15 Most Influential Guns In History And How They Changed The World

You may have found yourself daydreaming about history's greatest guns. Maybe you are curious about when were guns invented in the first place.

The invention of the gun changed the course of human history forever.

From then on, guns developed rapidly.

Think about it:

We started with a handheld cannon in China, and within a century cannons were battering down fortified city walls in Europe.

Only a few centuries after that we had massed infantry shouldering deadly muskets.

And then along came several key innovations that changed things forever. The breach-loading rifle. The revolver.

But more importantly, the machine gun.

No doubt about it, few tools have had an impact on human history like the gun.

And what do guns say about the societies who create them? The Chinese may have invented the first gun, but it was Europeans who took it to new heights.

The British and French proved very deft at introducing firearms, but then the Germans, Americans, and Russians took guns to a level never seen before.

No doubt about it, the invention of the gun changed things.

Let's rewind:

The World Before Guns

Before guns came along, weaponry was relatively unchanged.

A King would have to consider the costs of war very carefully. Losing his archers or horsemen in a foolish battle could be devastating to the Kingdom.

When Were Guns Invented?

It's a familiar story and it usually goes something like this:

The Chinese invented black powder for fireworks, and the Europeans took the powder and learned to make guns.

Wait a minute.

We can thank the Chinese for making the first guns.

In 1970, archeologists in China uncovered a hand cannon from the year 1288.

It's basically a metal tube that could be held in the hand. A ball and powder get rammed down and then a flaming wick pulled into the powder.

Boom!

No doubt about it, this is the first recorded gun in history.

But that's just part of the story:

Europeans got hold of the idea via merchants and immediately saw the potential.

Since the fall of Rome, Europe had been divided into dozens of warring, jealous, petty kingdoms.

And where Rome had brought a central government, philosophy, commerce, and rule of law, Europe left on its own was stuck in a dark age.

The first real guns

Like the gun.

Italian city-states armed the first militias with rudimentary guns.

Suddenly they had a cheap way to go to war. Serfs cost nothing and could be trained to fire a gun in a few weeks.

And there was a bonus:

Guns were also cheap to make.

The technology spread quickly across Europe.

These are just a few of the earliest guns which proliferated through Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries:

But you know what else?

By the time Spanish conquistadors landed in North America, they were fully armed with powerful guns and cannons.

Yet the gun had only been in Europe for a hundred years or so.

Wow!

The Most Influential Guns In History

You'd have to say that guns changed all of Europe. Suddenly the Church lost its grip.

The Enlightenment happened. The Kingdoms set sail armed with cannons and conquered new lands. New empires were born.

All thanks to a little Chinese hand cannon.

Since then, guns evolved rapidly. Most of the evolution was military.

And guess what?

It still is.

But some guns get made for peace. The shotgun was created for pheasant hunting.

And while the bolt-action rifle began as a military weapon, today it is the most popular form of a hunting rifle in the world.

Originally it was a toy, then became synonymous with policing the wild American west.

It all boils down to this:

Get this:

The minie ball changed things. Suddenly muskets could deliver a high-caliber round from nearly a mile away, and with good accuracy.

The American Civil War showed what kind of carnage that could cause.

You see, the entire world watched the American Civil War. It was the bloodiest war in history until then. But more specifically, Europeans were looking at the weaponry.

Designs came fast and furious. The repeating rifle. The Gatling gun.

And the bolt-action rifle.

Let's take a look:

You see, those took a lot of time to load.

• Bite open pouch
• Pour powder down barrel
• Drop minie ball in barrel
• Ram it all down with a ramrod
• Attach a percussion cap to the primer
• Fire
• Do it all over again

Well trained infantry could fire three rounds a minute.

They needed entire regiments simply to put down the same firepower that one soldier can put down today.

The way he saw it, if his gun could end the war quickly, the killing could finally stop.

Unfortunately, the Union wasn't interested in his design until late in the war, when 13 were used at the siege of Petersburg.

After the war, the U.S. Army finally bought the design. They called it the Gatling Gun.

The grandaddy of the machine gun was finally in service.

Boom!

The Colt Revolver was on everyone's mind.

But there were design flaws that needed improving.

For instance, you had to pour the powder into each cylinder separately and then add a cap on the end. Also, it took three or four actions to fire.

Along came Smith & Wesson, two entrepreneurs, who created the modern bullet we all know. Suddenly there was the proper cartridge for the proper gun.

But that's not all:

By the time the Civil War broke out, officers and cavalry on both sides were using modern revolvers.

After the war, Colt took all the previous improvements to design and created what would go down as the colt peacemaker single greatest revolver in history.

The Colt Peacemaker.

Aptly called "the gun that settled the west," the Colt Peacemaker was accurate, powerful, and easy to carry.

The U.S. Army bought it and it was in service until the 1930s!

Not good.

Then the French Lebel released in 1886 and changed guns forever.

You see, the French created a spring-loading clip that could carry five rounds and loaded the next road with a pull of the bolt.

You get the picture.

More importantly, they created smokeless gunpowder.

Yep.

General Tramond and Colonel Nicolas Lebel led a government-run project to create a new gun for the modernized French Army.

The Model 1886 "Lebel" rifle was it.

Every gun created since uses smokeless gunpowder, and most military weapons have used spring-loading magazines.

But then things changed:

With Germany unified into a single state, and a new Kaiser and a new Imperial German Army looking for modern weaponry, the brothers' design gained new traction.

Although Wilhelm had passed away, Paul finished their design and signed a contract with the German government in 1898.

The Mauser was born.

So what makes the Mauser so special?

The gun fires a 7.92 millimeter smokeless round with high muzzle velocity.

More uniquely, it featured a locking lug at the back of the bolt, and a second tangent sight right in front of the chamber.

In short, German infantry could now rapid-fire a rifle with deadly accuracy.

The weapon saw action in South Africa against the British, but more importantly, proved rugged and able in the awful conditions of the First and Second World Wars.

German infantry loved their Mausers. They never let them down.

One day his friend told him "If you really want to get rich, just create something that will allow Europeans to kill each other faster."

All joking aside, within three years Hiram Maxim had the first working prototype.

The gun featured the first recoil-operating system. It used the energy produced by the firing of a bullet to push the bolt back, eject the shell, and chamber the next round.

It was fed by a leather belt filled with bullets, and fired 600 rounds a minute.

The operator only had to hold down the trigger.

The world dubbed it the " Maxim machine gun."

Both England and Germany scrambled to buy it. Maxim sold to both.

They were used extensively in the Boer War in South Africa, on both sides. But it was during the First World War that the true horror of the weapon came to light.

No longer could infantry advance across open ground. Maxims mowed them down by the thousands.

Today automatic weapons are taken for granted.

But they all exist thanks to the Maxim machine gun.

But guess what?

More than 100 years later and the Colt M1911 is still in service. It's still sold at gun stores.

It's the most successful handgun in history.

But let's rewind a moment:

The famous M1911 is a direct result of the bloody guerrilla war in the Philippines.

The Spanish-American war ended, but Filipinos refused to accept American occupation and fought a war that resembles the Vietnam War a century later.

The U.S. Marines in the Philippines didn't have a good close-quarter weapon that worked in tropical conditions.

The gun was revolutionary in the stalemate of the First World War in that it providede gun with the lightweight mobility of a rifle.

Browning saw a gap in armaments at the time. Infantry slogged forward in No Man's Land through hails of machine gun, rifle, and artillery fire.

Once the survivors had captured an enemy position, strong counter-attacks were sure to follow. They only had bolt-action rifles to fend them off.

The B.A.R. gave them the ability to pin down enemy strongpoints and fend off counter-attacks. It revolutionized the war.

But then more changes came:

In World War II every infantry squad was organized around the guy carrying the B.A.R.

Communist forces in the Korean War had nothing that could match it, and it stayed in service right through the Vietnam War.

The B.A.R. is the predecessor of today's assault rifle.

In fact, one could say it is the world's first assault rifle, although it wasn't recognized as such at the time.

But wait.

Isn't the Tommy Gun famous for its use in World War II?

You bet.

The U.S. Army adopted the Tommy Gun in 1939.

The army version replaced the drum magazine with a 30-round box magazine, making it much easier to carry.

It proved its worth and goes down as the grandfather of all submachine guns that would follow.

But that's not all:

The  MG-42 evolved from the lighter MG-34 machine gun which the Germans started the war with. While the 34 was a decent machine gun, the Wehrmacht wanted something that was easier to produce.

Design teams went to work and came up with the stamped-metal MG-42.

Machine gun design changed forever.

And with such power, they redesigned how infantry units worked. Previously, automatic weapons supported the rifles, laying down fire while the infantry advanced.

Now, the MG-42 became the center of the infantry squad, with the rifles supporting it. An MG-42 moving forward ripped apart anything in front of it.

So let's get to it:

As America's first semi-automatic battle rifle, it dominated the battlefields of World War II.

While German and Russian armies toyed with semi-automatics, nobody but the USA issued them as their standard infantry gun. All the other countries relied on WW1-era bolt-action rifles.

Also, the M1 has the honor of being the  first long-stroke gas-piston firearm, which the AK-47 would copy a decade later.

But first, picture this:

American soldiers in World War II. They're firing round after round from their trusty M1 rifles. When they fire off five rounds, the clip spring ejects from the top with a "ping."

Meet the M1 Garand.

The M1 has a unique history compared to other American firearms. It was intentionally designed by the U.S. government looking to keep its military up to par with other powers.

It was the 1930s and both fascism and communism were on the rise. The liberal democracies of the world were looking weak by comparison.

By the time America entered the war in 1941, every combat arm of the U.S. Armed Forces was equipped with M1s.

What a game changer!

It still does:

What sets the AK apart is the smaller-than-normal round it fires. At 7.62 millimeters, the round is lighter and easier to carry, although it lacks the stopping power of many World War II weapons.

What's the catch?

The AK-47 is machine pressed. It uses the same long-stroke gas-piston action as the M1 Garand. But it can fire on full-automatic as well as semi-automatic.

Because it's rugged, simple, and light, anyone can learn to use it in a matter of hours.

And use it they do:

The Viet Cong hid crates full of AKs in the mud and under rivers. When they cracked the case, the weapons came out and were ready to fire.

Today the AK is the main battle rifle of dozens of nations, as well as terrorist groups and freedom fighters.

Even Mozambique features an AK-47 on their flag!

Born in war. With the birth of Israel in 1948, the surrounding Arab nations immediately attacked.

The Israeli Defence Forces used a mix of left-over weapons from World War II but it was quickly apparent that something better was needed.

But you know what else?

The Uzi became the weapon of choice for cocaine smugglers and Columbian cartels. It's small and easily hidden, yet great for hit and run shootings.

Here's what makes the Glock different:

First, it's lightweight. A polymer frame houses an all-steel firing mechanism, but the upper portion of the gun is made from a solid block of steel.

It's extremely pointable.

The solid block of steel means that users can make the Glock an extension of their arms. That alone makes it incredibly accurate.

And with 17 rounds of nine-millimeter ammunition, there's plenty of firepower to use.

How These Guns Changed The Nations That Made Them

Ever noticed how when one of your friends gets a new lover, they change?

Or when someone wins a lot of money, they never go back to who they used to be?

The nations that gave us weapons like the Glock, the AK-47, and the Tommy Gun are like that.

Think about it.

Where would Russia be today if it wasn't for the AK-47?

Sure, they might have come up with something else, but most likely they would have needed to buy weapons from another country.

Maybe they would have collapsed earlier.

That means no AKs for the Vietnamese. No AKs for revolutionaries and terrorists around the world.

The entire second half of the 20th Century would have been so different!

That's not how it went down, though.

You know the score.

The AK-47 and all the other guns which changed history also changed the nations they came from.

Final Thoughts On The History Of Guns

No matter how you feel about guns, one thing is undeniable:

The invention of the gun drastically changed the world and the course of human civilization. And the history of guns is absolutely fascinating.

There is much to learn about the history of guns, far more than we can cover here.

But try this:

The next time you pick up your gun, whether for hunting or protection or target practice, remember the long history of firearms that have brought us to where we are today.