Maybach: Tales of the Gun

Tales of the Gun is the TV series on the " History Channel ". I wrote brief contents of
each episode and incorporated some pictures to it. Hope this TV series help me
understand the history.

Preface:
The gun has played the critical role in history. An invention which has been praised and denounced... served hero and villain alike... and carries with it moral responsibility. To understand the gun is to better understand history.

1. Making of a Gun

Gun-Stock Lathe / American Precision Museum.

Flintlock, Repeater, Derringer, Revolver, Machine Gun, Automatic Carbine, Musket...

Interchangeable Gun Parts
Using the lathes and mill machines to produce the interchangeable parts during the Civil War.

Armory Practice
During the Civil War, machinists who had begun experimenting with consumer products returned to gun making. After the war, many of them again began concentrating on peacetime products.
Watches ,Sewing machines, agricultural equipment, and many household devices were made using tools and method perfected in armories.

Beretta 92FS

Beretta Factory. The following figures downloaded from " Guns For Sale ".

Quality Control.
Beretta uses the " Computerized Measure Machine " (CMM) which precisely measure the dimensions of components at various stages of manufacture.

The Beretta M9 is a semi-automatic pistol chambered in 9x19mm NATO. The frame is forged 7075-T6 aluminum, with type III hard anodizing, and the slide is carbon steel, treated with Beretta's Bruniton finish. Barrels are chrome lined carbon steel, with Bruniton finish, and their rifling is created using the broach cut method.

2. Bullet and Ammo

From left to right: 7.62x51 (for scale), .300 Winchester Magnum, .338 Lapua Magnum, .
375 CheyTac, .408 CheyTac, .416 Barrett, .460 Steyr, .50 BMG A-MAX

In the beginning, ammunition was simple. The mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter known as
" Black Powder ".

Muzzle-Loading Rifle
The projectile and propellant are loaded through the muzzle. The bullet must be large enough that engaged the screw, but the bullet wasn't easy to down the barrel. Time consuming.

Bullet Shadowgraph. Wikipedia.

Shadowgraph is an optical method that reveals non-uniformities in transparent media like air,water, or glass. It is related to, but simpler than, the schlieren and schlieren photography methods that perform a similar function. Shadowgraph is a type of flow visualisation. In principle, we cannot directly see a difference in temperature, a different gas, or a shock wave in the transparent air. However, all these disturbances refract light rays, so they can cast shadows. The plume of hot air rising from a fire, for example, can be seen by way of its shadow cast upon a nearby surface by the uniform sunlight.

Full Metal Jacket Bullet.

Tracer Ammunition.

Fire .50-caliber machine gun rounds at the base of a training target to indicate to nearby helicopters where to fire their rockets during partnered aerial-ground integration training.

Firearms Identification / Tool Mark

Firearms are made of materials that are harder than ammunition. Therefore, when ammunition passes through a firearm. The firearm leaves distinctive marks on it. Firearms are like fingerprints; no to leave the same marks on the materials they contact. Manufacturing processes also leave distinctive markings on both firearms and ammunition. Forensic scientists draw certain conclusions about crimes based on this information. Time has little effect on firearms. For this reason, firearms that are recovered months or years after their use can still be analyzed and identified by forensic experts as related to specific cartridge cases or bullets.

Forensic Ballistic.

Analyze the firearms usage in the commission of crimes. Bullets and their impacts are examined to determine their types and other information.

3. Dueling Pistol

6. Remington

-->Cane Gun

After the civil war ended, the Remington company found itself the nation largest gun manufacturer. The company realized that if they wanted to stay to existence, they needed to develop the product for the civilian.

--> Elliot's Pocket Revolver / Remington Zig-Zag Derringer
The easily concealable weapon for the personal protection. Very popular for gamblers.

--> Remington Rolling Block Rifle
The most famous and most successful design. It saved the company. It is the single-shot and
breach-loading weapon. Thanks to the success of the rolling block rifle, the 1860-1870 was the
golden era of Remington.

--> Remington 1875 Revolver

--> Remington Lee Rifle
The detachable box magazine rifle.

--> Remington Model 11 Shotgun
John Browning.

--> Remington Pistol Model 1911

--> Remington Model 1100

--> Remington Model 700

7. Smith and Wesson

8. Winchester

Henry Rifle

10. Rifle

Weapon Factor:
Range, Power, Accuracy, Rate of Fire.

The rifle will increase " Range ", " Power ", " Accuracy ", but the " Rate of Rifle " still needed to be conquered in 18th century. The critical challenge is to find the way to make the projectile small enough and easily fit down to the rifle.

Minié ball
The Minié ball is smaller than the barrel that easily to fit into the gun, and the base is hollow, after
the black powder fired, the base would expand to the barrel causing the spinning of the bullet.

Ferguson Rifle.
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first breech loading rifles.

Sharps Rifle

The Sharp Rifle " Breech Loading ", that can avoid the leaking of hot gas during fire.

Spencer Rifle.

Wikipedia:
The Spencer repeating rifle was a manually operated lever-action, repeating rifle fed from a
tube magazine with cartridges.

Winchester Rifle
The Winchester rifle was popular for the westward frontier.

Bolt-Action

Door Bolt.

Smokeless Gun Powder
Smokeless gun powder had the great explosive power allowing the bullet to make narrower
and sleeker in the shape.

Tubular Magazine.
The smokeless gun powder make storing bullets in the tubular magazine dangerous.

M1 Garand Rifle.

In a conclusion:
From the above chief history of rifle, we can understand theses factors that determined the
evolution of the rifle are :

Power : Black Powder -->> Smokeless Gun Powder. Bigger projectiles.
Accuracy : Grooves in the barrel.
Range : Smokeless gun powder + grooves in the barrel.
Rate of Fire : Muzzle Loading -->> Breech Loading. Tubular Magazine -->> Box Magazine.

11. Shotgun

On the frontier or in the battlefield...

Double Barrel Shotgun.

The advantage of double barrel shotgun, especially in the hostile countries is :
You can load two barrel with two different load. One is for hunting, another is for protecting
yourself in case of the attack.

Pump Action. Today's Hunter in Montana.

The pump-action firearm is fast and smooth. It allows the shooter to re-cock the firearm without
taking his or her eye off the target. The pump action also is referred to as “slide action” or
“trombone action.”

1. To open the action, slide the forestock to the rear, which extracts the cartridge from the
    chamber and ejects it. Sliding the forestock toward the muzzle closes the action and readies
    another cartridge. A pump-action firearm will open only after it’s fired or if a release lever is pressed
    and the forestock is pulled to the rear.
2. To make sure it’s unloaded, you must visually check both the chamber and the magazine for
     cartridges.

Pump Action Shotgun Diagram

How to operate a Pump Action :

1. Locate the action-release button. Make sure the muzzle is pointed in a safe direction.

2. Remember to keep your finger off of the trigger. Push and hold the action-release button while
    pumping the action. On most pump shotguns you do not need to use the action-release button
    if you have just shot the firearm. Simply pump the action to open it.

3. Once fired, each time thereafter that the action is pumped an empty case is ejected, a live
round of ammunition is loaded into the chamber from the magazine, the hammer is cocked,
and the firearm is ready to shoot.

4. With your finger off the trigger, push and hold the action release button and pump the action by

    cycling the action several times to ensure the chamber and magazine are empty. Visually
check to ensure the chamber is empty. Leave the action open when not hunting.

12. The Guns of Browning

M2 Browning

Browning's machine gun saw in the WWI and all the way through the Vietnam.
The Gun of John Browning.

Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)

Someday, John Browning watched the rifle fire, he noticed the muzzle gas expanding to the grass. He conceived the " Gas operation " auto rifle.

14. Gangster Guns