History of firearms

history of firearm and its classification

1. History Of Firearms
Department of Criminology & Forensic Science
Dr.Hari Singh GourVishwavidyalaya
Sagar, Madhya Pradesh
Submitted To: Dr.Navjot Kaur
Kanwal
Assistant Professor
Submitted By : RajenKerketta
• M.Sc. Forensic Science

2. Firearms
“Aninstrumentordevicewithwhichit
ispossibletopropelaprojectileby
meansoftheexpansiveforceofthe
gasesgeneratedbythecombustionofan
explosivesubstance”

3. Firearms: A Quick History
•Firearmswereinventedin1260inChina,aftertheChinese
•hadinventedgunpowderinthe9thcentury
•TheseinventionswerelatertransmittedtotheMiddleEast,
•Europe,andAfrica
•Almosteverygunisbasedonthesamesimpleconcept:You
applyexplosivepressurebehindaprojectiletolaunchitdown
abarrel.
•Theearliest&simplestapplicationofthisideaisthecannon
•The1
st
handheldgunswereessentiallymini-cannons;you
loadedsomegunpowder&asteelball&litafuse

4. History of Firearms
11/15/2019 4

5. Hand cannonfrom the Chinese Yuan Dynasty(1271-
1368)
By the mid 1300’s the first recorded use of a firearm was
noted
These were primitive muzzle
loading black powder firearms
Referred to as hand cannons

6. The earliest type of handgun was simply a small cannon of
wrought iron or bronze, fitted to a frame or stock with metal
bands or leather thongs
These weapons were loaded from the muzzle end of the
barrel with powder, wad and ball
A small hole at the breech end of the barrel, the touch hole,
was provided with a pan into which a priming charge of
powder was placed
On igniting this priming charge,either with a hot iron or
lighted match, fire flashed through the touch hole and into the
main powder charge to discharge the weapon.

7. Match lock

8. This was really the first major advance in pistols as it enabled the
weapon to be fired in one hand and also gave some opportunity to aim
it as well.
The construction of matchlock was exactly the same as the hand cannons
and the only difference was match, a slow burning piece of cord.
A slow burning piece of cord used to ignite the priming charge, was held
in a curved hook screwed to the side of the frame.
To fire the gun, the hook was merely pushed forward to drop the burning
end of the match into the priming charge.

9. pros: First Trigger
CONS: Fragile
Weather Sensitive
Poor Accuracy

10. Wheel lock
Wheel lock

11. With the advent of the wheel lock the lighted match used in the
match lock was no longer necessary
The wheel lock consisted of a serrated steel wheel, mounted on the
side of the weapon at the rear of the barrel
The wheel was spring loaded via a chain round its axle with a small
key or spanner similar to a watch drum
When the wheel was turned with a spanner, the chain wound round
the axle and the spring was
tensioned
Part of the wheel protruded
into the small pan, the flash
pan or priming pan, which
contained the priming charge
for the touch hole

12. A piece of iron pyrite was fixed in its jaws
This was kept in tight contact with the serrated wheel by means of
a strong spring
On pressing the trigger, the bar was withdrawn from the grooved
wheel which then turned on its axle
Sparks produced from the friction of the pyrite on the serrated
wheel ignited the priming charge which in turn ignited the main
powder charge and fired the weapon

13. Wheel lock
Pros:Shorter lock time,
better accuracy, Less
weather sensitive
Cons: Fragile operating
system, very expensive to
manufacture

14. Flint lock
Source: www.howstuff.com

15. Flint lock
Flintlock ignition appeared in the late 1600s. When
the trigger is pulled, the hammer holding a piece of flint
fell against a steel cover(the frizzen) sitting over the
priming pan. The hammer knocked the cover out of
the way and the collision of flint and steel caused
sparks that ignited the powder in the priming pan.
Top View Flash Pan

16. Theignitionsystemwhichsupersededthatofthewheellockwasa
simplemechanismwhichprovidedasparkbystrikingapieceof
flintagainstasteelplate
Theflintwasheldinthejawsofasmallviceonapivotedarm,
calledthecock
Thesteelwhichwascalledthefrizzen,wascalledthefrizzen,was
placedonanotherpivotingarmoppositethecock,andthepan
containingtheprimingcompoundwasplaceddirectlybelowthe
frizzen
Whenthetriggerwaspulled,astrongspringswungthecockinan
arcsothatsothattheflintstruckthesteelaglancingblow

17. The glancing blow produced a shower of sparks which
dropped into the priming pan igniting the priming powder
The flash produced by the ignited priming powder
travelled through the touch hole, thus igniting the main
charge and discharging the weapon

18. Percussion system
The percussion lock (also called “caplock”) replaced the flintlock in
early 1800s. Early percussion locks used priming compounds inside a
metallic foil cap placed over the vent hole. When the hammer strikes
the cap, the resulting spark ignites the main charge.
Percussion

19. Thepercussioncapalsopavedthewaytotheself-
containedammunitionwehavetoday–cartridgesand
shotshells
Thepercussioncapignitionsystemwasdevelopedin1805
bytheReverendJohnForsythofEngland
Gunpowder,theprojectileandtheprimerwereputtogether
intoasinglehousingthatcouldbeloadedquicklyinthe
mid-1800s.Inadditiontothissystem,someofthenewin-
linemuzzleloadersmayusea209primer,thesameasis
usedinsomeshotgunshells

20. Introduced in 1820s
Making serious strides
towards cartridges
Explosive pressure
sensitive
Ignition system much less
sensitive to weather.
Percussion caps

21. Thecompound,mercuryfulminate,whenstruckbyahammer,
producedaflashstrongenoughtoignitethemainchargeof
powderinthebarrel
Aseparateprimingpowderandsparkingsystemwasnowno
longerrequired
Withthisinvention,thebasisforselfcontainedcartridgewaslaid
Shawemployedasmallironcupintowhichwasplacedasmall
quantityofmercuryfulminate.

22. Thiswasplacedoverasmall
tube,calledanipple,projecting
fromtherearofthebarrel
Thehammerstrikingthe
mercuryfulminateinthecup
causedittodetonateandsosend
aflamedownthenippletube
ignitingthemainchargeinthe
barrel.

23. Springfield M1864
SPECIFICATION:
ManufacturerSpringfield
Calibre.58
Rifled
Muzzle Loading
Accurate Range 400 yards
Hammer Percussion cap
goes here
Functioning:
The hammer strikes the
percussion cap and ignites
the gunpowder, which
propels the bullet out the
barrel of the gun.
Sights

24. Pros-Cheap, fast lock time,
improved weather resistance,
multi-shot (repeater) action, looks
good in Westerns
Cons-Slow reload time, possible
sympathetic detonations.

25. The pinfire system
Introduced in 1840
Off set primer
Firing pin part of cartridge.

26. Pin fire weapon was one of the earliest true breech -
loading weapons using a self -contained cartridge in
which the propellant, missile and primer were all held
together in a brass case
In this system, the percussion cup
was inside the cartridge case whilst a
pin, which rested on the percussion cup,
protruded through the side of the cartridge
case
Striking the pin with the weapon’s hammer
drove the pin into the priming compound
causing it to detonate and so ignite the
main propellant charge.

27. pinfire

28. The Rimfire system
Introduced in 1840s
Round of ammo is
complete.
No cartridge pin
Longest lived cartridge
to date is rimfire

29. It is a thin -walled cartridge with a
hollow flanged rim
Into this rim is spun a small quantity
of a priming compound
Crushing the rim with the firing pin
causes the priming compound to
explode, thus igniting the propellant
inside the case.

30. BB caps
One of the oldest
cartridges used for indoor
gallery shooting
Primer only, no
gunpowder
rimfire

31. Rimfire has the priming
compound in the rim of the
cartridge
Cartridge is self contained
allows fast reloading,
repeating action, reliability
rimfire

32. Early Rimfire
•

33. Modern Rimfire
Most common
ammunition sold in the
world
Pros-Cheap, Accurate,
reliable
Cons-limitations of
velocity and caliber

34. 22LR
Most common cartridge
Very accurate
Cheap
Reliable
Virtually no recoil minimal
noise

35. 22LR

36. Center fire system

37. This was the great milestone in weapon and ammunition
development
In centre fire ammunition, only the primer cup needed to be
soft enough to be crushed by the firing pin
The cartridge case could thus be made of a more substantial
material which would act as a gas seal for much higher
pressures than could be obtained with rimfire ammunition.

38. Why Center fire?
Reloadable
Capable of big projectiles and high
velocities
Reliable
Very weather resistant

39. Heard, B.J., 2008, Handbook of Firearms and Ballistics, United Kingdoms,
Wiley Blackwell
Sharma, B.R., 2002, Firearms in Criminal Investigation and Trials, 3
rd
edition, India, Universal Law Publishing Co. Pvt.Ltd.
Gun Timeline, https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-
timeline/Retrieved on 5
th
October, 2019
NRA Museum, http://www.nramuseum.org/gun-info-research/a-brief-
history-of-firearms.aspxRetrieved on 6
th
October, 2019
The History of Guns, https://historycooperative.org/the-history-of-guns/
Retrivedon 10
th
October, 2019
Popular Mechanics,
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/g935/flying-
humvees-and-cluster-bombs-from-the-air-force-expo-12858520/
Retrieved on 30
th
September, 2019
Reference