We often see guns in the movies, but when did they start production, and who ever came up with such an idea? The pistol is a hand-held small weapon, which is designed to hit a target located at a distance of up to 50 meters. Pistols are divided into pneumatic and firearms. Nowadays, pistols are predominantly self-loading and have 5 to 20 rounds, but previously the pistols were single-shot.
Made in Italy
The first pistols in the world were invented in Italy, despite the fact that today this country is famous mainly for spaghetti and fashionable clothes. Italy was never a warlike country, however, Italians were the first to start using silicon guns. Italians also tried to make this bulky weapon more convenient to use, namely to make it shorter and lighter.
The story of the first pistol
In 1536, the Italian Camillo Vetelli manufactured the first cavalry weapon. An interesting fact is that the name of the very first pistol in the world was given in honor of the city of Pistoia, in which Vetelli worked and lived. Pistols were shortened trunks with stocks and a wick lock.
It is interesting that the first pistols for military purposes were used in 1544 by German cavalry at the Battle of Ranti. Centuries passed, and the design of the pistols did not change much - they looked like guns with a reduced caliber. The shape of the trunk underwent minor changes: by the end of the 16th century its length increased. Handles have also undergone changes, in the design of which more grace has appeared.
The invention of wheel locks
After some time, wheel locks were invented , thanks to the creation of which it became possible to have personal weapons that could always be carried with you. Cavalry and short-barreled pistols appeared.
Cavalry pistols were designed to hit a target at a distance of 40 m. Short-barreled pistols were intended for point-blank shooting.
The invention of silicon locks
After some time, the first pistols with silicon shock locks appeared, which replaced the wheel mechanisms. On the issue of misfires, they were less reliable, but they won in the cost and ease of loading. Due to the fact that the flintlock pistol was single-shot, it was necessary to come up with various designs to increase the rate of fire. This led to the appearance of multi-barrel samples. In 1818, Artemas Wheeler, an officer from Massachusetts, patented the first flintlock revolver.
Dogs Pistols
Pistols having a large weight, but at the same time a small length, are called mastiffs. They were popular in Europe in the first half of the 17th century. The peculiarity of the dogs was their exclusive finish. Doghouse lodges were made from expensive materials such as ivory, iron or non-ferrous materials, as well as hard wood.
The moment came when the gunsmiths of the world brought out almost all the elements required to create a multi-charged personal weapon. It only remained to combine these elements into a single whole, which John Pearson did.
John Pearson and the first revolver
The era of the modern revolver began in the 1830s, when John Pearson, an American from Baltimore, designed the revolver. This design was sold to American entrepreneur Samuel Colt for a modest amount. The first model of the revolver was called Paterson. In 1836, Colt himself created a factory that mass-produced capsule revolvers. Thanks to Colt, capsule revolvers became widespread, which made single-digit weapons irrelevant.
Revolvers had certain disadvantages, the main of which were the high cost, bulkyness and complexity in manufacturing. The biggest drawback of the revolver was that it could not provide continuous firing, since the flintlock after each shot required the addition of gunpowder.
After this, a period began during which designers from different countries (Great Britain, Belgium, Germany, France and others) created their own models of pistols. The weapon has become distinguished by its design, reloading method and caliber.
Self-loading pistol
The first self-loading pistol models were developed in the 19th century. The difference between these guns is that they carry out an automatic recharging process, thanks to the use of energy of powder gases. This is the main advantage of self-loading pistols over non-automatic pistols and revolvers, because in them the recharging process is carried out in a more complicated way.
The first self-loading pistol was adopted in 1909 by the Austrian cavalry. Self-loading pistols are widespread. After some time, they come to replace revolvers in the army and police of many countries. Revolvers become a weapon of self-defense.
Nowadays, virtually all modern pistols are self-loading. If the gun has the function of firing a single fire, then it is semi-automatic.
Automatic pistols
In 1892, the first automatic-action pistol was created. It was created in Europe, at the factory "Steyer" (Austro-Hungarian arms factory).
An automatic pistol is a self-loading pistol, which has the function of firing automatic fire or fire bursts. The most famous automatic pistol of acceptable dimensions is the Hummingbird.
Pistols that are capable of continuous fire are called automatic or self-propelled in Russian-speaking countries and machine-guns in English-speaking countries.
Sports Target Pistols
This type of pistol is designed for sports target shooting. Sports-targeted pistols can be either multi-shot or single-shot, and most often use a small-caliber ring ignition cartridge, approximately 5.6 millimeters. Such pistols have high accuracy, are distinguished by the ability to adjust devices for sight and balancing, have a lightweight descent. The main feature of the sports-target pistols in the handle, which is made individually by the hand of the shooter.
Submachine gun
Special attention should be paid to submachine guns, because they played an important role in the history of military conflicts, largely determining the course of world warriors. The first submachine gun was created by Schmeiser, a German designer. It was a device that has the ability to conduct automatic firing pistol cartridges.
In 1914, another version of the submachine gun was invented, authored by Abel Revelli, an Italian major. Revelli created the first submachine gun in the world, which required the use of Glisenti pistol cartridges. The Revelli machine gun was a true breakthrough in the small arms business, because it allowed up to 3,000 rounds per minute and had two barrels. However, despite all the advantages, the Revelli machine gun had serious drawbacks, including heavy weight (6.5 kilograms) and a small range of the bullet. These flaws are not allowed for use in battle.
All of these shortcomings were eliminated by Hugo Schmeiser in 1917. He was able to create such a submachine gun, whose weight was 4 kg 180 grams. Automation in this machine gun worked on the principle of a free shutter, the rate of fire reached 500 rounds per minute.
The very first submachine gun in our country was the PPD (Degtyarev submachine gun), which was widely used during the Soviet-Finnish war, and then during the Great Patriotic War. PPD had good performance in terms of weight (3.5 kilograms) and rate of fire (800 rounds per minute).
The world's most famous submachine gun PPSh (Shpagin submachine gun) was created in 1941.
It was an improved version of the PDP, because its weight was 150 grams less, and the rate of fire was 100 shots per minute more. PPSh were armed by the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War.