Prehistory
As man was young he needed to defend against predators. The first weapon to be used was the fist. Then came sharp objects to give more punch and could also be thrown at greater distances. Also a stick came to be used to extend the reach of your hand. The stick also developed to a trowing spear and soon sharp spearheads was combined with sturdy wood. As man developed he invented the bow.
Fire came also to be harnessed as tool to herde animals or foe to desired location. However fire is its own master and difficult to direct.
Then man discovered how to utilise horses for his purposes, the weel followed.
With these inventions man coped for many thousands of years. It has always been nomads who conquered settled areas and as they in turn become settlers, former conquerors came to be yet again conquered by new nomads.
Iron age replaced bronze age baldes and steel technology developed to its hight.
Alexander utilised superior spears to great victories as Romans utilised inferior spears to own victories. Military strategies came to play an important role of with The Art of War is most famous still implemented today in corporate strategies. Parthians and Huns came to challenge old strategies. Merovingians survives Attila and came to found new christian nation which in turn intermixed with norse seamen. The strong took what they wanted, in time Normands came to develop East India Company.
Enter gunpowder
Chinese developed gunpowder and Mongols accelerated continental trade. Thru this trade Venetians came to redefine gunpowder engined projectiles. As Christianity looses Byzantine capital to Muslim sultans. Franks answered the call for a holy war which culminated at the battle of Vienna. The canon came to dictate the research development of gunpowder for several hundred years.
Gun history
Despite chinese already used portable canons the technology stayed as such for very long time. At some level these was used during the middle ages in europe as well.
They had greater range and could be used for prolonged periods of time when a bowman exhausted himself. However the engine was still very dangerous to the user and unreliable due to weather conditions.
Flint lock muskets came to revolutionise the portable canon industry by pistols and rifles. Operating muskets was still sensitive for weather conditions why the development of firearms accelerated.
Within one generation man came to see how musket barrels became rifle, the ball was replaced wit a projectile and the gunpowder replaced with pre filled cartridges. The combustion control saw its height with steel shells. Weapons came to be more safer to use.
Single shot engines was evolved into multiple shot guns. As the fire rate came to give superiority the minigun was invented by the time of spanish american wars.
Modern weapons
The world wars and industrialisation accelerated the firearms industry to new heights. Kalashnikov came to be a cheap mass production and M14 platform state of the art projectile slynger. Canons developed into artillery pieces which in turn became portable in Jans Ziskas invented canon wagons, aka Tanks. Ironclads Quickly revolutionised maritime warfare. Flight diversified the means how to utilise gunpowder.
I recognize three different segments on how the gun industry differentiate them selves:
- Accuracy and range
- Mass markets
- caliber and rate of fire
Snipers utilice accuracy on ranged objects. White death managed to quell 500 opponents with primitive gear but modern snipers tend to use massive projectile engines to reach up to 3km .
Developing countries tend to consume robust and reliable engines as more wealthier countries consume small advantages what reacherh is able to bring fourt.
Despite research is done in every aspect within firearms industry. The faster you empty your magazine the larger magazines you need to be equipped with in order to stay active for prolonged time. M16 mags are optimal size but cant hold too many rounds. P90 made some breakthroughs on this field as the mags are distributed completely differently thus giving more rounds in mag. This might already be surpassed by other alternatives. Light machine guns are an entire segment in their own in which I won’t dig in any further.
New weapons development
Atom warfare brought new alternative for gunpowder but was quickly discarded as an alternative. Biological and chemical weapons ancestor Mithridates modern adaptations are today questionable but still accepted alternative. Some may be completely prohibited for smaller nations to research but more common elements may have sanctions or restriction for use, pepper spray.
Drone warfare and unmanned vehicles is no new concept but constantly improving technology when as it comes to accuracy and efficiency.
Atom power tried to replace gunpowder but there are yet a lot of experimental alternatives how to extend the traditional arrow and bow alternatives. Flashbangs are used already but super sonic weaponry will become more widespread. So will controlled electric discharge arms as well, tasers->star wars blasters.
tommytuomaala 