Firearms History Timeline - History of Arms & Conflict

Date	Event
1200	The 13th Century
1200s	Gunpowder (black powder) is reputed to be invented by the Chinese.
1214-1292	Roger Bacon. An early English experimenter with black powder.
1248	Roger Bacon describes the composition of black powder.
1300	The 14th Century
1400	The 15th Century
1430	The culverin, a two-man hand held cannon, was introduced.
1500	The 16th Century
Early 1500s	The matchlock Arquebus was developed as the first hand-held firearm.
1500s	The Damascus barrel developed in the Near East.
Circa 1500	The button lock was the first improvement on the match lock, and the first "trigger."
Late 1500s	Spring air guns were invented.
Circa 1517	The wheellock was invented in Nuremburg.
1526	Fabbrica D'Armi Pietro Beretta S.p.A is formed in Italy. Oldest continuously operating manufacturer in the world.
Circa 1580	The Snaphaunce flintlocks were developed.
1600	The 17th Century
Early 1600s	Pneumatic air guns introduced.
1600s	The blunderbus was introduced.
Circa 1600	The dog lock , which featured a safety to secure the half cock position, was developed.
1639	Rhode Island colony passed law limiting deer season.
1700	The 18th Century
1750	The first Kentucky rifles were manufactured on the American frontier.
1750	Contriner of Vienna designed a 15 shot compressed air gun.
1758-1836	Ezekiel Baker. English gunsmith who produced the Baker rifle.
1760s	The "Brown Bess" British musket was standardized.
1761-1883	Nicholas Noel Boutet. A famous French gunsmith known for his artistic decoration of firearms.
1763	Eli Whitney founded the Whitney Arms Company, which applied mass production techniques to rifle manufacture.
1775	Committees of Safety began providing arms to American patriots.
1775	John Wilkinson builds the first true boring machine, making bored rifle barrels possible.
1775, April 19	British Redcoats and Minutemen at Concord, Massachusetts fire the "shot heard 'round the world."
1776, September 9	The first rifles were issued with the mark "U.S."
1777	Springfield Armory founded as the first U.S. federal armory to manufacture firearms.
1786-1868	Henry Deringer, Jr. He developed the short-barreled, powerful pistol which became the "Derringer." Note the shift in spelling.
1800	The 19th Century
1800?-1893	Hiram Berdan. Army officer and arms maker who invented the Berdan primer and perfected a method of drawing brass to make the first centerfire cartridge.
1802	The Baker flintlock rifle introduced in England.
1805-1879	Jonathan Browning. An American gunmaker noted for his Slide Action Repeater in 1834. Father of John Moses Browning.
1808-1871	Ethan Allen. A gunmaker, he was famous for pepperbox pistols. (Not the Revolutionary War Allen.)
1809-1870	Robert Adams. The English gunmakers 5 shot self cocking revolver competed with the more famous Colt.
1811	The Hall rifle was patented. It is considered the first successful breechloader.
1811-1873	Horace E. Dimick. American gunmaker noted for guns used in the Old West.
1813	Joseph G. Chambers patented the Chambers system, which allowed several cartridges to be loaded in a firearm so that the ignition of one set off the next, an early "automatic."
1814-1862	Samuel Colt. American firearm designer and manufacturer best known for the Colt revolver.
1816	Eliphalet Remington, Jr. made his first rifle; the beginning of the Remington Arms Company.
1819-1894	Alexander Henry. He invented the rifling system for the Martini-Henry Rifle.
1822	The percussion cap was patented in the U.S.
1823-1894	James Henry Burton. American gunmaker best known for perfecting the Minie ball.
1823-1898	Edward M. Boxer. In the 1860s invented the Boxer primer.
1831	The first Colt revolvers were manufactured.
1833-1905	Antoine Alphonse Chassepot. French gunmaker known for inventing the Chassepot needle gun.
1835	Samuel Colt patented the Colt revolver in England, the first revolver with the cylinder revolved and locked by cocking the hammer.
1836	Samuel Colt patented the Colt revolver in the U.S.
1837	George Elgin patented the Elgin cutlass pistol.
1838	See next event.
1838	Epentus A. Bennett and Frederick Haviland patent their breechloading rifle.
1838-1914	Peter Paul Mauser. Invented the Mauser action.
1840	The Prussian Army adopted the Dreyse needle gun.
1851	Christian Sharps founded the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company.
1851	Dr. Edward Maynard introduced a cartridge consisting of a brass tube with powder and bullet. The tube had a hole in the side where the powder was ignited.
1852	Christian Sharps invented the disk primer.
1853	The Royal Enfield Manufactury of Great Britain began production of Enfield rifles and carbines.
1854	See next event.
1854	Daniel Baird Wesson and Horace Smith manufacture the Volcanic Action Repeating Pistol, the first practical pistol with self-contained ammunition.
1855	Sir Henry Bessimer invented Bessimer steel.
1855-1926	John Moses Browning. He was the inventor of more successful firearms than any other American, including the Browning Automatic Rifle and the Browning machine-gun.
1855	Rollin White patented a revolver with chambers bored end-to-end through the cylinder. The design led to the Smith & Wesson cartridge revolver.
1856	Ambrose Everett Burnside invented the Burnside breechloading percussion rifle.
October 21, 1856	The LeMat, a Civil War Confederate revolver with a shotgun barrel, patented by Jean Alexander Francois LeMat.
1859	Smith & Wesson produced the first complete rimfire cartridge.
1860	B. Tyler Henry patented the .44 Henry Rifle.
1860	Oliver F. Winchester started the New Haven Arms Company, which later became the Winchester Repeating Arms Company. At one time it was the biggest arms manufacturer in the world.
1860-1926	Annie Oakley Butler. A famous rifle shot who appeared in the U.S. and Europe with the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Inspired the musical play Annie Get Your Gun.
1861	Hiram Berdan became Colonel of the 1st United States Sharpshooters.
1861	C.H. Ballard patented the breechloading Ballard rifle.
1865	See next event.
1865	U.S. military issues the U.S. Rifle Model 1865 using the cam lock designed by E.S. Allen.
1866	The French Army adopted the Chassepot rifle, a breech loading, bolt action needle gun.
1868	Air hardened steel developed by Robert F. Mushet.
1868	Charles Parker manufactured the first Parker shotguns.
1869	See next event.
1869	Col. Henry Berdan and Marcellus Hartley developed the first centerfire cartridge.
1869	John Wesley Hyatt patented a nitrocellulose plastic,"Celluloid."
1870	J.M. Marlin founded Marlin Firearms Company in New Haven Connecticut.
1871	The National Rifle Association was formed.
1871	The Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works was founded in Worcester, Massachusetts.
1871	The Colt House Pistol was the first revolver designed for cartridges.
1872	Anson forend, used to fasten double barrel shotgun barrels, developed by William Anson.
1873-1940	The Colt Single Action Army revolver, also known as the "Peacemaker" was in initial production. It has since been reintroduced to the Colt line.
1874	See next event.
1874	Harrington & Richardson, Inc. established by Gilbert Harrington and William Richardson.
1877	The Colt Lightning was the first practical double action revolver.
1880	Clay pigeon targets patented in the U.S. by George Likowsky.
1886	Joshua Stevens incorporated the J. Stevens Arms and Tool Company.
1887	Swedish defence adopted Nagants 7.5 mm black powder Revolver.
1890	Hugo Borchardt, an American inventor, developed a successful self-loading pistol with a toggle bolt, the forerunner of the Luger.
1890	The French military adopted the Berthier bolt action rifle.
1891	The Italian Army adopted the Mannlicher-Carcano, the first Italian smokeless powder rifle.
1893	Theodore Bergmann, a German inventor, patented an automatic pistol.
1894	Swedish cavalry adopted Mauser 1894 small ring carbine in 6.5x55mm.
1894	Arthur W. Savage incorporated the Savage Arms Company.
1895	The Interstate Association formed to regulate trap shooting. Became the American Trapshooting Association.
1895	North Dakota required hunters to buy licenses.
1895	.30 W.C.F. (.30-30 Winchester, first sporting cartridge designed expressly for smokeless powder.
1895	Enfield rifling adopted for the British .303 Lee-Enfield rifle.
1896	Swedish defence adopted Mauser 1894 small ring rifle in 6.5x55.
1900	The 20th Century
1900	Congress passed law prohibiting shipping wild game across state lines.
1900, June 12	The first trap throwing of clay pigeons took place in New York.
1902	The 1902 Colt Military Automatic Pistol was used by the U.S. Navy while waiting for the Model 1911.
1903	The Springfield Rifle, Model 1903, adopted by the U.S. military.
1904	Theodore Roosevelt made the biological survey a bureau.
1906	U.S. military adopts .30-06 cartridge for use in M1903 Springfield rifle.
1907	J. Browning pistol Model 1903 adopted by Swedish defence in 9mm long.
1908	The .32 caliber Austrian Scharzlose was introduced. It is the only commercially produced blow forward action.
1908	The first organized trapshooting tournaments were held.
1911	The Model 1911 in .45 ACP adopted by the U.S. military.
1916	Avtomat Federova developed in Russia, worlds first true select fire rifle.
1917	The U.S. Rifle, Model 1917, or American Enfield, produced as a modification of the British rifle to allow use of American ammunition.
1919	American Ordinance Association founded.
1921	The Colt .45 automatic was modified and became the Model 1911 A1.
1923	New Hampshire Concealed Carry law passes.
1925, April	The comparison microscope was first used in firearms identification.
1928	Seth Gordon wrote the Code of Outdoor Ethics for the Isaac Walton League.
1929	Production rights for the Cutts compensator were bought by the Lyman Gun Sight Company from the inventor, Col. Richard M. Cutts.
1929	Migratory Bird Conservation Act passed.
1929	John C. Garand developed the M-1 semiautomatic rifle.
1930	First known release of exotics, nilgai antelope, in Texas.
1933	Western Cartridge Company manufactured ball powder, which is less erosive on barrels.
1933	Aldo Leopold became the first professor of game management.
1934	The Beretta 9mm became the official handgun of the Italian military.
1934	Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act passed.
1935	Lathis pistol was adopted by the Finish army and mfg at Valmeth.
1936	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service formed.
1936	Alabama Concealed Carry law passes.
1936	The Enfield revolver adopted as the official pistol of the British Army.
1936, January 9	US Military adopts self-loading M-1 Rifle, designed by John C. Garand at Springfield Armory.
1937	Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid Restoration Act passed to provide funds for wildlife management by taxing firearms and ammunition.
1939	Walter P.38 adopted by Swedish army. Sadly not deliverd due to Eastern problems in Germany.
1940	Lathis pistol was adopted by the Swedish defence and mfg started in Husqvarna fatories.
1940	Swedish army adopted Mauser 1898 in 8x63mm.
1942	Swedish army adopted Ljungman automatic rifle in 6.5x55.
1945	Russian Military adopts Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov's SKS rifle as the SKS-45.
1946	American Single Shot Rifle Association founded.
1946	Hunter Education started in a Kentucky statewide youth program.
1947	Russian military adopts the AK-47.
1948	NRA began providing a temporary supply of hunter safety instructors.
1949	New York starts first mandatory hunter safety program.
1950	Dingell-Johnson Act passed to produce funds for fisheries management.
1954	California hunter education program became mandatory.
1955	Arizona hunter education program became mandatory.
1955	The first replica black powder firearms were manufactured by Turner Kirkland of Dixie Gun Works.
1956	Rhode Island hunter education program became mandatory.
1956	South Dakota hunter education program became mandatory.
1956, March	The Army Marksmanship Unit was formed.
1957	Connecticut hunter education program became mandatory.
1957	Washington hunter education program became mandatory.
1958	Montana hunter education program became mandatory.
1958	Navy Arms Company founded to manufacture replica arms. The first to use stainless steel in replicas.
1959	The first M-16 Rifles were delivered to the U.S. Army.
1961	Washington Concealed Carry law passes.
1962	Oregon hunter education program became mandatory.
1963	New Hampshire hunter education program became mandatory.
1966	Endangered Species Act passed.
1968	The Gun Control Act of 1968 restricted interstate sales of firearms.
1969	National Environmental Protection Act passed.
1969	Pennsylvania hunter education program became mandatory.
1969	Connecticut Handgun Review Board created to control arbitrary concealed carry denials.
1970	10% tax on handguns was added to Pittman-Robertson funding.
1970	Colorado hunter education program became mandatory.
1970	Delaware hunter education program became mandatory.
1970	Environmental Protection Agency founded.
1971	Connecticut Valley Arms manufactures a replica black powder firearm.
1971	Michigan hunter education program became mandatory.
1972	11% tax on archery equipment added to Pittman-Robertson funding.
1972	New Jersey hunter education program became mandatory.
1972	New Mexico hunter education program became mandatory.
1973	Kansas hunter education program became mandatory.
1973	Nevada hunter education program became mandatory.
1975	Vermont hunter education program became mandatory.
1976	Illinois hunter education program became mandatory.
1976	Nebraska hunter education program became mandatory.
1976	Remington introduced the Accelerator cartridge, using a sabot to shoot a small caliber high-velocity bullet.
1976	Georgia passes concealed carry law that becomes the model for Florida.
1977	Maryland hunter education program became mandatory.
1978	Georgia hunter education program became mandatory.
1979	Ohio hunter education program became mandatory.
1979	Wyoming hunter education program became mandatory.
1979	North Dakota hunter education program became mandatory.
1980	Indiana Concealed Carry law passes.
1980	Idaho hunter education program became mandatory.
1983	Iowa hunter education program became mandatory.
1984	The first Olympic 10K biathlon and 30K relay biathlon.
1984, Fall	American Shooting Coaches Association formed; became the International Shooting Coaches Association.
1984	Mississippi hunter education program became mandatory.
1985	North Dakota Concealed Carry law passes.
1985	Tennessee hunter education program became mandatory.
1985	Maine Concealed Carry law passes.
1985	Louisiana hunter education program became mandatory.
1985	Arkansas hunter education program became mandatory.
1985	Wisconsin hunter education program became mandatory.
1986	Maine hunter education program became mandatory.
1986	South Dakota Concealed Carry law passes.
1987	Florida Concealed Carry law becomes effective.
1988	Virginia hunter education program became mandatory.
1988	Texas hunter education program became mandatory.
1988	Oklahoma hunter education program became mandatory.
1988	Missouri hunter education program became mandatory.
1989	Pennsylvania Concealed Carry law passes (except for Philadelphia).
1989	West Virginia Concealed Carry law passes.
1989	Oregon Concealed Carry law passes.
1990	Mississippi Concealed Carry law passes.
1990	The .40 S&W cartridge introduced.
1990	Hawaii hunter education program became mandatory.
1990	Idaho Concealed Carry law passes.
1991	Montana Concealed Carry law passes.
1991	North Carolina hunter education program became mandatory.
1991	Kentucky hunter education program became mandatory.
1991	Florida hunter education program became mandatory.
1994	Wyoming Concealed Carry law passes.
1994	Alaska Concealed Carry law passes.
1994	Arizona Concealed Carry law passes.
1994	Tennessee Concealed Carry law passes.
1995	Philidelphia brought under Pennsylvania Concealed Carry law.
1995	Oklahoma Concealed Carry law passes.
1995	North Carolina Concealed Carry law passes.
1995	Arkansas Concealed Carry law passes.
1995	Virginia Concealed Carry law passes.
1995	Nevada Concealed Carry law passes.
1995	Utah Concealed Carry law passes.
1995, 1 Sept.	Texas begins CHL training.
1996	South Carolina Concealed Carry law passes.
1996	West Virginia Concealed Carry law passes again, having been struck down by the state Supreme Court.
1996	Louisiana Concealed Carry law passes.
October 1996	Kentucky Concealed Carry law becomes effective.
1996, January 1	Texas Concealed Carry law becomes effective.
July 1998	Kentucky passes law recognizing all state CHLs.
November, 1998	Wisconsin passes a state right to keep and bear arms provision, Article 1 Section 25 of their constitution, by a 3:1 margin.
February 9, 1999	The Georgia Governor signed the first state law prohibiting cities and counties from suing any firearms or ammunition manufacturer, trade association, or dealer.
February 11, 1999	A New York federal jury found fifteen gun makers negligent in their marketing practices and nine liable for shootings.
November 3, 1999	Wisconsin voters, by a margin of 3 to 1, added a Right to Keep and Bear Arms guarantee to their Constitution.

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