History of guns

History of artillery

Artillery was originally muzzle loaded, meaning that the projectile was dropped or pushed into the front opening of the gun barrel. Since the late nineteenth century, artillery is typically breech loaded, meaning that it is put into a firing chamber at the opposite end of the gun from the muzzle. Mortars however are still muzzle loaded. 

Although large guns had appeared in the thirteenth century, neither the compressed air or gunpowder system was usually considered practical or accurate enough for small arms.

The arquebus in history

The arquebus, the first true ancestor of the modern rifle, first emerged in Spain around 1450 and was employed with great success in the Spanish defeat of the French at Cerignola, Italy in 1503. In 1570, the flintlock musket, in which the powder was ignited by the action of flint on metal, replaced the arquebus.

Like its predecessor, the musket was muzzle loaded, a method by which the projectile is inserted through the forward end of the tube. This system remained the standard for both rifles and pistols for the next 200 years.

The invention of metal cartridge by Hoviller

In 1846, Hoviller in France produced the first functional metal cartridge, such as those in use today. With this refinement it was possible to load a small arm at the breech rather than at the muzzle. However, in most cases projectiles still could be fired only one at a time until the invention of the repeater (repeating arms and machine guns).