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		An article about the 11 most important guns in history; to the right, the discussion they triggered (popularmechanics.com)		132
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6898 clicks; posted to Geek » on 12 Dec 2012 at 1:33 PM | Favorite | share:

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NowhereMon		2012-12-12 11:25:01 AM

Marcus Aurelius		2012-12-12 11:28:52 AM

Complete list fail for missing the Sturmgewehr 44.

jbuist		2012-12-12 11:33:32 AM

"Browning's other lasting contribution to weaponry..."

Author needs to be punched in the face for inferring Browning only gave us two good ideas.

R.A.Danny		2012-12-12 11:33:59 AM

Marcus Aurelius: Complete list fail for missing the Sturmgewehr 44.

Having the Ak there instead of the weapon that inspired it was indeed silly.

vossiewulf		2012-12-12 11:34:16 AM

The most important gun on that list is Sir Hiram Maxim's gun, which showed that you could use the energy of the fired round to eject the spent round, load a new one, and fire continuously. That is the basic concept behind every automatic weapon since, even if they used different methods from his short recoil design (long recoil, gas operated, various forms of blowback).

MikeSass		2012-12-12 11:41:07 AM

R.A.Danny: Marcus Aurelius: Complete list fail for missing the Sturmgewehr 44.

Having the Ak there instead of the weapon that inspired it was indeed silly.

Agreed. Also, if you are goign to put one 9mm semi-auto handgun on the list I would think that the P08 (aka Luger) would have been a better choice than a Glock 17. The only thing innovative about the GLock 17 is that they finally got the polymer right and could make plastic guns. Big deal. There still has never been a finer 9mm handgun made than the P08's.

iq_in_binary		2012-12-12 11:53:42 AM

MikeSass: R.A.Danny: Marcus Aurelius: Complete list fail for missing the Sturmgewehr 44.

Having the Ak there instead of the weapon that inspired it was indeed silly.

Agreed. Also, if you are goign to put one 9mm semi-auto handgun on the list I would think that the P08 (aka Luger) would have been a better choice than a Glock 17. The only thing innovative about the GLock 17 is that they finally got the polymer right and could make plastic guns. Big deal. There still has never been a finer 9mm handgun made than the P08's.

Ummm, the Browning High Power? Idiot

Dancin_In_Anson		2012-12-12 11:57:16 AM

I have one of those and have fired 3...4 if you want to count any number of different Glock models.

R.A.Danny		2012-12-12 12:05:46 PM

iq_in_binary: Ummm, the Browning High Power? Idiot

The whole list could have Browning designs on it, no need to be mean spirited.

Gecko Gingrich		2012-12-12 12:06:39 PM

R.A.Danny: Having the Ak there instead of the weapon that inspired it was indeed silly.

Which is the more important automobile: the Ford Model-T or the Olds Curved Dash?

Sybarite		2012-12-12 12:20:21 PM

Seems like the Brown Bess would deserve a spot considering its importance to the military success of history's largest empire.

wee		2012-12-12 12:22:20 PM

Dancin_In_Anson: I have one of those and have fired 3...4 if you want to count any number of different Glock models.

Five for me. Though I've also fired a Gatling, Uzi, and an M2.

R.A.Danny: The whole list could have Browning designs on it, no need to be mean spirited.

I'd throw in the CETME, a Winchester lever action of some variety, maybe also the MG34. But yeah.

Dancin_In_Anson		2012-12-12 12:33:55 PM

wee: Though I've also fired a Gatling, Uzi, and an M2.

I keep saying it...you and I need to get together and make some noise.

wee		2012-12-12 12:42:06 PM

Dancin_In_Anson: wee: Though I've also fired a Gatling, Uzi, and an M2.

I keep saying it...you and I need to get together and make some noise.

Hell yeah we do. Here's the last noise I made: .308 tracers out of a 13 inch barrel on a G3. Gave my recently broken nose a nosebleed. :-)

Timmy the Tumor		2012-12-12 12:44:29 PM

No Remington 870 shotgun?

HST's Dead Carcass		2012-12-12 12:54:11 PM

They had the Peacemaker, I'm leaving satisfied, and just a little grumpy at the other choices.

GAT_00		2012-12-12 01:00:19 PM

Seriously? Only one gun before Gatling guns? No Arquebus? Sharps Rifle? First muzzle loaders? First breech loaders?

vpb		2012-12-12 01:29:22 PM

But what about firearms of cultural significance?

AmazinTim		2012-12-12 01:30:52 PM

I'm sure at some point in the next 48 hours, The History Channel will have a much better countdown in the form of a 2-hour segment.

sammyk		2012-12-12 01:31:45 PM

GAT_00: Seriously? Only one gun before Gatling guns? No Arquebus? Sharps Rifle? First muzzle loaders? First breech loaders?

GAT_00: Seriously? Only one gun before Gatling guns? No Arquebus? Sharps Rifle? First muzzle loaders? First breech loaders?

How about the Kentucky rifle? Being the first mass produced rifled barrel is a pretty big deal.

Because People in power are Stupid		2012-12-12 01:36:09 PM

First to implement the floating chamber.

wee		2012-12-12 01:36:41 PM

vpb: But what about firearms of cultural significance?

I always wanted to weld a bayonet onto a Jennings or a Lorcin...

tlchwi02		2012-12-12 01:39:45 PM

That list sucked. yeah, those guns are interesting but only 2- the maxim and AK- would really count as most important guns in history considering their wider impact. the gatling gun barely even registers, even if you do count its modern cousins.

tallguywithglasseson		2012-12-12 01:41:18 PM

jbuist: "Browning's other lasting contribution to weaponry..."

Author needs to be ~~punched~~ shot in the face for inferring Browning only gave us two good ideas.

C'mon, don't be a pussy

dittybopper		2012-12-12 01:41:57 PM

Sybarite: Seems like the Brown Bess would deserve a spot considering its importance to the military success of history's largest empire.

I'd generalize it to the flintlock, not just Brown Bess.

Flintlocks were the height of firearms technology for 200 years. They allowed a person to keep a loaded, primed, ready to fire gun without the dead giveaway of smoldering match and without the delicate mechanism and expense of a wheellock. They were also more effective in the rain than they get credit for: With a little bit of forethought you can shoot a flintlock in all but the worse downpours, something you couldn't do with either a matchlock or a wheellock.

Hell, just this last Saturday, I spent all morning hunting with my flintlock in a light rain. Yet the gun went *BOOM* when I fired it.

So yeah, the flintlock absolutely should have been on that list. It should *TOP* that list, because all of the wars fought between 1650 and 1850 were fought with them.

Mid_mo_mad_man		2012-12-12 01:43:18 PM

The Kentucky long rifle, the Remington 700 series and sharps are missing

Rent Party		2012-12-12 01:43:28 PM

World's first assault rifle. Meriwether Lewis used this to impress upon the aboriginals the benefits of being our friend, rather than our enemy.

AshCampbell		2012-12-12 01:48:13 PM

For realsies? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_rifle

dittybopper		2012-12-12 01:48:34 PM

sammyk: GAT_00: Seriously? Only one gun before Gatling guns? No Arquebus? Sharps Rifle? First muzzle loaders? First breech loaders?

GAT_00: Seriously? Only one gun before Gatling guns? No Arquebus? Sharps Rifle? First muzzle loaders? First breech loaders?

How about the Kentucky rifle? Being the first mass produced rifled barrel is a pretty big deal.

They weren't mass produced. They were individually hand made, and they weren't the first, either: They were preceded by the German/Swiss jaeger rifles, which were brought over to the colonies by German immigrants. Those American-made jaeger rifles then gradually got longer and of smaller caliber, and took on some aspects of the English fowling guns, to become the classic American longrifle.

My gun is a transitional longrifle: halfway between a colonial jaeger and a golden age longrifle.

dittybopper		2012-12-12 01:49:20 PM

Mid_mo_mad_man: The Kentucky long rifle, the Remington 700 series and sharps are missing

My vote is for flintlocks in general, not just a particular kind of flintlock.

tlchwi02		2012-12-12 01:50:52 PM

I'd vote for the dreyse needle gun

cgraves67		2012-12-12 01:51:20 PM

I've fired 3 of those, 4 if you count a Colt Peacemaker replica. I've also observed firing of a M2 and a Gatling.

Karac		2012-12-12 01:51:30 PM

NowhereMon: lassister.jpeg

The discussions which ensued:
www.usnewsblock.com

Tarl3k		2012-12-12 01:54:15 PM

Thought it was going to be *specific* guns, so I was hoping to see the gun that killed Lincoln and the rifle that killed Archduke Ferdinand...

dittybopper		2012-12-12 01:54:57 PM

Tarl3k: the rifle that killed Archduke Ferdinand...

Wha?

Rent Party		2012-12-12 01:54:59 PM

I qualified on the M2 when I was in the service. Fired the AK, but I preferred the M14.

No Glock should be on that list, or any list besides "biggest fanboy gun" or possibly "gun most likely to exhibit grenading slide rails."

tlchwi02		2012-12-12 01:56:32 PM

Tarl3k: Archduke Ferdinand

assuming we're talking about old franz, he got shot with a pistol

dittybopper		2012-12-12 01:57:55 PM

Rent Party		2012-12-12 01:59:25 PM

dittybopper:
Gaston Glock was the Steve Jobs of the gun world.

Consider that stolen, as I'm gonna repeat it everywhere.

/Considerably more bad-ass, though.

I'll give the old guy credit for that!

jbuist		2012-12-12 02:00:11 PM

Tarl3k: rifle that killed Archduke Ferdinand...

Handgun. FN Model 1910 in .32 ACP. Designed by... John Moses Browning.

Antimatter		2012-12-12 02:00:26 PM

Rent Party: I qualified on the M2 when I was in the service. Fired the AK, but I preferred the M14.

No Glock should be on that list, or any list besides "biggest fanboy gun" or possibly "gun most likely to exhibit grenading slide rails."

It started the trend toward polymer framed guns, something that makes up a good potion of the world handgun market, and basically became the definitive style for police work, and self defense, in many countries.

Although, I vastly prefer my Springfield XD to any glock.

Tarl3k		2012-12-12 02:01:47 PM

tlchwi02: Tarl3k: Archduke Ferdinand

assuming we're talking about old franz, he got shot with a pistol

Sorry, my bad. I thought he was killed from a distance, herpa derpa...

tlchwi02		2012-12-12 02:04:40 PM

Tarl3k: Sorry, my bad. I thought he was killed from a distance, herpa derpa...

he actually almost got blown up. the original plan was to hit him with a grenade type attack. it was pure dumb luck (and some bad decision making) that he ended up back out in the city and stopped right in front of one of the would be assassins.

Tarl3k		2012-12-12 02:07:38 PM

tlchwi02: he actually almost got blown up. the original plan was to hit him with a grenade type attack. it was pure dumb luck (and some bad decision making) that he ended up back out in the city and stopped right in front of one of the would be assassins.

Ah, cool. Thanks, I am a bit of a retard ~~today~~

dittybopper		2012-12-12 02:19:06 PM

Rent Party: dittybopper:
Gaston Glock was the Steve Jobs of the gun world.

Consider that stolen, as I'm gonna repeat it everywhere.

Awesome.

amoral		2012-12-12 02:22:20 PM

iq_in_binary: MikeSass: R.A.Danny: Marcus Aurelius: Complete list fail for missing the Sturmgewehr 44.

Having the Ak there instead of the weapon that inspired it was indeed silly.

Agreed. Also, if you are goign to put one 9mm semi-auto handgun on the list I would think that the P08 (aka Luger) would have been a better choice than a Glock 17. The only thing innovative about the GLock 17 is that they finally got the polymer right and could make plastic guns. Big deal. There still has never been a finer 9mm handgun made than the P08's.

Ummm, the Browning High Power? Idiot

You think "Ummm, the browning high power" is a sentence, but have the nads to call someone else an idiot.

ScotterOtter		2012-12-12 02:22:53 PM

The Colt might have been the most widely used handgun in the old west, but the shotgun was way more common and infinitely more important.

aevert		2012-12-12 02:24:02 PM

dittybopper: Rent Party: I qualified on the M2 when I was in the service. Fired the AK, but I preferred the M14.

No Glock should be on that list, or any list besides "biggest fanboy gun" or possibly "gun most likely to exhibit grenading slide rails."

Gaston Glock was the Steve Jobs of the gun world.

/Considerably more bad-ass, though.

But ehe engages in some shady business practices.

/That list was awful.

syberpud		2012-12-12 02:26:26 PM

Rent Party: I qualified on the M2 when I was in the service. Fired the AK, but I preferred the M14.

No Glock should be on that list, or any list besides "biggest fanboy gun" or possibly "gun most likely to exhibit grenading slide rails."

It probably should. Glocks became the standard firearm of police, security services, etc and started the trend of quantity over quality. Good and Bad doesn't enter into it, Glocks started a trend that changed the image of police with revolvers to police with semi-autos.