Evolution of Weapons (1837-1901) - Armchair Historian

The Maxim Gun has been spotted in use in the Russia/Ukraine war. That's insane for being the first proper machine gun built to it still seeing combat 140 years later.

When he mentions the smokeless powder, he should have mentioned how effective they were in the Spanish-American War. The Spanish 1893 Mauser rifle was a very good gun and it annoyed the hell out of American soldiers because they couldn’t see where the shots were coming from and led to very high casualties on the American side. The 1893 was used all the way to the end of WW2 in an official capacity. This weapon would be the inspiration for the 1903 Springfield rifle.

The channels Forgotten Weapons and C&Rsenal are great for learning about firearm history.

I am a huge gun nut, and I love that this is a video now! The Great War has many videos with C&Rsenal going over the weapons of different countries involved in WWI. And Ian over at Forgotten Weapons not only does the history of the often rare firearms he gets his hands on, but he actually takes them apart and shows how they work. I hope to see more of this kind of content in the future, just because I could rant and rave about the topic of firearms for hours!!

To add something even more new to what you said in 13:24 there was an even earlier breech-loading design that was featured just earlier @12:42. That right there is the M1819 Hall rifle. First designed in 1811 and - as the designation suggests - produced in 1819 , it saw some use by US forces. It was even part of the scandalous Hall Carbine Affair, where a young J.P. Morgan was the center of it! But there was even an earlier breech-loading rifle, the British flintlock Ferguson rifle, introduced in 1776 and seeing limited use in the American Revolutionary War.

You should check out his newer video on the 12 battles of the Isonzo.

there were actually breech loading rifles used by a specialized British unit during the American War for Independence. the ferguson rifle was quite rare and fairly mechanically complex for the time, so it makes sense why they never caught on, but supposedly a skilled shooter could fire 6 rounds per minute.

For anyone curious, "Gewehr" is just the German word for longarms. It ultimately comes from the verb "wehren" which means "to fend off/protect/guard". It's related through its roots in Proto-West-Germanic (the hypothetical ancestor of all West Germanic languages, primarily Dutch, English, and German) to words in English like 'aware', 'wary', 'weir', and even 'guarantee' and 'warranty', though those two had to be loaned into Vulgar Latin and pass through Old French first before being loaned back into English again when the Norman invasion brought its legal system and terms with it to the British Isles. 'Guarantee' was the standard variant while 'Warranty' was a variant specific to Northern dialects of Old French. ps. I use contemporary spellings of the words to make comprehension easier. In reality, Guarantee would have been spelled differently and more inconsistently in Old French, something like 'guarantie', and I imagine 'warranty' would probably have only been spelled that way once it reached England since Old French didn't use a w-letter. By the way, the same variation between 'gu(a)' and 'wa' between standard French and Northern French is also the reason why we call the first Norman king of England 'William', while the French call him 'Guillaume'.

It's nice to see an Armchair Historian video on this channel

Thanks for making this video! You are the perfect add-on to the armchair content. I loved the extra information you shared! 🤓learned a lot!

The Maxim gun is still being used today on the frontline in Ukraine. Crazy to think about

The 1860 11,400 Henry’s made up to April 1865. Spencer production (started 1862) was 110,00 units by Wars end. The army liked the powerful 54 Cal Spencer (7 rounds) vs the delicate 44 cal Henry (16 rounds). I own 3 Reproduction (Uberti) 1860 Henry Riles in 44/40. This thin brass (I do reload my brass), expands nicely to block any blow back of the black Powder I use. More kickback with black powder than smokeless. Smokeless fires so fast (and much higher speed of bullet) that little kick. Since firing live rounds with black powder, little fouling… but sure gets dirty. I hear 45 cal for Henry Rifke, much thicker brass case, there is some blow-back.

Mercury fulminate. I watched that scene yesterday. On a BB kick this week.

15:16 Love the Mr. Bean sight gag

Hey man, I've been really into watching your videos for the past year and I love the information that you provide alongside your reactions. I've watched your battle of Bannockburn vid and would like to see you react to more of historymarche. If you ever want to watch an epic journey , I would recommend Hannibal's Road to Rome by Historymarche. If that's too long, at least react to the Battle of Cannae. That battle was chef's kiss 👌 (Or any historymarche vids tbh, their content is just so insightful and entertaining)

I love this channel so much

Just trying my luck and asking for “The greatest raid of all” reaction again 😂 Great insight and discussion as always Chris 👍🏻

Forgotten Weapons is great YouTube channel of firearm history. Also, InRange TV is a great YT channel as well and ends all the myths of M-16 vs AK variant Rifles, variant designs of the minie ball and others. The late R. Lee Ermey on Lock N' Load history channel series is also a great history of weaponry from spears & bows and arrows to modern weapons.

While the old revolvers could hold 6 rounds, many only loaded 5. This is called a cowboy load and it had to do with the striker that ignites the primer was located on the hammer. When the hammer wasn’t cocked the striker was sitting on the primer. The slightest bump on the hammer from something completely accidental could ignite the primer and fire the round. People would have the empty chamber as a safety so the hammer was sitting on the empty chamber, and then when the firearm was needed for use, the hammer would be cocked which rotated the cylinder and moved the next round into place to fire.

I recommend checking out "The Maxim - The Machine Gun That Changed The World" by Brandon Herrera. Definitely an interesting video on a gun design that's more than 100 years old.