Weapons and Ballistic Protection
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“The deadliest weapon in the world is a Marine and his rifle!” Pershing (1918). Wars and battles that have ever been fought have used weapons by opposing sides to wage them while possessing body protection to finish them. Battles have mainly been won and lost by the force that has the best weapons and body protection at that time. The weapons and ballistic protection that the United States currently has is better now than ever because of their capabilities.
Weapon History
Black Powder Rifles The two biggest marvels in history that transformed how wars are fought are black power rifles and the rifle cartridge. Black powder rifles were introduced by the Europeans when they adopted gunpowder from the Chinese in the early 1600s (Global Security, 2010).
Match Lock The first rifles were made by drilling a hole into a cylinder of metal, and drilled a small hole on the opposite end to light the powder. For this reason, these rifles were heavy, bulky and very slow to load because they could only load one lead ball at a time. By the mid-1600s, experiments began by gunsmiths to improve the rifles weight and accuracy trying to make it ideal for the average soldier (Global Security, 2010). After they perfected the changes, the “matchlock” was born. The “matchlock” was still heavy and bulky; however, it was easier to load than the previous rifle. The biggest problems with this rifle were that it was inaccurate, bulky and could only fire one to two rounds a minute.
Flint Lock After the “matchlock” rifle dominated the middle to late 1600s, the “flintlock” came about. This rifle was the longest standing rifle to stay in service to that time. The “flintlock” took the weaknesses of the “matchlock” rifle and improved on it by not using rope to light the gunpowder; instead it used flint hitting steel. This