History of the firearm

The historical development of weapons that propel projectiles using expanding gas from burning propellant, from early gunpowder arms to modern firearms.

Matchlock: An early firearm ignition system that lowered a burning match to a priming pan. It replaced hand-applied ignition with a trigger-operated mechanism.
Gunpowder: An explosive mixture traditionally made from potassium nitrate, charcoal, and sulfur. Its development made projectile weapons powered by expanding gas possible.
Arquebus: A relatively light early matchlock firearm used by infantry in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It was a common shoulder-fired weapon before the musket became dominant.
Janissaries: Elite infantry units of the Ottoman Empire, historically recruited through the devshirme system. Their early adoption of firearms illustrates how guns reshaped standing infantry forces.
Muzzleloader: A firearm loaded by inserting its projectile and propellant through the muzzle. It contrasts with breechloading designs that accelerated reloading.
Wheellock: A firearm ignition system that made sparks by spinning a steel wheel against pyrite. Its spring-driven sparks offered an alternative to the exposed burning match.
Fire lance: An early Chinese weapon that projected flame and sometimes projectiles from a tube attached to a spear. It shows how gunpowder tubes developed from incendiary weapons toward firearms.
Musket: A long firearm used by infantry, especially from the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries. Its evolving size, ignition, and tactics mark a major stage in firearm history.
Military revolution: A historical framework for transformations in European warfare and state power from the late medieval period onward. Firearms contributed to changes in fortifications, armies, taxation, and centralized states.
Repeating firearm: A firearm that holds multiple rounds and can fire them in sequence without reloading after each shot. Repeaters moved firearm history beyond single-shot loading cycles.

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Wujing ZongyaoRelated: Its descriptions illuminate technologies that preceded later firearms.