Gun and Its Development (eBook)

Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for hunters and firearms enthusiasts. We publish books about shotguns, rifles, handguns, target shooting, gun collecting, self-defense, archery, ammunition, knives, gunsmithing, gun repair, and wilderness survival. We publish books on deer hunting, big game hunting, small game hunting, wing shooting, turkey hunting, deer stands, duck blinds, bowhunting, wing shooting, hunting dogs, and more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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First published in Great Britain in 1881 and subsequently revised nine times between then and 1910, The Gun and Its Development traces the fascinating history of weaponry: the obscure, ancient origins of the slingshot and the bow, the invention of the crossbow, possibly around 1000 AD; the introduction of gunpowder into Europe in the fourteenth century; the development of sporting and military guns over the centuries thereafter; and the rise of modern, mass-produced firearms in the early twentieth century.Chapters cover early to modern handguns; gunpowder ignition methods from fuses and flintlocks to percussion fulminates; shotguns; hammerless guns; ejector guns; the history of the firearms industry; manufacturing methods and their development in Britain, America, and elsewhere; how to use and handle different types of guns; ballistics; the development of rifling and smokeless powder; and much more. Copiously illustrated with photographs and marvelous engravings, The Gun and Its Development is the classic, authoritative reference work on the subject, certain to be of great interest to marksmen, hunters, gun collectors, and anyone interested in military or industrial history.