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This is an extensive list of antique guns made before the year 1900 and including the first functioning firearms ever invented. The list is not comprehensive; create an entry for listings having none; multiple names are acceptable as cross-references, so that redirecting hyperlinks can be established for them.
Firearms were instrumental in the fall of the Byzantine Empire and the establishment of European colonization in the Americas, Africa, and Oceania. The 19th and 20th centuries saw an acceleration in this evolution, with the introduction of the magazine, belt-fed weapons, metal cartridges, rifled barrels, and automatic firearms, including ...
Antique firearms can be divided into two basic types: muzzle-loading and cartridge firing. Muzzleloading antique firearms are not generally owned with the intent of firing them (although original muzzleloaders can be safely fired, after having them thoroughly inspected), but instead are usually owned as display pieces or for their historic value.
Old Japanese weapons and other military paraphernalia, c. 1892–95 A Gilbertese shark-toothed weapon (late 19th century). Major innovations in the history of weapons have included the adoption of different materials – from stone and wood to different metals, and modern synthetic materials such as plastics – and the developments of different weapon styles either to fit the terrain or to ...
F1 submachine gun (1962–1991) – Australian submachine gun intended to replace the Owen gun; Steyr AUG 9 mm (1977) FN P90 (1990–present) – Belgian personal defense weapon, a submachine gun but with a scaled down intermediate rifle cartridge; MP 18 (1918–1945) – German submachine gun, world's first widely used and successful
One of the earliest rifled cannons was the Armstrong gun—also invented by William George Armstrong—which boasted significantly improved range, accuracy, and power than earlier weapons. The projectile fired from the Armstrong gun could reportedly pierce through a ship's side, and explode inside the enemy vessel, causing increased damage, and ...
The matchlock appeared in Europe in the mid-15th century. [19] The matchlock was the first mechanism invented to facilitate the firing of a hand-held firearm. The classic European matchlock gun held a burning slow match in a clamp at the end of a small curved lever known as the serpentine.
Early modern warfare is the era of warfare during early modern period following medieval warfare.It is associated with the start of the widespread use of gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive, including artillery and firearms; for this reason the era is also referred to as the age of gunpowder warfare (a concept introduced by Michael Roberts in the 1950s).