June
1 June 1, 1896 (aged 72) died Sylvester Howard Roper. He was a pioneering builder of early automobiles and motorcycles. He is also the inventor of the shotgun choke and a revolver repeating shotgun. Roper invented the first shotgun choke, short tubes that could be threaded onto, or removed from, the outside of the shotgun barrel to vary the shot spread to suit different targets and ranges. Roper and Christopher Miner Spencer were granted a joint patent for a repeating shotgun mechanism on 4 April, 1882 Later, on 21 April 1885, Roper alone obtained a patent for an improved shotgun loading mechanism. * 1 June 1927 was formed SAKO, Limited a Finnish firearm manufacturer. In 1987, state-owned Valmet and SAKO fused into SAKO-VALMET, with ownership split evenly between Nokia and Valmet. Sako rifles are known for their quality, accuracy, and premium price. Sako also offers lower-priced arms under the Tikka brand. 2 2 June, 2010 Nolser experienced a massive explosion at their plant in Bend, Oregon. No one was harmed in the blast. The name Nosler applies to a number of companies involved in the manufacture of ammunition and handloading components, specializing in high performance hollow point and soft point hunting bullets. Current companies include Nosler, Inc., Nosler Custom, and Nosler Reloading. Today, Nosler makes a number of different hunting bullets for rifle, handgun, and muzzle-loaders. They also manufacture brass and sell loaded ammunition, and Nosler Custom has recently begun to sell limited edition and semi-custom hunting rifles. The original Partition design bullet still is the company's flagship product. It has undergone many refinements over the years, but the basic design concept has remained unchanged. 3 *3 June 1761 born Henry Shrapnel. He was a British Army officer and inventor, most famously, of the "shrapnel shell". In 1784, while a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, he perfected, with his own resources, an invention of what he called "spherical case" ammunition: a hollow cannon ball filled with shot which burst in mid-air. This device was for use as an anti-personnel weapon. When it was finally adopted by the British Army in 1803, it immediately acquired the inventor's name: the shrapnel shell. (It has lent the term "shrapnel" to fragmentation from artillery shells and fragmentation in general ever since, long after it was replaced by high explosive rounds.) 4 * June 4, 1744 born Patrick Ferguson. Scottish officer in the British Army, early advocate and designer of the Ferguson rifle. The Ferguson Rifle was successfully tested, at his own expense, in 1776. With such a weapon, light infantry troops would be able to continue loading and firing without breaking cover or while lying prone. 5 *5 June 1894 was tested Skoda Model 1893 machine gun. Owing to the limited amount of ammunition available, the firings were restricted to those necessary to determine the ease and certainty of action of the mechanism when set for different speeds; also for rapidity during comparatively long and short periods of time. Six hundred rounds in all were fired. M1893 was a heavy machine gun of Austro-Hungarian origin. It was patented by Archduke Karl Salvator of Austriaand Count George von Dormus . The M1893 was chambered in the 8x50mmR round fed from an overhead magazine and was water-cooled with an oil lubrication device. There was also a pendulum adjustment in the trigger mechanism that allowed the operator to select the cyclic rate of fire, anywhere from 180 to 250 rounds per minute. 6 * June 6, 1766 born much celebrated British gunsmith who was to revolutionise sport shooting, vastly improve the quality of weapons and father the modern artillery shell Joseph Manton. Aged 29, Manton was to create a mechanism that allowed him to rifle a barrel with greater ease. He also refined shot design to create a wooden cup that allowed for faster reloading and greater accuracy; it is from this design that modern munitions are based * June 6, 1816(1816-06-06) born William Tranter. He was British gunmaker and gun designer famous for inventing the Tranter Revolver. Revolver originally operated with a special dual-trigger mechanism (one to rotate the cylinder and cock the gun, a second to fire it) later models employed a single-trigger mechanism. * June 6, 1817 born american gunsmith who invented a revolver with a bored-through cylinder which allowed metallic cartridges to be loaded from the rear Rollin White. Up until that time, revolvers were black-powder percussion arms. The shooter had to pour powder into each of the six cylinder mouths, swage a bullet over the powder, and load a percussion cap on the rear of the cylinder, making the reloading process cumbersome. White's idea was to completely bore through the cylinder and insert metallic cartridges from the rear. * June 6, 1844 born firearms inventor and engineer Hugo Borchardt. He is known for his inventions of the Borchardt C-93 pistol and the Sharps-Borchardt Model 1878 rifle. *June 6, 1889(1889-06-06) born Dieudonné Joseph Saive , a Belgian arms designer who designed the FN Model 1949 and the FN FAL. He became the head firearms developer of Fabrique Nationale after the death of John Browning. 7 * 7 June 1968(1968-06-07) (aged 96) died Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev. He was a Russian weapons designer. he is best known as the designer of the Tokarev TT-30 and TT-33 self-loading pistol and the Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40 self-loading rifle. The TT-33 is chambered for the 7.62x25mm Tokarev cartridge. 8 8 June 1859(1859-06-08) (aged 62) died Walter Hunt. He patented ,,The Rocket Ball “-was one of the earliest forms of metallic cartridge , containing bullet and powder in a single, metal cased unit. While the Rocket Ball provided the means of making practical repeating firearms, it was not an ideal solution. The limited volume in the base of the bullet severely limited the amount of powder that could be used, and thus limited the potential velocity and range of the cartridge. With muzzle energy of only about 56 foot-pounds (76 joules), the Rocket Ball was less powerful than even the feeblest of modern "pocket pistol" cartridges, such as .25 ACP.Despite these limitations, the Rocket Ball was used in a number of attempts at making a commercially successful firearm, culminating in the Volcanic Repeating Arms Company. The Volcanic cartridge went one step further, adding a primer to the cap of the Rocket Ball, making the ammunition completely self-contained 9 *June 9, 1824 born Jean Alexandre Francois LeMat . He is best known for the percussion cap revolver that bears his name. (1824-06-09) *June 9, 1878 born Hino Kumazō, a Japanese inventor and aviation pioneer. His most famous invention is the M1908 Pistol. t was chambered in 8mm Nambu, .32 ACP, and .25 ACP. The 8mm chambering was later dropped as the cartridge proved too powerful for the design.As of December 1992, a cache of 17 Hino Komuro Pistols chambered in .32 ACP were found in a warehouse that are believed to have been stored for 45 years and 7 were retained by Japanese Authorities for evaluation when the rest were scheduled for destruction as they were not legally registered. A small number of these weapons are considered highly collectible firearms in the United States. 10 *June 10, 1854 Eugene Lefaucheux in France patented the first revolver chambered for self-contained metallic cartridges. In England this revolver was patented April 27, 1854. 11 *June 11, 1843(1843-06-11) (aged 74) died Alexander John Forsyth , a Scottish Presbyterian clergyman who invented the percussion ignition. He patented his scent-bottle lock in 1807; this was a small container filled with fulminate of mercury. Napoleon Bonaparte offered Forsyth a reward of £20,000 if he took his invention to France, but Forsyth declined. The French gunsmith Jean Lepage developed a similar form of ignition in 1807 based on Forsyth's design, but this was not pursued. (1843-06-11) 12 June 12, 1930 born Russian guns developer German Protopopov. He designed pneumatic ИЖ-32, ИЖ-32М, ИЖ-38, ИЖ-32БК rifles, ИЖ-33, ИЖ-40, ИЖ-46,ИЖ-53 pneumatic pistols, ИЖ-58М, ИЖ-18Е shotguns. 13 *13 June, 1907 born Russian and USSR guns designer Michayl Blium. His in late 1928 designed machine gun, shooting .22LR cartridges. Hi also develop 5,6X39, 9X53, 9X64 ant etc. cartridges. Died 1970. 14 *14 June 1871 born Fedor Vasilievich Tokarev. He was a Russian weapons designer. he is best known as the designer of the Tokarev TT-30 and TT-33 self-loading pistol and the Tokarev SVT-38 and SVT-40 self-loading rifle. Study of the SVT's gas-operated action also aided in the development of the German Gewehr 43 rifle. 15 *June 15, 1934 Remington Arms bought Parker Brothers company. Including the guns made during the Remington Era, just over 242,000 Parker shotguns were produced. The product of the Parker Brothers Company was utilitarian in nature. While other goods produced for the consumer may have reflected some taste for opulent decorations, the Parker shotgun did not. The highest grade had fancy wood in the stock, and engraved scenes on the metal surface. The use of gold inlays was very limited, unlike high grades of other gun companies. The “new rich” may have had their Parkers, but the guns themselves were not adorned with the ostentatious trimmings that were evident in the other facets of their lives. It was the basic grade that earned the name, “The Old reliable”. 16 *16 June , 1913 born Russian weapons designer German Korobov. He best know as the designer of the ТКБ-454, ТКБ-517, ТКБ-072-1, ТКБ-0111bullpup assault rifles, capable of fully automatic fire, designed in the 1960s. Although these assault rifles performed well, they were turned down by the Soviet army for being too radical at that time. Died 2006 17 * June 17, 1893 John Moses Browning applied for United States Patent 544659. This was another of his gas operated machine gun patents and it used a belt fed mechanism for the rounds. 18 *18 June 1830 born William Palliser. Palliser patented 21 ordnance-related inventions, including the armour-piercing Palliser shot. It was an early British armour-piercing artillery projectile, intended to pierce the armour protection of warshipsHe designed the "Palliser conversion" technique which was used successfully to convert many of Britain's obsolescent but still serviceable smoothbore muzzle-loading guns into more modern rifled muzzle-loaders in the late 1860s and the 1870s. 19 *June 19, 1801 died Joel Ferree, an American gunsmith & patriot. During the Revolutionary War, Joel Ferree was requested by the Committee of Safety to manufacture rifles for use by the militia. At a meeting of the Committee of Safety on July 22, 1775, it was resolved that a messenger be sent to Joel Ferree, of Lancaster County, with a letter from the Committee requesting him immediately to complete the guns wrote for as patterns and to know how many he can furnish of the same kind and at what price. 20 *June 20, 1833 born born Christopher Miner Spencer. He as an American inventor, from Manchester, Connecticut, who invented the Spencer repeating rifle, one of the earliest models of lever-action rifle, a steam powered "horseless carriage", and several other inventions. 21 *June 21, 1879 died Jonathan Browning, American gunmaker and John Moses father. Jonathan achieved success with the Harmonica gun and he received many orders. It is estimated that each Harmonica gun took 2 weeks to make, and Browning sold the guns for twenty-four dollars. *June 21, 1916 born William Batterman Ruger. He partnered with Alexander McCormick Sturm in 1949 to establish Sturm, Ruger & Company. *June 21, 1940 (aged 79) died Thompson submachine gun developer John Taliaferro Thompson. Shortly after his death, the brink of U.S. entry into World War II prompted the Army to order the Thompson submachine gun in large quantities, and it was used extensively during that conflict. 22 * June 22, 1897 died Gilbert Henderson Harrington. He was the main founder of the arms manufacturing firm of Harrington & Richardson. Frank Wesson started a firearms manufacturing firm in 1859, sharing an early patent with Nathan Harrington. Wesson produced two trigger rifles and spur trigger pistols and pocket rifles/shotguns popular for short length holster models such as the discontinued topper compact pocket shotguns. He started a brief partnership in 1871 with his nephew Gilbert Henderson Harrington, as Wesson & Harrington, until Harrington bought him out in 1874. In 1888 the firm was incorporated as The Harrington & Richardson Arms Company. Their original capital investment was $75,000. Harrington was president, Richardson was treasurer, and George F. Brooks was secretary. 23 * June 23, 1883 brothers Nagant patented comblain rifle accessories. *June 23, 1966 , Missouri deer hunter H.W. Allen patented his invention, the first compound bow. Today, eight out of 10 bowhunters shoot a compound. 24 * June 24, 1820(1820-06-24) born Charles William Lancaster. He was an English gun maker and improver of rifles and cannon. Charles William was the eldest son of Charles Lancaster, gunmaker, of 151 New Bond Street, London. In 1850 he conceived the idea of the oval bore as the proper form for all rifled arms and cannon, and with this system his name will always be associated. * June 24 1822 born Charles Henry Ballard. He was American guns inventor.Initial manufacture Ballard rifles wes by Ball&Williams. During Civil war this firm sold 20000 rifles to State of Kentucky. In 1875 Ballard rifles was resumed J.M Marlin *June 24, 1910(1910-06-24) born David Llewellyn Lloyd. David Lloyd & Co. riflemakers company the early 1950s developed the .244 H&H Magnum rifle cartridge, later adopted by Holland and Holland of London. 25 * June 25, 1918 born 20th Century gunsmith and cartridge designer Frank C. Barnes. He was the author of Cartridges of the World and the designer of the .308x1.5in Barnes, the .458x1.5in, and the 2in .458 26 *June 26, 1888 D.H Rice granted US patent 3850009 for extractor mechanism for revolvers. Patent was assigned to a Marlin Firearms Company, and replace John M. Marlin extractor mechanism in Marlin double-action revolvers. Revolvers with Rice’s invention can by indentified by the added small screw directly over the barrel hinge screw. 27 * June 27, 1838 born a German weapon designer and manufacturer Paul Mauser. His father and his four older brothers were gunsmiths. with his brother Wilhelm Mauser, Paul Mauser designed the Mauser Model 1871 rifle, the first of a successful line of Mauser rifles and pistols. * June 27, 1936 founded a Czech firearms manufacturer Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod. n 1997 CZUB established a permanent presence in the United States with the founding of CZ-USA. CZUB and CZ-USA continue to expand and dominate the small arms market world wide, with military, police, defensive, sporting and recreational firearms. 28 *June 28, 1832 born Rudolf Schmidt. He was Swiss guns designer and developed straight pull bolt action rifle. Typical rifle designs by Schmidt were the model 1889 rifle and 1889/96. It was the first straight pull bolt-action rifle. The straight pull bolt-action of the Schmidt-Rubin allows the user to pull straight back, unlocking the bolt and ejecting the cartridge, with one motion. The action will then allow the user to push forward with one motion to chamber the next round, lock the bolt and cock the weapon for firing. Rifle use Eduard Rubin's 7.5x55mm rifle cartridge. The ammunition used by the Schmidt-Rubin Model 1889 rifle was one of the first to use 7.5 mm copper jacketed rounds similar to those used today. 29 *June 29, 1835: (aged 69) died Joseph Manton. He was a much celebrated British gunsmith who was to revolutionise sport shooting, vastly improve the quality of weapons. In the early 19th century Manton invented the tube (or pill) lock, an improvement over Alexander Forsyth's scent-bottle lock. Rather than storing a reserve of fulminate in a container they were now single-use pellets.The hammer of the gun was sharpened; when it fell it crushed the tube, causing the fulminates to detonate. This was more reliable than Forsyth's design and was adopted by the Austrian army and many sportsmen during the Regency period. However it was overshadowed by the invention of the percussion cap which was adopted by the armies of Britain, France, Russia and America to replace the flintlock. * 29 June 1942 died Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross. His was inventor straight-pull actioned Ross rifle and .280 Ross cartridge. The .280 Ross was the first practical cartridge to reach the edge of 3,000 ft/s (910 m/s). 30 *June 30, 1896 American shotgun inventor Ansley Fox granted patent for shotgun. Fox took his revised drawings to Joseph A Geiji a Baltimore gunsmith, who set to work on a prototype. Its design is similar to both Anson and Deeley’s 1875 hammerless shotgun and to W.W Greener’s Facile Princeps action, invented shortly after. The most prophetic features of this first Fox gun are its simplicity and its emphasis upon strength. |
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