INTRODUCTION

Firearms are an applied consequence of the invention of gunpowder, which is

attributed to the Chinese. There are certain references to this fact regarding its
use. The knowledge of gunpowder is lost in the mists of time, since it is very
possible that it was known in the times of Alexander the Great, as can be
deduced from the writings of Quintus Curtius; but its appearance occurs in the
east, among the Chinese and the Dues. It is assumed that it was used around
668 in the siege of Constantinople, and in the siege of Mecca in 690. It was
later used in Thessalonica in 904 by the Saracens and by Solomon, King of
Hungary, in the siege of Belgrade in 1073; and in 1147. The Arabs used
firearms against the Spanish historically in the year 1231 in the battle of Kuang
Fen the Chinese used gunpowder as a propelling element for their "flying
arrows" through a device similar to what is known today as flying canes.

Apparently, it was the Arabs who introduced gunpowder to Europe. In El

Escorial, there is a treatise on gunpowder written in 1249, from which Roger
Bacón learned how to make gunpowder.
Its adoption in Central Europe is estimated to have been around 1320, although
it was already well known in Spain. In this remote nation, pyrotechnics became
an art, which continued to this day.

I.- THE FIRST FIREARMS

There are contradictions about the entry of gunpowder into the West, since
Roger Bacon (England) described its effects in the mid-13th century. But it was
not until 1308, when the appearance of the cannons, which were called
Culebrinas and Falconetes, is historically recognized. Light weapons only
appeared in the year 1350, in Sweden (Bombardilla de Loshult) and in 1390,
Thunder Hand of Morko, from whose name hacken büsche, hackbut (English),
arcobuse (French), arcobugio (Italian) and arquebus are derived. , in Spanish.

Arquebus with matchlock and serpentine

Mörkö Hand Thunder 1390?
15th century

The rider who appears in the figure handles the weapon with one hand and the
fuse with the other. The problem was to simplify lighting, which was developed
at the beginning of the 14th century with the appearance of the "arquebus". This
had a fuse held by a serpentine, simplifying the task of "setting fire" to the
gunpowder deposited in the "bowl."
II.-LATER DEVELOPMENTS

The most important problem for 300 years was the way of ignition, which after
doing it by hand, went through the wheel or "Wheellock" system, originating
from the clock systems of Nuremberg, Germany. It consisted of a wheel that
was wound up and when the trigger was pressed it produced sparks, which in
turn ignited the gunpowder in the bowl, causing the gunpowder to deflagrate
and the subsequent firing of the weapon. It is the lighter principle of our days.

Wheellock system and a pair of wheel guns at the end of the 16th century.

Because this system is artisanal and expensive, the Dutch system "Snaphause"
emerged, which in Flemish means "chicken peck", due to the way the hammer
fell to produce sparks. The "Chispa" system was born there, which in central
Europe was more evolved, with the appearance of the "Flintlock" or stone
fixation, a pyrite that was placed with a screw, which was perfected by Spain,
through the "Miguelete", which It had the operating springs on the outside, as
can be seen in the figures.

Spark-to-stone system (Snaphauce) Flintlock stone spark

"Miguelete" system
15th century system S XV to XIX

These systems persisted and coexisted with each other, except for the wheel
system, which disappeared in the 17th century. All of these systems were used
in the Western world, with the wheel system remaining in the power of the
feudal lords because they were expensive and luxurious, generally adorned
with precious stones and gold. Meanwhile, in the East the matchlock system
continued to be used until the mid-19th century, in the form of harquebuses.
The musket is a derivation of the harquebus, a large-caliber weapon, which,
due to its weight, used a spike or support to support it. The year 1807 marks the
beginning of a new era in lighting. It was no longer the most important thing,
with manufacturers worrying about the aiming system, which was not given
much importance, since the problem was the way of firing. The percussion
system, invented by the monk Forbery, provided the solution, ultimately being
the most practical weapons. A detonator with a small amount of explosive,
applied to the end of a small tube that communicated with the chamber, was the
practical solution.

Percussion system 1807 Percussion pistol

Firearms throughout history have had significant changes. They were given this
name when gunpowder was discovered in 85 BC. in China. Dates such as:

 The era of Marco Polo 17th century

 The time of Bacon 1214 -1284
 18th century in Saudi Arabia
 Year 1340 in Spain
 1800, 1810, 1836, 1958 and 1968, the year the centerfire cartridge was
created.

We hope, then, that this compendium of information contributes in some way to

the knowledge of those people who are really interested in the practice of
judicial activity, ensuring the good performance of their functions and the
construction of a true policy of authority in the future.

FIREARMS SINCE THE 17TH CENTURY

 THE FLINT WEAPONS

The drawbacks implicit in the use of the musket, common to all weapons in
which the gunpowder had to be inflated using a fuse, led the builders and
gunsmiths to look for a different procedure to fire the shot.
In fact, already in 1423 some Spanish gunsmiths invented the serpentine,
consisting of a kind of trigger, to the end of which the fuse was attached, in such
a way that the shooter, while aiming, by simply moving a billet brought the fire
closer to the gunpowder. alive and shoot the gun.
This procedure was later perfected by adding a spring.
Other builders thought of the ancient system of the "tinderbox" to the rifle; that
is, the use of sparks produced by rubbing flint with a piece of iron.
A German gunsmith was the one who built a harquebus based on this
gunpowder ignition system. This harquebus appeared around 1515 or 1517.
  DETONATING POWDER WEAPONS

This is the last stage in the evolution of firearms: The discovery of some
chemical substances that have the property of igniting when struck violently.
Around 1800, it was thought, for the first time, to use these substances to light
cartridges in weapons.
Thus the applications of flint would become useless; In its place it was enough
to place a hammer.
In 1825 the use of capsules or baits that contained a small amount of these
substances inside became widespread.
When struck by the firing pin, these primers produced a flare that ignited the
gunpowder in the weapon.
From there to the idea of combining detonating powder and bullet in a single
cartridge, there was a step.
Simultaneously, in the middle of the last century the year-round loading system
was replaced by breech loading.
Thus, the modern firearm that has existed for a century was born.

The History of firearms can be summarized in three stages:

 LOCKWATCH WEAPONS: From the 15th century to the end of the 17th
century.
 FLINT OR SPARK WEAPONS: From the beginning of the 16th century
to the beginning of the 19th century.

 DETONATING POWDER WEAPONS: From the beginning of the 19th

century to the present day.

THE FIRST FIREARMS

The development of firearms begins with their introduction in Europe. The first
data appear in 1247 in the defense of Seville, where "cannons throwing stones"
appear. In 1259, in the defense of Melilla, a machine appears that, from its
description, it is deduced that it is a cannon. Ferdinand IV of Castile employs
"thunder engines" at the siege of Gibraltar in 1308. In 1311, Ismail attacks Baza
in Granada with "machines that launch fiery bullets with a noise similar to
thunder." From all this it is deduced that firearms were probably born in Spain,
and were used for the first time here.
To know Spanish weapons and their history, we have to go, mainly to the books
of Alonso Martínez Espinar, knight of Felipe III, Felipe IV and Carlos II; and
those of Isidro Soler, armorer of Carlos III, Carlos IV and Fernando VII.
Alonso Martínez Espinar, was born in 1594, possibly in Espinar, north of
Madrid, and entered the service of Philip III as a page; Later, he was
"crossbowman" for His Majesty, who owned two rifled rifles and three shotguns,
manufactured by Felipe Marcuarte.
Upon the death of Philip III, Philip IV succeeded him and Alonso Martínez
continued as Senior Crossbowman in the service of this king; continuing as
such with Charles II, until his death, on May 14, 1682. His book "Arte de
Ballestería y Montería" was published in Madrid in 1644.
The other book mentioned is that of Isidro Soler, "Historical Compendium of the
Arcabuceros of Madrid" which exclusively tells about the weapons
manufacturers of Madrid. There are also inventories of weapons belonging to
the kings, some of them with illustrations.

NAMES GIVEN TO THE FIRST WEAPONS

From the names that appear in the chronicles, in which the use of firearms is
discussed, the various pieces of 'artillery' take their name (a name that
appeared in the 15th century to refer to a set of twelve pieces that form a group
of weapons). The first piece was called thunder, and was taken from the Moors
by the Spanish, this name remaining until the beginning of the 16th century.
Around 1359, these machines were described as bombards, both land and
naval ones. The Marquis of Santillana, in a poem, composed to commemorate
the naval battle of Ponza in 1425, calls them "Ribadoquines".
What happens is that, depending on the chronicler or the place, the same
machine is called by different names; Thus, in Granada the name Pasavolante
appears, and in Chinchilla, the name Lombarda. In the fortress of Baza, there is
talk of culverinas, and in Málaga hacabuches or sepabuches with their
attackers. Mr. Vargas tells us about espingarda, giving this name to small
sacks.
From all these primitive names, the names of the artillery pieces have been
derived, according to the calibers, tube length and weight of projectiles.

CLASSIFICATION OF ARTILLERY PARTS

large pieces Curved Path Parts Culebrina

Small pieces

Bombard 20 to 30 Mortar 9 to 16 cm Culebrina 9 to 16

Flywheel 7 to 8
cm caliber. in caliber. cm in caliber.
cm in caliber.

Trebuchet 20 to Sacre 7 to 9 cm in
8 to 10 cm caliber Falconete 5 to 7
30 cm in caliber. caliber.
bomber. cm in caliber.

Verso 4 to 5 cm in
Blowgun 5 to 7
caliber.
cm in caliber.

Punch 2 to 6 cm
Ribadoquin 2 to 5
in caliber.
cm in caliber.

Emery 4 to 5 cm
gauge.
Later there are a series of reforms, classifying artillery pieces; In addition to its
caliber, the material with which the tube has been constructed and the weight of
the projectile are taken into account.

SITUATION OF WEAPONS FACTORIES

In Spain there are three areas in which weapons factories are located: the Deva
River basin in the Basque Country; Ripoll in Catalonia and much later, Trubia in
Asturias, organized by Basque gunsmiths. In Madrid there were also Royal
Armourers, but they mainly built luxury weapons.
The reason for this situation is possibly tactical, due to the orography of the
region. In those times it was very difficult to access these places, as they were
protected by mountains and thick forests. The mountains protected the gun
forges from possible invaders and the forests provided wood for the weapon
boxes and charcoal for the forges.
The rivers, due to their short and steep channels, provided the hydraulic energy
to move the matxinos of the forges. These geographical features prevent
profitable agriculture, so its inhabitants have to practice other trades to survive,
mainly developing these gunsmith trades.
In the city of Placencia, currently called Placencia de las Armas, The Royal
Weapons Factories are established. Everything said about Placencia is
applicable to other surrounding cities. In fact, everyone who knows the region
will appreciate the natural defenses that each population has, since the
mountains and valleys that border them turn them into watertight compartments,
one with respect to the other. Placencia de las Armas is a geographical
depression that borders on one side with Eibar and on the other with Vergara.
The same thing happens to Eibar, wedged between Málzaga and Olarreaga.
Border with Vizcava. Another of the protected places is Ermua between
Olarrega and the Areitio hill, Elgoibar is in a more open place, but is protected
by Mázaga and the Alzola and Mendaro crevices. These physical-geographical
conditions were valued much earlier because they defended the factories from
the invasions suffered in the Iberian Peninsula.

PORTABLE WEAPONS SHOOTING SYSTEMS

Hand bombard : Also called "fire stick" or "thunder stick." It was an iron pipe
mounted on a stick. It was loaded through the mouth and pieces of iron were
attacked on the gunpowder.
It was shot between two, one aimed and the other lit the ear with a fuse. It is
located in the middle of the 14th century.
Wick plate : Appears in the 15th century. It consists of an iron sheet placed in
the box next to the base of the tube, in it there is an S-shaped piece, which was
called a "coiler" and carried the end of the lit wick to the bowl, causing the shot.
It is also called "living fire."
Wheel system : At the beginning of the 16th century, the German Kunfss
invented this system, also called "dead fire." It consists of a toothed chain that
rotates when the spring that retains it on a fixed piece of pyrite is released,
imprisoned by two jaws at the end of a rotating support. When sparks were
produced, the gunpowder located in the bowl ignited, triggering the shot.
Flintlock : Appears at the end of the 16th century and is attributed to Spanish
gunsmiths, because the procedure for lighting fire used in Spain since the
Celtiberians is that of "chisque", that is, striking iron with flint. , sparks are
produced that serve to ignite the tinder. The flintlocks manufactured in the
gunsmith's area were robust and effective, with the rake in one piece, which
covers the bowl, preventing the gunpowder from falling out.
These keys are called miquelete or Spanish keys. It was used for more than two
centuries, reforming until it became the French key, which has the advantage of
having most of the mechanism inside.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the system of repetition of firearms was
known among Basque gunsmiths, since at that time "five octagonal
harquebuses with ammunition for every five shots were manufactured with a
single firearm and with a short interval of one shot after another" that were
manufactured for His Majesty in the royal factories of Placencia.
Percussion system : At the beginning of the 19th century, with the discovery of
mercury fulminate, this system began to be manufactured. Experiments had
been carried out on this by several gunsmiths, the first perhaps being Master
Gutiérrez, who in 1720 carried out tests in Seville.

MANUFACTURING OF FIREARMS
It is not known exactly when the manufacture of firearms began in the armory
area, but from 1488 onwards we can know with certainty, since the year in
which His Majesty's government sent the Lombards of Santander to Vizcaya,
with a commission royal order for the Lombards to be made, and the same year
he ordered to proclaim in Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa the order that no one take out
of the kingdom Bombards, handguns, blowpipes and espingards, weapons that
are manufactured in the armory area. This shows that they were manufactured
there, otherwise there would be no reason to prohibit their export.
In the same year, Sancho Ibáñez de Mellea went to the weapons area to
commission the manufacture of the aforementioned weapons, and it was
ordered that the masters and manufacturers of those weapons be summoned
when they were required by said gentleman.
Labayru, in the "general history of the Señorío de Vizcaya", gives data that
shows that there were sufficient materials in the area for the manufacture of
firearms and that there were also manufacturers dedicated to it.
"On September 18, 1495, a pragmatic was published so that the manufacturers
of Vizcaya, Guipúzcoa and Alava, made shaft weapons, of iron and steel and
took them to sell to Castile so that the vassals of His Highness could use the
weapons that in She was ordered to them, according to the class to which they
belonged. "He ensured that the prices were moderate."
"The weapons that were pointed out in pragmatics are these: The richest and
most important, steel cuirasses, skirts of mail or wool, head armor, that is, cape
with its bib or helmet with barbote, gocetas or musequies and spear long that
measured twenty-four palms, sword dagger and cap".
"Those of lesser status or property, cuirasses, head armor, even if it is a
skullcap, sword, dagger, spear, as previously described, shield of those called
Pontevedra Oviedo, and those who belonged to this state, if they had the
conditions to throw spears or crossbows, it was recommended that they have
these weapons instead of lances and spears; and if they used spears, they had
fifty balls, bullets and three pounds of gunpowder and whoever was ordered to
use a crossbow should have with them two dozen and average of pins.
"Those of lesser status and property, a sword, a cap, a spear of twenty-four
spans, and a dart with it, and if they do not have this, a medium-sized spear and
buckler or shield of Pontevedra or Oviedo." (Labayru, General History of
Vizcaya).
From these royal provisions it is deduced that the three Basque provinces
supplied weapons of all kinds to Castile. On May 21, 1509, the Catholic King
addressed a royal letter to the magistrates of Vizcaya and Guipúzcoa, ordering
the delivery of weapons to the King of Portugal, to equip his navy that he was
sending against the Moors.
The shipment of weapons is not limited only to Castile and Portugal, but also to
the most distant possessions. In 1511, 500 Vitorian machetes, 3 thick Lombard
machetes, 2 metal harquebuses, and 24 metal shotguns with their tools were
sent to the Spanish island.
Magellan, for his expedition, bought in Vizcaya, in 1518, 58 culverins, 7
falconets, 3 thick lombards, stone balls for artillery, 100 brackets, 60 crossbows,
50 shotguns and 200 bucklers.
Thus successively, data is provided year after year on the weapons
manufactured and delivered to the Spanish armies.

EVOLUTION OF SHORT GUNS

The word pistol means a short firearm that is handled with one hand; They also
tell us that pistol is the name of a coin that was formerly used in various
countries, mainly in France, where this name was given to a Spanish shield
minted in the time of Charles V and even that in Venezuela it was used as a
pejorative adjective to refer it to people.
But the truth is that there are many hypotheses about the origin of this word in
relation to weapons.
There are those who claim that its origin comes from the Italian city of Pistoia,
and they even give names such as Camillo Vetelli of Pistoya or Stefano Enrico
of Pistoia, and they even cite a date, around 1540, as the beginning of such a
name, but they do not even There is reliable evidence of the existence of these
two supposed gentlemen.
There are other conjectures, but the solution to this enigma will not be solved
until some document, if it exists and has sufficient credibility, provides enough
data to reveal the mystery.
There is no unity of criteria regarding the date on which firearms were used for
the first time, some authors place them in Spain between 1247 and 1311,
already referring to short weapons, but it seems that the first authentic
document corresponds to an agreement signed in the city of Ghent (Belgium)
dated 1313 and in which it is said that the use of these weapons was applied for
the first time in Germany. In 1350 there is already graphic evidence of the use
of a firearm that a man himself could handle and shoot.

THE HAND CANNON

These first firearms, light or portable, consisted of a more or less elaborate
metal tube, closed at one end, called the 'stock', and in the upper part of this
there was a hole, the 'stove', joined by strips. of leather or metal to a handle.
The gunpowder, the projectile(s) and a piece of tow or paper were introduced
through the open end, compressed with ramrod blows and thus the weapon
was loaded. To shoot, the stove was filled with gunpowder and, after aiming as
precisely as possible, a slow fuse or a burning coal was brought close to the
small hole, which inflated the "bait" and this communicated the fire to the interior
of the weapon. the shot taking place.
These primitive firearms, among which were small models, can be considered
the predecessors of pistols, although they were nothing more than a miniature
piece of artillery.
The examples of these weapons are very rare and, as we have already said, it
has not been possible to determine with complete precision where and by
whom their manufacture and use began.

WATCH WEAPONS

Human ingenuity soon developed a system for this slow fuse to be applied
through a mechanical procedure, thus creating what we could call the first
percussion system, or more specifically, the predecessor of later and current
"hammers."
The differences with the hand cannon were minimal, loading was carried out in
the same way and here the bait was placed in a small circular cavity in the
stock, where the stove was located. Attached to one side was an S-shaped
piece or "serpentine" to which the wick was attached to the upper part by
different procedures. To do this, it pulled its lower part backwards, descending
from the other end onto the stove, igniting the bait and triggering the shot.
This system provided the improvement, with respect to the interior, of making it
easier to aim the weapon, since the shooter did not have to pay all his attention
to directing the fuse to the bait with his hand and removing it quickly in order to
avoid being burned by the flare. There is no doubt that this simple mechanism
represented notable progress; Different types were developed, more or less
mechanically worked to produce the descent of the wick onto the bait.

WHEEL GUNS

This is a more advanced, more perfected and different system than the fuse.
Since before firearms appeared, the systems of obtaining fire by hitting a hard
stone against an iron or "link" and taking advantage of the sparks that were
produced to light a "Tinder" and communicate the fire where necessary were
known and used. The same is achieved if instead of stone, usually a variety of
flint, it is rubbed with a piece of pyrite, a mineral that contains iron.
The operation of these weapons was as follows: a ring, located on the side,
carved with cuts or recesses, was rotated using an independent key; When a
small chain rolled around the bolt of that wheel, it pulled a part of a V-shaped
leaf spring through one end and was fixed by a tooth. After the rotation, a piece
derived from the serpentine and which it replaced was lowered onto the wheel,
which had a piece of pyrite fixed at its end by means of adjustable jaws. Pulling
the trigger released the wheel that, driven by the pressure of the spring, rotated,
rubbing the pyrite and producing the spark in the "bowl" that, previously filled
with gunpowder, communicated through the stove (already called from some
models of matchlock weapons). , in which the fire inside the weapon was placed
on the side,"Hear").

The first wheel guns were used mainly by the military for cavalry corps. Its use
revolutionized the way of waging war and made possible new techniques that
made the cavalry, for a period, masters of the battlefields, while ambushes and
night assaults were possible as the constantly lit fuse had been eliminated.
These weapons facilitated much more precise aiming, better manageability and
a notable increase in effectiveness and safety in terms of their use.
There are no exact data about its origin, scholars of the subject focus their
attention on Germany, in Nuremberg specifically, between the years 1515 and
1517 and even the versatile Leonardo da Vinci, in his Atlantic Codex, draws and
explains the mechanism of a weapon. wheel.
The progressive and extensive use of firearms made it necessary to further
simplify their construction and use.
The wheel weapons suffered from an excessive price in their production, as well
as a complicated mechanism that only an expert could replace or repair. More
rational solutions had to be found for armies to equip their troops and for
individuals, outside the upper class, to have access to firearms.
The pyrite, which was used to produce sparks in the wheel system, was too soft
and crumbled easily. An attempt was made to replace it with flint stone, but it
was too hard and damaged the wheel. Someone must have thought that in the
traditional way of lighting a fire it was enough to hit the stone with the link to
produce the spark, from there to the flint weapon, which was later simply called
flintlock, there was a step.

Its operation is simple, at the same time more resistant and safer than the
previous ones, the stone is also attached with jaws to the hammer on the side
of the weapon, this when lifted, a spring is compressed and is held by a
projection; When you press the trigger, the hammer is free and driven by the
pressure of the spring, it gives a strong blow against a piece of steel, causing
sparks that ignite the bait that rests in the bowl, and transmits it to the load.

PERCUSSION WEAPONS

The achievement of a copper capsule that contained a small amount of mercury

fulminate used as an initiator of the combustion process, will be a giant step,
being used until the achievement of self-ignition cartridges in breech-loading
weapons.
The weapons were significantly simplified by eliminating elements such as
cups, rakes, stone holders, etc., all of this being changed by a raised ear that
was normally screwed into the chamber of the barrel, a hollow inside, called
"chimney", in which The piston and a hammer were placed in which, instead of
a stone, there was a flat surface that hit against the chimney and launched a
flare towards the gunpowder charge contained in the chamber.

THE CENTURY OF AUTOMATIC GUNS

As we have already said, it was necessary to have a single element that
contained the primer, the charge and the projectiles.
Lefaucheux, a French gunsmith, manufactured double-barreled, breech-loading
hunting weapons in 1836 and devised a system that he applied to his
ammunition and that made him one of the most important men in the history of
weapons. This was something as simple as the "sheath" .
The cartridges that this French gunsmith used were made up of a cardboard
tube to which a copper or brass "culote" base had been incorporated that was
closed at the other end by the projectile or a lid held by a fold in the case of
fractional ammunition; But this cartridge lacked a primer.
In 1846 Houiller perfected the Lefaucheux cartridge by incorporating a
percussion cap inside, to which a spike attached and semi-perpendicular to the
butt detonated when hit by the hammer.
These spike or needle cartridges were soon adapted to more powerful loads as
they were produced with an all-metal case, which at the same time made them
more resistant to humidity, although not safer, since any blow to the needle
could cause them to explode.

THE AUTOMATIC GUN

The first automatic weapons were designed, as we have already said, with the
appearance of the metal cartridge and the idea of having in the weapon itself a
store of cartridges that, through means beyond the control of the user, were
arranged to be fired, was hopeful if we take into account It is said that until then
the short weapons with the greatest fire capacity were revolvers (of which there
were examples with 18 chambers and double barrels) but, logically, the greater
their capacity, the slower their reloading was.
It is considered the first automatic pistol that achieved worldwide success, the
one invented by Hugo Borchardt, this weapon already had a detachable
magazine housed in the handle, with capacity for eight cartridges .
In Spain, a pistol called Bergman Bayard, produced in 1291, has been used,
which had a separable magazine in front of the trigger guard, with capacity for 6
Bergman Bayard 9mm caliber cartridges.
In 1836 the Mauser was put on the market, a piece appreciated by any
collector. This pistol was the first to incorporate the staggered cartridge system
in the magazine, this being an integral part of the weapon.
In Spain at the beginning of the century, Army Lieutenant Colonel Don
Venancio López de Ceballos y Aguirre Conde de Campo Giro, designed a 9mm
caliber automatic pistol, which was made in its 1913-16 model by the firm
Esperanza and Unceta (Astra), which It was replaced in 1921 by the Astra mod
400 9mm long.
In 1911 the North American Army designed Browning in caliber 45 ACP called
the Colt Governmet Model.
In the First World War, projects and production of automatic pistols increased,
demonstrating their effectiveness, as well as factories around the world
producing countless models of pocket automatics. In the world production
between the wars, two pistols stand out, the German Walter P-38, this pistol
was the first that was incorporated as an ordinance with a double option
system, that is, once the cartridge was inserted into the chamber, the Gun can
be fired with a single pull of the trigger.
The GP-35 pistol had an oversized magazine that housed 13 cartridges, which
gave enormous firepower.

THE FIRST REVOLVERS

 The PEEPERBOX

The peeperbox had its success and popularity, mainly with defensive weapons
to shoot at very close range, since the barrel rotated when the trigger was
pulled in the double action and therefore lacked sights, furthermore, if the
barrels had been long , it would be very heavy and would no longer be
manageable. These reasons and the lower price of revolvers were the end of
the popular peeperbox.
The true revolver as such is due to American inventiveness, the oldest known is
the one patented by Collier on November 21, 1818.
Ignition is carried out by a flint spark, striking an anvil that springs back to its
firing position when the hammer is assembled by hand, but by plugging a small
amount of primer powder, an escape tooth allows the drum or cylinder of the
weapon to rotate a point to align a new charge with the barrel.

THE METAL CARTRIDGE REVOLVER

There has been and exists an interrelation in the development of weapons
between the ignition system and the cartridge, from the moment the percussion
cap piston was industrially produced, weapons technicians and designers
looked for new ways to improve existing weapons. One of the first steps was to
incorporate the elements necessary to load the weapon in a cartridge that
would not break so that each element could be placed in its place.
Among the first cartridges with all the elements were the designs by Dreyse,
Lefaucheux, and the annular ignition by Flobert and Húllier and with them a new
era began, which was that of breech-loading weapons.

CONCLUSION
More than seven centuries separate us from the time when a soldier used his
hand cannon for the first time, seven centuries in which man has demonstrated
an admirable spirit of technical improvement and in which, as we have seen,
some pre-eminent brains for mechanics, or simply logic, they knew how to apply
their experiences for the benefit of all those that we see today in something as
simple as a gun, much more than a firearm, something that represents more
than 700 years of evolution in man.

THE TEPPO.

Teppo: name by which the matchlock harquebus is designated in Japan.

Arriving at Tanegashima.

Legend has it that back in 1555, a Portuguese merchant ship, badly battered by
a storm, arrived at Tanegashima, a remote island off the west coast of Japan.
Its captain orders the ship to be moored to make the necessary repairs and
replenish water and food. With that purpose, he seeks to meet with the island's
authorities to do what the Portuguese did best at that time: trade. And he goes
with his matchlock harquebus.
The meeting takes place and the Lord of the island in that first contact is
hypnotized by that fabulous weapon, while he barely hears what the foreigners
are trying to tell him and cannot stop looking at it. The Portuguese Captain, at
the request of the Japanese and trying to achieve an approach, demonstrates
the power of the harquebus by firing a shot.

The Japanese authorities were delighted with such technology, immediately

identifying the potential of the firearm and the invaluable strategic application
that the possession of these weapons would achieve in the "theater of
operations" that was Japanese society at that time.

The Japanese leader makes the most diverse offers in exchange for that gun,
but the Portuguese merchant rejects them one after another, partly out of
ambition and partly out of fear.

The Lord of the island (a very clever guy) finally decides to give the Portuguese
a great treat.

Both, Portuguese and Japanese, despised and underestimated each other,

perceiving each other as barbarians and brutes, so imagine the atmosphere of
that enormous celebration in honor of Foreigners.

The great party begins, the delicacies and drinks run parallel to the new offers
from the Lord of the island to the Portuguese merchant, being rejected again
and again. Finally the geishas made their appearance, but not even with this
resource did they make any progress in the negotiation of that harquebus. The
Portuguese was still tough.

Until suddenly... (and always, in a legend this point is reached) the unwavering
merchant was stunned by one of the young ladies of the court present at that
celebration. His lower jaw fell limp, while his eyes took on a morphology that is
not even unknown in Japan. The young woman was of a beauty like he had
never seen in all his travels, of an indescribable delicacy. The merchant was
captivated. Helpless.

And at the mercy of the Japanese, since because of those things in life, that
young woman was none other than the daughter of the Lord of the Island of
Tanegashima.

And that's how, according to legend, Japan not only acquired its first
harquebus, but this Portuguese merchant also gave it all the knowledge

what it had about its manufacture, use, etc. And it doesn't appear in the legend,
but it surely also gave him some grandchildren.

It is said that every legend has its origin in true events, in the real and
documented chronicles figure 1542, as the year in which the Portuguese made
their first approach to Japan, which had remained almost isolated from the rest
of the known world until that moment. Foreigners arrive with many new things,
customs and technologies, among them is the matchlock musket.
The Japanese people are fascinated by the customs and customs of the
Portuguese. Even more so the leaders, who see in those strange new weapons
a factor of power, very useful and appropriate in the social structure of feudal
Japan at that time.

The Portuguese believe they see the goldmine, a future full of profitable and
substantial businesses based on the firearms trade. They underestimate the
Japanese, who after purchasing only a dozen of those muskets, begin to
manufacture them themselves and in large quantities.

Teppo Vs. Arquebus

The first major modification that the Japanese made to the European matchlock
muskets was to modify that large gun carriage or stock that they had, which in
some models such as the English ones had the shape of a fishtailed buttstock.

Because of this, the Japanese aim and shoot from the cheek, without resting
the weapon on the shoulder.

The walnut wood of the box was replaced by local cherry, usually lacquered
with ornaments and inlays. Another Japanese improvement consists of a hole in
the wooden stock, whether its interior was covered with brass or not, through
which the rear end of the wick passed and was fixed.

The fittings: clamps, trigger guards, counterplates, were mostly made of brass.

To give an example, Spanish cannons at that time measured between one vara
and four Castilian inches long (110 - 120 cm) and their caliber was
approximately five adarmes (17 mm). Their cavity was forged and smooth.
Externally they were round or octagonal, or they began octagonal in the
chamber and ended round towards the mouth of fire.

Japanese guns (tsutsu) were generally octagonal and reduced the caliber to
11.5-12.5 mm.

Another difference that we find is that the coil or Hibasami, the piece, usually
made of bronze, in the shape of an "S" that holds the wick falls on the bowl
forward, "away" from the handle, instead of falling towards it, as in most
European harquebuses. The mainspring (Hajiki Gane) that gives movement to
this piece, we will find outside the plate (iron or bronze sheet in this case, in
which the different elements that make up the ignition mechanism are fixed) and
made in brass, not very powerful since in this case no force is needed, you just
have to put the wick in contact with the powder in the bowl. On the other hand,
in later ignition systems such as flint or flint, the spring must be powerful enough
to ensure that the cat's foot hits the rake to generate a good spark. This style of
matchlock musket is called snapping matchlock by English language authors.

This spring placed on the outside means that the recess in the wood to house
the key does not need to be so deep, making the Japanese model therefore
more robust and resistant at that critical point where the European models used
to crack due to the recoil of the shot.

The reduction in the amount of wood, caliber and length also resulted in a
decrease in weight: an average European fishtail-type musket was weighing
between 4 and 5 kilos, while the Japanese one weighed between 3 and 4.

The cam or firing lever, which is the metal piece that, when pressed, transmits
movement to the coil, derived from the triggers of crossbows, was replaced by a
trigger in the shape of a button or drop.

In Europe, such a change occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the
trigger lever being replaced by a trigger tail not very different from the current
ones.

The drumstick was generally made of wood topped with a small brass ring to
reinforce the area.

The "art" of firing those matchlock harquebuses or Teppos reached a very high
level. The Japanese "arquebusier or musketeer" (to call it by some Spanish
equivalent) was treated with great deference, the Teppo received care as if it
were another member of the family, the harquebus obtained a status only
surpassed by the mythical katana. There were military treatises on training or
techniques, some of which have survived to this day, such as "The Book of
Firearms" written in 1612 by the great marksman Nagasawa Shagetzuma,
which shows how they were able to accurately fire their weapons from the most
unlikely angles, emphasizing continuous training as a basis for maintaining
skills.

From Teppo to Mauser

And what happened after the Portuguese were left with the unsold matchlock
harquebuses?

Several military leaders manage to unify Japan, at the same time our
Portuguese protagonists begin to establish firmer commercial relations and the
Jesuits arrive to Christianize the country, from then on a series of tortuous and
almost unhealthy relationships begin between the various parts of Japanese
society that wanted obtain power, the Jesuits who wanted to evangelize and the
Portuguese who wanted to sell something to everyone.

Until the Shoguns of the Tokugawa family emerged, who militarily structured
Japanese society and isolated Japan from all foreign influence, the Jesuits were
persecuted or killed and the Portuguese and Spanish merchants were expelled.
Everyone was confined to their class and social and political relations were
based on vassalage. To prevent the peasants from revolting, the government
encouraged them to become illiterate so that they would accept their inferiority.

And all this by dint of matchlock muskets or Teppos.

And then Japan voluntarily closed its borders to the known world.

And the Teppo stayed inside, for more than two hundred years, perfecting itself,
but without allowing another ignition system to appear (the fuse was such an
efficient paradigm that it did not allow new ideas to flourish).

Until 1853, the year in which Commander Matthew Perry, commanding a fleet
of ships from the United States Navy, landed in Tokyo Bay.

I propose to you, dear reader who patiently followed me here, the following
mental exercise: let's imagine just for a moment that Commander Perry,
descending from a modern warship from the middle of the last century, baptized
by the Japanese as "the black ships", by the smoke of the coal that flowed from
their boilers, bristling with cannons, some already breech-loading, surrounded
by marines armed with rifled percussion rifles and with a Colt Navy '36 caliber at
their waist, received by a squad of brave Japanese warriors armed with katanas
and matchlock harquebuses. And once again the powerful of the island was
hypnotized by that... etc., etc. History repeats itself again.

From the Teppo to the Mauser in just thirty years, which is how long it took for
the Murata 13 to appear (in reference to the 13th year of the Meiji period, 1880
of our calendar), considered the first military infantry rifle designed practically in
Japan, copying (of course ) different mechanisms of the bolt-action rifles of the
time: the German Mauser M1871, the Dutch Beaumont M1871 and the French
Gras M1874, but here, friends, we are already in another story.

Authentic Samurai with a Teppo (late 19th century) / Really Samurai with Teppo
(3rd quarter, 19th
 century)

A : Japanese Arquebus / Japanese matchlock

B : English Matchlock (fishtailed)

Glossary

(click on the image to see it in full - click the pic to enlarge the image)

Shiba-hikigane - Buttplate

Hikigane – Trigger tail, usually drop-shaped

Karakuri - Key (matchlock)

Jiita - Platina
Yuojintets u - Bow trigger guard

Hajiki Gane – Main Dock

Hibasam i - serpentine

Hibuta - Bowl cover, blanket

Make a - Bowl

Dai - cylinder head, exclusively made of cherry

Tsutsu - Barrel, rifled

Motorcycle Maete - Rise

Udenuki - Carrying strap hole

Naka Maete - Aiming element located between the moto maete and the saki

maete

Mekugi Ana - Ear

Saki Maete – Screenplay

Karuka - Drumstick

Suguch i - Firemouth