Guns That Shaped US History

RallyPoint Team — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 09:51:00 -0400

There is no doubt that the United States has produced some of the best weaponry in the world. Each firearm in our nation’s history has played its part, but some have become iconic. Here are a few of the guns used by our military which made huge impacts throughout time.

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made Mar 20 at 2015 9:54 AM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 09:54:39 -0400

God created man. Sam Colt made them equal.

Response by SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA made Mar 20 at 2015 9:56 AM

SPC Elijah J. Henry, MBA — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 09:56:19 -0400

I strongly recommend Chris Kyle's book, American Gun: A History of the U. S. in Ten Firearms.

It looks like this list came from the book.

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Mar 20 at 2015 10:09 AM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:09:41 -0400

Response by SSgt Brandon Sisson made Mar 20 at 2015 10:19 AM

SSgt Brandon Sisson — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:19:11 -0400

Chris Kyle wrote a book called American Gun about this. I recommend it!

Response by Maj Chris Nelson made Mar 20 at 2015 10:35 AM

Maj Chris Nelson — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 10:35:57 -0400

I am actually surprised that there is not a listing for either the Gatling Machine gun or the Browning M1917 Machine gun, and of course the Browning M2 Machine Gun....I think that these 3 were revolutionary in their own areas...

Response by SGT William Howell made Mar 20 at 2015 12:38 PM

SGT William Howell — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:38:27 -0400

I think that they meant guns that shaped the US Military. If it were guns that shaped US History the AK-47, K-98, and the MG-42 should be on that list.

The AK-47 has been used by anybody trying to kill US military on any campaign we have had since Panama. We have developed body armor to defeat the 7.62x39 round because it is still the greatest threat of any firearm to US military personnel.

The Mouser was the only reason the 1903 ever came to be and the K-98 was used effectively to take over 1/3 of the world. Americans were killed in large numbers by this gun effectively changing families and history on US soil forever.

The MG-42 is a directly responsible for the M-60 and the M-240. The MG-42 was such a devastating weapon that tactics had to be changed by US forces to keep from getting to be killed by the dozens. Those tactics are still used to this day by the modern military. The military had to make propaganda films to show to recruits so that they would not freeze in their tracks when hearing a MG-42 firing.

Any thoughts on adding the enemy's guns to this list?

Response by PO3 Steven Sherrill made Mar 20 at 2015 12:49 PM

PO3 Steven Sherrill — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:49:17 -0400

My ex-father in law had an M-1 Garand. We went shooting with it. I was amazed at what a great gun it was to fire. I had read about the distinctive pinging sound when the last round was fired. I thought that it couldn't possibly be that audible, until we took it out. I found out that it is quite audible. I had a great time shooting that weapon.

I am surprised that they don't have any of the revolvers from the 1800's on here, or the lever action rifles either. Those were very significant in their time. Especially the early ones when the conversion from muzzle loader to cap and ball, and then to cartridges. Those are all significant just in the advance in technology that they represent. I mean can you imagine trying to load a MBT gun like an old artillery cannon?

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Mar 20 at 2015 6:00 PM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:00:00 -0400

Winchester Model 1873 - "The Gun that Won the West"

Response by CSM Michael J. Uhlig made Mar 20 at 2015 6:21 PM

CSM Michael J. Uhlig — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:21:19 -0400

A weapon that deserves recognition in this thread is the HB M2 Browning .50 caliber machine gun! Here's a short clip of the M2 (history) alongside the minigun (part of the future):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNX6uSdushg

Ma Deuce vs. Minigun | TRIGGERS

Wil Willis compares the M2 and M134 in their medium range accuracy. | For more TRIGGERS, visit http://military.discovery.com/#mkcpgn=ytmil1 Subscribe to Mili...

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 20 at 2015 6:40 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:40:00 -0400

Yep, awesome stuff!

Response by SGT Richard H. made Mar 20 at 2015 6:56 PM

SGT Richard H. — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 18:56:25 -0400

Good topic. I've actually been meaning to read Chris Kyle's second book "American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms". Anyone care to share a review on it?

Response by SGT Frank Leonardo made Mar 21 at 2015 2:55 AM

SGT Frank Leonardo — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 02:55:53 -0400

I had a a older gentlemen at Cabela's at the tactical gun counter talking to the men behind the counter saying a 2.23 or 5.56 would not got through a piece of glass, so I walked over to them and showed them my VA ID and said OK sir if that is so then why did I shoot 3 Iraq insurgents and kill them with my M-16 and do what we had to do? the gentlemen looked at me and said are you sure and I told him maybe that is why I have PTSD and better yet sir that is why most Americans want a AR_15 easy to shoot low recoil and get it right, with out asking what they do, yes maybe they jam if you don't take take care of them then walked away thinking maybe he should look into what the US armed forces shoot and why...

Response by PO1 John Miller made Mar 21 at 2015 7:27 AM

PO1 John Miller — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 07:27:29 -0400

I want an M1903 and M1!

Response by PO1 Stephen Caldonetti made Mar 23 at 2015 12:58 AM

PO1 Stephen Caldonetti — Mon, 23 Mar 2015 00:58:59 -0400

I love every single one of them! But what makes them effective is the person behind those weapons firing straight and true!

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jan 27 at 2016 7:18 PM

PO1 John Miller — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 19:18:43 -0500

Great gun porn, thanks for sharing. Here are a few rifles that should be included. I recently inherited these from my Dad. I haven't shot them myself since I got them, but I did when I was a kid and they're both great rifles that definitely changed rifle hunting. I present the Winchester Model 94 30-30 and Savage Model 99 .300:

Response by SGT William Howell made Jan 28 at 2016 8:23 AM

SGT William Howell — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 08:23:15 -0500

There is not such thing as a American Long Rifle it is either a Kentucky Long Rifle or the Pennsylvania Long Rifle. Being from KY, our version was better.

Second, the M1903 was not a gun that changed US history. That would have been the Mouser 98 that changed US history. The 1903 was nothing but a stolen design from the Mouser brothers. Springfield got away with it because the Army needed a modern firearm and we could not produce a design of our own worth a shit. So the government allowed the US to steal the German design.

Response by SGT Paul Mackay made Apr 21 at 2016 6:51 PM

SGT Paul Mackay — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 18:51:00 -0400

the M-14 was great

Response by SGT Kenneth Durman made Nov 20 at 2021 1:34 AM

SGT Kenneth Durman — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 01:34:24 -0500

It wasn't the weapons, it was the soldiers beside them.