in rainy weather and it exposes the person who is firing the weapon as the wick will produce light that the enemy will easily see.

3. Wheel lock (the early 1500s)

Wheel lock

The wheel lock replaced the matching lock. In this mechanism, a wheel is mounted at the rear end of the weapon which is attached to the trigger with the help of a chain. When the trigger is pressed, the wheel rotates on its axis and slides against the steel holding the primer. This causes friction and ignites the spark to release the projectile. The wheel lack is much more efficient, accurate, and weather-resistant.

4. Flint lock (The early 1600s)

Flint lock

The flintlock system is much more efficient than the matchlock and wheel lock systems. In this system, a flint is attached to the hammer which strikes against the steel cover kept over the priming pan to ignite the propellant. This spark produced, travels through the touch hole into the main charge and the projectile (bullet) is released from the weapon.

5. Percussion Cap (1805)

Percussion Cap

This system was developed by Alexander John Forsyth in 1807. It uses mercury fulminate which when struck by a hammer, produces a flash, strong enough to ignite the main charge of powder in the barrel. Now, a separate priming powder and sparking system were no longer required.

6. Pinfire System (1840)

Pinfire System

In this pinfire system, the percussion cap is inside the cartridge case while the pin that rests inside the percussion cap is extended through one side of the cartridge case. When the trigger is pulled, the hammer strikes the firing pin driving it into the priming compound causing it to detonate the main charge and discharge the bullet.

7. Rimfire System (1851)

Rimfire System

The rimfire system was initially introduced by Flobert, a gunsmith from Paris. In this system, the propellent is filled inside a hollow rim of the cartridge. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin strikes the rim of the cartridge which explodes the priming compound thus igniting the propellant. Rimfire is cheap, reliable, and accurate as compared to other firing systems.

8. Centerfire System (1861)

Centerfire System

This firing system is currently used in every modern firearm. In this system, primer is placed at the center of the base of the cartridge and when the trigger is pressed, it engages the firing pin which directly strikes the primer and initiates a spark in the propellent causing bullet to fire.

Popular Posts

Conducting Polymers: Definition, Examples, Properties and Applications

Image
What are Conducting Polymers? As the name suggests organic polymers that conduct electricity are known as conducting polymers. They are also known as intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) and they have alternating single and double bonds along the polymer backbone (conjugated bonds) or that are composed of aromatic rings such as Phenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, pyrrole, and thiophene which are connected through carbon-carbon single bonds. Examples: Polyacetylene, Polypyrrole, Polyaniline, etc What is the reason behind conducting nature of these polymers? Conducting polymers comes in two forms that are doped conducting polymers and non-doped conducting polymers. The conductivity of non-doped conjugated polymers is due to the existence of a conductivity band similar to a metal. In a conjugated polymer, three of the four valence electrons form strong sigma bonds through sp² hybridization where electrons are strongly localized. The remaining unpaired electron of each carbon atom re...
Read more

Crime Scene: Definition, Types and Characteristics

Image
What is a Crime Scene ? A place where the crime is committed or where the maximum physical evidence related to crime is found is known as a crime scene. A crime scene is a starting point of the investigation which provides information about the suspect and the victim. This helps to reconstruct the crime and fast resolution of the case. It is noted that the crime scene is not limited to a single place but may extend to a wider area depending upon the nature of the crime committed. For example, In a murder case where murder is done at one place and the body is disposed on another place. In this case, we have two crime scenes that give information about the crime. Types of Crime Scene Based on evidence found on the crime scene: 1. Primary Crime Scene The crime scene where the actual crime occurred or where more usable pieces of evidence were found is known as the primary crime scene. For example, A murder scene, theft, assault, etc. 2. Secondary Crime Scene The crime scene which is some...
Read more

Documentation of the Crime Scene: Step by Step

Image
What is documentation of the crime scene and Why it is done? After securing the crime scene, the next most important step is documentation of the crime scene because documentation permanently records the crime scene and its physical evidence. Documentation should be done without any wastage of time as the scene and its evidence may get altered over time. The documentation should be done innovatively and the originality of the crime scene should be maintained and documentation should not have pauses or breaks, it should remain constant till the whole crime scene is documented. There are four main tasks of documentation that is note-making, photography, videography , and sketching . It should be noted that all four tasks are necessary and none is a substitute for another. For example, notes are not substitutes for photography, video is not a substitute for sketching, etc. Following are the sequence for crime scene documentation: 1. Note making Documentation of crime scene in the f...
Read more