{"id":202124,"date":"2022-04-21T07:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-04-21T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/?p=202124"},"modified":"2025-06-05T12:40:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T17:40:20","slug":"handgun-history-breechloader-to-glock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/handgun-history-breechloader-to-glock\/","title":{"rendered":"Handgun History: Breechloader to Striker-Fired"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you wanted to be incredibly thorough with every minute detail, handguns could be traced all the way back to the days when the Greeks used slingshots loaded with rocks as projectiles. Around 1 BC, those rocks were being inscribed with messages like \u201cdexai!\u201d which translates to \u201ccatch!\u201d so you can see the attitude behind battle has been around awhile. It should come as no surprise that for a very long time, people have been interested in advancing technology to figure out how to have superior weaponry. After all, if you\u2019re being attacked, you\u2019ll want to defend yourself as successfully as possible. That\u2019s one reason handguns have seen such a fantastic evolution over the centuries. Here’s a look at their development from the breechloader to the modern striker-fired handguns.<\/p>\n

Advent of the Breechloader<\/h2>\n

In the 1700s, advancement meant access to more than one round at a time and perhaps a better loading method. Eventually, inventors figured out how to make guns work while being loaded from the breech rather than the muzzle. The moment the breechloader became mainstream\u2014at least for the military\u2014took place in 1776. A Scotsman, Major Patrick Ferguson, decided to show off his invention, a gun that would become known as the Ferguson rifle. It was one of the first breech loading rifles created. Ferguson was an officer during the Revolutionary War.<\/p>\n

\"Ferguson
The Ferguson rifle was one of the first of its kind. (Photo credit: Journal of the American Revolution)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the hands of its inventor, the Ferguson rifle proved it could do impressive things (by that era\u2019s standards, anyway). Ferguson fired his new rifle six times in under a minute while firing offhand at a target 200 yards away and then fired four more times as he moved toward the target. Just in case viewers weren\u2019t impressed yet, he went ahead and got the inside of the barrel wet and shot the gun again. These capabilities were big news in the 18th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Both muzzleloaders and breechloaders continued to see regular use, but the tide was changing to favor guns being loaded from the breech.<\/p>\n

Time for Centerfire<\/h2>\n

Not long after the Ferguson rifle became a thing, centerfire cartridges were invented. The earliest recorded form of centerfire rounds took place around 1808 at the hands of Jean Samuel Pauly. He created the very first integrated cartridge that didn\u2019t have a percussion cap, and although it didn\u2019t get fine-tuned for a long time after that, it was still the first centerfire design we\u2019re aware of from a historical perspective.<\/p>\n

Wheel Guns<\/h2>\n

Revolvers were invented before semi-automatics. Most people logically point to Samuel Colt as the creator of the first revolver; Colt received his patent for that gun in 1835. His design made it possible for the gun\u2019s cylinder to rotate on its own rather than being turned manually, among other things.According to Colt, he came up with the idea while aboard a ship at sea, and there are some historical arguments regarding whether he really came up with the design himself. However, he does receive handgun history credit for that first modernized revolver.<\/p>\n

\"colt
Samuel Colt is credited with the invention of the first modernized revolver in 1835. (Photo credit: Thought Company)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other versions of the revolver involved matchlock and flintlock guns. Those guns, which had multiple chambers but were not really like today\u2019s revolvers, date back to the 16th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Smokeless Powder<\/h2>\n

In 1884, Paul Vielle invented smokeless powder. At that time he chose to call it \u201cPoudre B\u201d with the \u201cb\u201d standing for \u201cblanche\u201d to refer to the whiteness of the powder. It was quite a discovery because not only was it three times as strong as the old black powder but it produced far less smoke. Suddenly, firing guns didn\u2019t go hand in hand with being temporarily blinded by the haze.<\/p>\n

\"smokeless
An example of smokeless powder. (Photo credit: Royal Society of Chemistry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From there, things in the handgun timeline moved pretty quickly. By 1887, Alfred Nobel came up with the formula for Ballistite by using nitro-cellulose, and it only took a tiny amount of the powder to propel projectiles fired from guns.<\/p>\n

Semi-Automatics Arrive<\/h2>\n

Finally, in 1892, the Schonberger-Laumann arrived. It was a blowback-action gun made by an Austrian named Joseph Laumann, and many firearms historians believe it was the first semi-automatic pistol to be invented. The Schonberger-Laumann was chambered in 7.8x19mm and had a 5-round internal magazine. Laumann had been working on his gun at least since 1891.<\/p>\n

The other semi-automatic to appear at that time was the Salvator Dormus, an 8mm blowback-action handgun that qualifies as the first semi-automatic pistol to get patented. Despite beating the Schonberger-Laumann to patenting, it was a failure, and there aren\u2019t many around for collectors today.<\/p>\n

The Era of the 1911<\/h2>\n

As its name suggests, the 1911 platform officially arrived in 1911. Well, ~ish. The M1911 was designed by John Moses Browning as a semi-automatic, single-stack, magazine-fed gun chambered in 45 ACP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Colt
An example of a 1911 made by Colt. (Photo credit: Colt)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 1911 was designed as a short-recoil handgun, but it wasn\u2019t technically the first of that kind. Credit for the original short-recoil rightly goes to Hiram Maxim, whose Maxim gun used a recoil system. Of course, the Maxim gun was a little bigger than the 1911, considering it was a heavy machine gun.<\/p>\n

Striker-Fired Firsts (Not Glock)<\/h2>\n

The Heckler and Koch<\/a> VP70 was the gun that technically introduced striker-fired actions to the gun world. There was, however, a predecessor to the VP70: the Ortgies.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Ortgies striker-fired pistol. (Photo credit: Drhoehl at English Wikipedia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ortgies was another hammerless handgun with a striker-fired action. It was designed in 1919 by Heinrich Ortgies and produced in 7.65mm, 6.35mm, and 9mm Kurz. The gun had various features that made it rather distinct from the VP70 and Glocks, which is one reason the VP70 is seen as the first striker-fired handgun.<\/p>\n

There were other iterations of striker-fired handguns but going through them all would take us far off track. Instead, let\u2019s consider the most popular of those handguns currently on the market.<\/p>\n

Gaston Glock began work on his first handgun in the early 1980s. By 1983, the Austrian Army had adopted the first generation Glock 17 as their new standard issue pistol, and by 1984 the polymer pistol had passed NATO\u2019s durability tests. Glock is the brand many, if not most, gun owners think of when it comes to striker-fired actions, and it\u2019s understandable. In a few short decades the company\u2019s handguns have grown to incredible popularity. It\u2019s possible almost all of us have owned or shot a Glock at some point.<\/p>\n

History Being Made<\/h2>\n

Handgun history is far from over. Changes continue to take place in technology and although they might be made in inches rather than leaps and bounds, advances are still occurring.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite modern handgun platform? 1911s, revolvers, or striker-fired guns such as Glocks? Tell us about it in the comments section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Handguns have seen such a fantastic evolution over the centuries. Here’s a look at their development from the breechloader to striker-fired.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":202128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2622],"tags":[2510,2271],"class_list":["post-202124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-firearms-history","tag-guns-and-history","tag-throwback-thursday"],"small_media_thumbnail":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/colt-1835-300x225.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202124"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":441398,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202124\/revisions\/441398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunmagwarehouse.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}