The Gatling gun was developed and used during the civil war. The very first model of the Gatling gun was the 1862 model. The inventor of the Gatling gun was Richard Jordan Gating. The gun only fought in two wars but led to more powerful guns.
The gating gun was a fairly simple weapon. The first model of the Gatling gun used pre-loaded chambers, and primed paper cartridges. The cartridges were very costly, and not very efficient. The cartridges would also leak out gas. Then Richard J. Gatling improved the gun, incorporating separate steel bolt mechanics. After this improvement every barrel shot every rotation and at a faster rate. In the 1865 model integral chambers were introduced. The integral chambers in the barrels eliminated gas sealing, excessive friction and misalignment. Metal cartridges then later replaced the paper cartridges. The metal cartridges were quicker to load, they speed up the rate of fire and had less overheating. The Gatling gun was operated by a hand crank, when people would spin the handle the gun would rapidly fire, around a central shaft. This rapid fire te...
One weapon used in the Civil War is a Sharps Carbine. It was developed primarily for Calvary, because of the shorter barrel. They were much easier to handle on horse back than their longer brother the Breech-Loader. Sharps were preferred because they could be loaded on a moving horse, something virtually impossible with a Muzzle-Loader. Also, Breech-Loaders carbine which fired moisture proof metallic cartridges, where more reliable than rifles that fired paper cartridges. As I said be fore it is easier to load a Sharps than a Muzzle-Loader. A Muzzle-Loader took 9 long hard steps just to fire one shot. Even the most skilled solder could only get three rounds off in a minute on the old Civil War Muzzle-Loader. And No wonder. After each shot you have to (1) steady the gun on the ground take out a new cartridge out of a belt pouch. (2) Tear open a piece of paper with your teeth. (3) Empty the powder in the barrel and insert a bullet in to the muzzle. (4) Draw the long “rummer” out of its carrying groove under the barrel. (5) ram the bullet all the way down. (6) Return the rod back to its groove. (7) Lift the weapon half-cocked the hammer. (8) Fully cock the hammer, aim, and finally,(9) fire.
Handguns played a major role in the Civil War as far as weaponry was concerned. For instance, the most popular sidearm in the Union army was the Colt Army model 1860, which was a .36 caliber. The Army model 1860 was remodeled after the 1848 Dragoon, which was used in the Mexican War. The Colt model 1860 was a .44 caliber six shot weapon weighing two pounds eleven ounces. During the Civil War, more than 146,800 Colt revolvers were purchased. This made up more than 40 percent of all the handguns bought by the government at that time. In 1851, the .36 caliber revolver was produced by Colt. Colt then sold approximately 215,000 navy models, as they were called. The Star Revolver was a .44 caliber, six shot, double action weapon, which weighed approximately three pounds. 25,000 revolvers were then sold to the government for twelve dollars each. The Figure Eight Revolver was built especially for Civil War use. More than 12,000 of these revolvers were sold to the United States Government in the early war from Great Britain. The most popular pistol was the Le Mat Revo...
Each shot couldn’t be more than inches from the center of the bull’s eye. At the end of these contests, 1,000 winners were enlisted in the 1st United States sharper shooters. The next generation of breechloaders, called magazine rifles, would prove ever more deadly to confederate opponents. “Guns such as Spencer and Henry repeating rifles were designed to carry preloaded magazine of seven to fifteen bullets which could be inserted into the rear of the gun. ”3
Doctor Richard Gatling patented the Gatling gun in 1861. This gun would become one of the deadliest weapons of the war. The Gatling gun was a six-barreled gun and would fire...
The south, which was mostly agricultural, depended on the production of cotton. It was very important to their economy. Before Eli Whitney’s Cotton Gin was used throughout the south, the United States produced about 750,000 bales of hay in 1830 (How the Cotton Gin). By 1850 it had increased to 2.85 billion bales of hay (How the Cotton Gin). Most of this was in the south because it had the weather conditions needed for cotton to grow. In 1793 Whitney saw the difficulty of taking out cotton seeds by hand (Cefrey 10-11). He decided to create a machine that could clean cotton faster than a human could. The Cotton Gin made the processing of cotton much faster and quicker. As a result of this, land owners were now able to have large cotton plantations across the south (How the Cotton Gin). Southerners were becoming wealthy very fast because of the cotton gin. Eli Whitney’s invention of the Cotton Gin made cotton the South’s main crop making more slave labor needed and political tensions rise.
The ignition device of a spud gun is simply put the spark generator that causes the combustion of the fuel in the firing chamber. This device is usually a charcoal grill lighter. The button on the sparker is depressed and a spark arcs across a wire lead and a ground wire. The grill sparker is installed in to the back of the firing chamber by means of threading, epoxy, and bolts. This sparker becomes a projectile if it is not well seated in the end cap of the firing chamber. It must be held firmly in place withstanding any pressure produced by the fuels being burned in the chamber. This type or igniter will work in most conditions including when it becomes wet with fuel.
A popular weapon used by both sides was the rifle. Rifles were invented before the Civil War and were greatly used in the War of 1812. However, more types were built and a larger amount was used during the Civil War. Rifles added a spin to bullets for a greater accuracy at longer ranges. Using this weapon, soldiers could fire 400 yards away, as opposed to the average 80 yards (Robertson 50). Rifles were the fastest and hardest weapon of the time. Rifles allowed their bullets to be shot harder and faster towards its target. New inventions, used by the Union more than the Confederate, included Parrott rifles. They were composed of iron. Robert Parker Parrott, an American soldier and inventor, created these weapons, hence the name Parrott rifles. Despite its name, the Parrott rifle was actually a cannon. Its size ranged from 10 to 300 pounders. It was not favored by most because it was considered unsafe (“Civil War Artillery”). Because of its bulkiness and heaviness, it seldom led soldiers to inaccuratel...
The Civil War had many large technological advancements that would greatly evolve warfare. The war introduced the first ironclad ships, the first repeating rifles and carbines, and the first metallic rifle and pistol cartridges. The military didn't solely rely on this new technology, however. Older weapons and other tools were still trusted, such as paper cartridges and smoothbore muskets.
A majority of weapons used in World War II were improved weapons from World War II. Most guns increased in power and abilities. In World War II people thought that pistols were useless but this was proved wrong due to the fact that the U.S. Mi...
The first war to use significant technological advancement was World War I. Despite the introduction of trench warfare (in which troops dug bases many feet deep into the ground and fought only on the surface), the art of battle would forever be changed. There were many different types of weaponry advancements experienced in World War I. Machine guns were built twice more powerful than in the Civil War, firing up to 600 bullets a minute which was the equivalent of 250 riflemen. Artillery experienced a massive technological progression with the building of several thousands of powerful cannons with shells filled with ...
The next real step in the evolution of the gun came during the Civil War. Rifles were invented that ...
My conclusion is that I would not want to be shot by any of these guns. They used very heavy ammunition that devastated what ever it hit. I guess that is why the American Civil War was called the bloodiest war of all time. Not only are you trying to kill your opponent, you are trying to kill a fellow American which must of been tougher. Also, if we adopted the Gatling gun, I feel that the war would of been over a lot faster than it was. To be able to fire 250 to 300 rounds in one minute is devastating. That gun was very mobile because it could be moved around by the horses because it was on wheels.
In the late 1700’s the slave population in the United States had decreased. Before the invention of the cotton gin the South, which could only make money by farming, was loosing money because it didn’t have a major crop to export to England and the North besides tobacco and rice. However, these crops could be grown elsewhere. Cotton was the key because it couldn’t be grown in large amounts in other places, but only one type of cotton that could be cleaned easily. This was long-staple cotton. Another problem arose; long-staple cotton only could be grown along the coast. There was another strain of cotton that until then could not be cleaned easily so it wasn’t worth growing. The cotton gin was the solution to this problem. With the invention of the cotton gin short stemmed cotton could be cleaned easily making cotton a valued export and it could be grown anywhere in the south. The era of the “Cotton Kingdom” began with this invention leading into an explosion in the necessity of slaves.
“Volley Guns” (Chivers, 2010, p.26) or also known as “Organ Guns” (Ellis, 1975, p.10) were first attempts at increasing firepower by adding several barrels at the firing itself, rather than simply attempting to increase the rate of fire. “Gunsmiths had long ago learned to place barrels side by side on frames to create firearms capable of discharging projectiles in rapid succession. These unwieldy devices, or volley guns, were capable in theory of blasting a hole in a line of advancing soldiers” (Chivers, 2010, p.26). An example of such weapons can be seen on July 28, 1835 when Giuseppe Fieshi unleashed terror on King Louis-Phillipe in Paris, France. He fired his 25 barrel “volley gun”, killing 18 of the king's entourage and grazing the King's skull. The weapon was ineffective however. Four of the barrels failed and another four ruptured. Two other barrels had exploded inside, grievously wounding Giuseppe. (Chivers, 2010, p. 27)
M253 Cannon (barrel): The M253 cannon consists of the barrel, sealed at the lower end with a removable breech plug that houses a removable firing pin. At the muzzle end is a cone-shaped Blast Attenuator Device (BAD) that is fitted to reduce noise.