Illustrated History Of Firearms, The

This significant tome, with over 1500 photographs, covers the subject of portable firearms from muskets to machineguns; from dueling pistols to Glocks; from derringers to elephant guns. Compiled by the expert staff of the NRA National Firearms Museum, whose hands-on knowledge and skill comes over in text and captions, The Illustrated History of Firearms provides a visual reference book to grace any aficionado's library. It is easy to forget just how long humans have used firearms: early cannons were first used in Europe in the 13th century and by around 1350, "hand cannons" or "hand gonnes" had been developed. From then on, handguns and firearms have steadily developed: by the early 1400s, matchlocks were introduced; in the early 1500s, the wheellock; flintlocks came in the late 16th century, then rifling, the percussion cap, repeaters, smokeless powders, auto-loaders, automatic firearms.