Aspecte generale privind evoluția armelor de foc portative în spațiul european

Abstract

The goal of this article is to serve as a general presentation or introduction into the history of portable firearms and their evolution over the ages. While we are mostly referring to firearms in general, we do have a small emphasis on the ones that were used for hunting wild game. We start by showcasing the first types of handheld firearm mechanisms such as hand-cannons, culverines and we move towards the end of the 14th century and into the 15th to showcase the rise of the matchlocks and the first wheellocks muskets. Appearing during an age when technological advances were rife, these two particular firearms were the forefathers of the rifle as we know it today. While clumsy to operate they still provided an advantage for the user, being during warfare or hunting for that mat‑ ter. Some examples of such firearms still exist in various museum and private collection around the world. Next we move towards the invention of the flintlock, a firearm that set the standard for about two hundred years. Invented during the 17th century this weapon slowly became the norm of every army, but also every hunter in Europe (given he could afford to own one). Another great innovation for portable firearms was the mechanism that allowed the loading of the powder and eventually of the full metal jacket rounds through the breech of the firearm. This particular kind of mechanism is still in use today on the majority of the hunting rifles. While the progress of portable firearms was at times slow, it was nonetheless steadily advancing alongside the progress regarding ballistics. All of these innovations regarding portable firearms also changed the way men have been hunting for the last few centuries.