Buzz
Although not everyone lives in a country where firearms are easily accessible, many are familiar with the creators or the iconic weapons listed here. Embark on a brief exploration of the history of firearm production.
10. Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling
The inventor behind the first effective machine gun, though not the first automatic one. This groundbreaking design functioned like a massive six-barreled revolver, operated manually with a crank. A container holding hundreds of loose rounds (not belt-fed) was positioned above, using gravity to feed ammunition into the chamber. This innovation allowed even those unfamiliar with firearms to unleash a barrage of bullets at approximately 200 rounds per minute. For Civil War soldiers used to loading single shots, this invention must have seemed like technology from a distant future.
However, it had its disadvantages, notably the massive cloud of black powder smoke it generated, which made it an easy target for enemy artillery and snipers.
9. John Cantius Garand
The creator of the M1 Garand, a rifle the U.S. military utilized extensively in WWII, Korea, and even Vietnam. General George Patton famously dubbed it 'the greatest battle implement ever devised.' It was the first semi-automatic rifle successfully issued to any nation's military. It used the 30-06 Springfield cartridge, a highly powerful round that had been the standard since its introduction in 1906 for the bolt-action Springfield rifle.
Soldiers heading into battle felt confident, armed with 8 rounds of formidable firepower that could be discharged as quickly as they could pull the trigger. The weapon required no manual operation to cycle, and its weight of approximately 10 pounds struck a perfect balance—light enough for easy carrying yet heavy enough to absorb recoil effectively.
8. David Marshall Williams
Known as 'Carbine' Williams, he was imprisoned in 1921 for moonshine distribution after a raid on his still led to an officer's death. Williams maintained his innocence, and his trial ended with a hung jury. However, he later admitted to second-degree murder, having fired at a noise without knowing whether it was a person or an animal.
Sentenced to 20 to 30 years, he was pardoned after 8 years due to his groundbreaking inventions in the prison machine shop. He developed two revolutionary principles for military firearms, most notably the short-stroke piston for gas-operated weapons. His design, perfected in 1940 and first used in the M1 Carbine, remains unchanged to this day. The U.S. military sought a lighter alternative to the M1 Garand that retained long-range accuracy and stopping power, and Williams' invention provided the solution.
Williams' short-stroke gas piston was pivotal. He also created the floating chamber, which significantly reduced recoil and allowed the military to train machine gunners using cheaper .22LR ammunition.
7. Paul and Wilhelm Mauser
The Mauser bolt-action system is the most widely used among all bolt-action firearms globally. It was integrated into the U.S. military's Springfield 1903, which served as the standard-issue rifle until the introduction of the M1 Garand. Among the three primary bolt-action systems—Mauser, Lee-Enfield, and Mosin-Nagant—the Mauser stands out due to its third locking lug at the rear of the bolt. This feature provides superior strength, enabling it to handle higher breech pressures from magnum rounds, unlike the other two systems, which are limited to two side lugs and are unsuitable for high-powered hunting rounds designed for large, dangerous game.
The Mauser's third locking lug grants it the durability to fire any caliber currently manufactured, including the .700 Nitro Express, a rifle round nearly as large as a 12-gauge slug and capable of stopping a charging bull elephant. Firing such a powerful round from a Lee-Enfield or Mosin-Nagant would cause the weapon to fail catastrophically.
The Mauser bolt-action mechanism remains the most prevalent worldwide, found in nearly all hunting and military bolt-action rifles. Since its perfection by the Mauser brothers in 1871, the design has remained unchanged.
6. Sir Hiram Maxim
The creator of the first fully automatic machine gun in 1884, the Maxim gun became the primary weapon for all major armies during WWI and is likely responsible for more battlefield fatalities than any other firearm in history. The German and Russian versions were nearly identical, with only minor aesthetic differences. Capable of firing 600 rounds per minute, it utilized the recoil from each shot to eject the spent cartridge and load the next. This unprecedented rate of fire astounded the world at the time, making it the first modern weapon capable of decimating entire armies. Its introduction rendered traditional line-abreast formations obsolete, marking the end of classical battlefield tactics.
5. John Taliaferro Thompson
Thompson observed the trench warfare of WWI and recognized the need for a 'trench broom'—a weapon capable of clearing enemy forces with overwhelming firepower, similar to a pump shotgun but even more potent. He incorporated John Blish’s delayed blowback breech lock, which allowed the weapon’s moving parts, made of different metals, to slide smoothly under the high pressure of firing without jamming.
In 1919, Thompson introduced the Thompson submachine gun, chambered in the powerful .45 ACP round. His vision of a 'trench broom' became a reality, even though trench warfare had already become outdated. The Thompson could fire between 600 to 1200 rounds per minute, with enough force to halt a 1942 Ford Super Deluxe automobile.
4. Christian Sharps
The creator of the first successful breechloading rifle, Sharps revolutionized firearms by utilizing the newly developed self-contained cartridge. Unlike the 1819 Hall rifle, which was still a flintlock or percussion cap weapon, Sharps' design featured a single-shot, falling block action that was both robust and highly accurate. Even with basic iron sights, skilled shooters could reliably hit targets, whether game animals or enemy soldiers, at distances of up to 1,000 yards.
During the American Civil War, cavalry units on both sides effectively utilized Sharps' rifles, and he continued to refine the design. The 1874 model, chambered in the powerful 45-70 hunting cartridge, remains the most iconic version.
3. John Moses Browning
Browning secured patents for 128 firearm designs and related mechanisms. He revolutionized machine guns by introducing gas operation, an advancement over Maxim’s recoil system. Since 1895, all machine guns have incorporated Browning’s gas-operated mechanism.
He designed the Colt .45 Model 1911, a recoil-operated handgun that served as the U.S. military’s standard sidearm from 1911 to 1985. Even today, it remains widely used by military personnel and is one of the most globally popular handguns. Functionally, the design has remained unchanged since its inception.
He developed the lever-action shotgun, adapting Henry’s rifle design with some modifications. Six years later, in 1893, he introduced the pump-action shotgun, a mechanism that remains unchanged to this day. Seven years after that, he outdid himself again by creating the first semi-automatic shotgun. This recoil-operated design stayed in production for 98 years, with only cosmetic updates over time.
He designed the Browning Automatic Rifle, a fully automatic weapon chambered in 30-06, earning a reputation as a true 'street sweeper' for its devastating firepower.
He created the 1919 .30 machine gun and later surpassed it with the 1921 .50 BMG. Additionally, he developed several cartridges that remain popular today, including the ACP rounds in .25, .32, .38, .380, and .45, as well as the .50 BMG.
2. Samuel Colt
He didn’t create the revolver, but as a young boy, he noticed that most firearms were single-shot muzzleloaders. This meant that after firing, a shooter was vulnerable for at least 20 seconds while reloading. Determined to solve this, he aimed to invent 'the impossible gun'—a weapon capable of firing multiple times, like Elisha Collier’s revolving flintlock, but more reliable and quicker to reload.
The outcome was the 1836 percussion cap revolver, which became widely used during the American Civil War. It was the first successful repeating firearm, revolutionizing combat.
1. Benjamin Tyler Henry
The creator of the first breechloading, lever-action, magazine-fed rifle, Henry designed a weapon that could fire approximately 28 rounds per minute. With a 16-round tubular magazine and chambered in the robust .44 rimfire, the Henry rifle was patented in 1860. By 1862, 900 units were issued to the Union army. Confederate soldiers were astounded by its capabilities, famously calling it 'that damn Yankee rifle that they load on Sunday and shoot all week!'
Since it relied on self-contained cartridges, the Confederates found no value in stealing these rifles, as they lacked the compatible ammunition. This innovation laid the foundation for all modern lever-action rifles, with its design remaining largely unchanged to this day.
