HK G11

Steyr GB.

@Blind_Squirrel

The French did it in World War One.

Well damn, didn't know that existed back in WW1. Only 90k made but still. I suppose France didn't really stick around long enough in WW2 to really have fielded it in great numbers then. Appreciate the education

Very neat gun.

Some awesome ones I had never heard about. The rotating trigger guard is creative and definitely worthy.

True

Holy shit, took a whole page!

Built by Sig, used by Mexico and Germany.

https://www.forgottenweapons.com/early-semiauto-rifles/mexican-mondragon/

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondrag%C3%B3n_rifle

For rifle, I would say AR15–Stoner thought outside the usual materials to manufacture that are the norm today.  With Gene Stoner’s ideas, the AUG wouldn’t be.

For handgun, the HK VP-70.  First polymer frame.  Think of all the plastic fantastics that followed & are the norm.

AR-10 obviously, and everything that is a descendant of it.

Browning Hi-Power.

GLOCK 17.

Savage 1907. Double stack 10 round mag, nice trigger, very slim and compact. It took over 100 years for something like this reappear on the market.

Attached File


I love the 1911, but I think it is interesting to ponder if the Army had selected the Savage 1905 over it in the pistol trials instead

Thompson Submachinegun.

It was ready for production too late for WWI and struggled for sales for years but was a game changer. It was not the best designed SMG being overly complicated and expensive to manufacture for what it does BUT it was the first of its kind and shaped CQC assault tactics for the next half-century plus.

The Liberator

I win.

And it would still be competitive today had it utilized a double-stack mag. Aside from that, the full-length slide, and relocating one while eliminating the other recoil spring, it's essentially a 92FS/M9.

Mauser C96, the first truly successful semiautomatic pistol.

The Borchardt C93 predated it by a few years but wasn't really successful until it morphed into the Parabellum, AKA Luger. It contrast, the Mauser remained in production for forty years in basically the same form. The C96 saw service in both world wars, massive use in China during the inter-war period, and was copied in large numbers.

This. The execution was flawed, but the idea was ahead of its time. Man portable, mag fed, VFG.

Revolvers have been around since as far back as 1660, just in very, very few numbers and with varying degrees of success.

This one is extraordinary.  Cocking it revolved the cylinder around and locked it in place for firing, and each chamber held its own priming charge of powder.  A lot of the pieces needed to make a modern revolver are there.

Making this single firearm was very expensive, painstaking, and time-consuming to get all the tolerances and mechanisms just right.  The technology to mass produce it just wasn't there yet.  So the concept was just too early to be practical.  But it showed that people had a great idea even then as to what was needed.

Anyone make repros of it?

Handled one of those at a gun show some years ago. It was reminiscent of a Swiss made M1 Garand with way more parts.

No it wasn't the first of its kind, and the MP-18 and Imperial German stormtroopers did that. They essentially created & proved modern infantry tactics (especially assaults).

I'd have to agree with some choices already mentioned:

1911 - groundbreaking

M1 Garand - not so much the tech (although after the gas trap phase it was quite solid) but really the scale and success of fielding it to so many riflemen was an astounding feat. It was a better rifle than the Gewehr 43 or the Soviet SVT-38 and SVT-40. Just really well done.

FG-42 - also groundbreaking. Later inspired (was copied by) the M60 machinegun

MG-34 - This was a bigger deal than the MG-42 at the time of its debut, although both were great at the time. MG-34 really drove home the GPMG concept and the MG-42 did that for less money (and with a better barrel change method for infantrymen). I disagree about it being "hard to beat" today. Most anything gas operated with a QC barrel (and barrel handle) is better. The countries running the MG3, MG74, etc. just have huge stockpiles of old steel guns and aren't interested in funding modern replacements. The violent recoil-operated action causes a lot of shaking in the sight picture, and makes them less stable on target than the gas-operated MGs. Again, amazing weapons for their time though.

Browning Hi Power - Dieudonne Saive's improvement on the 1911 design, it really set a new standard for magazine capacity in 9mm service pistols, and also eliminated the link under the barrel. All modern "Browning" tilt-lock pistol designs are based on it, and they served from 1935 into the 1980s (when better replacements finally became available). I think the Beretta 92 was the first to be a suitable replacement, and it debuted in 1976. My personal preference is the SIG Sauer P226 however (which, of course, copied its locking system with some improvements).

PM-63 - An early holster-able PDW/SMG that rarely gets the credit it deserves. It was essentially the first modern PDW.
Quite popular with Eastern Bloc nations at the time. Stasi, in East Germany, used them (among others).

ArmaLite AR-10, AR-15
Stoner 63A - Eugene Stoner was a genius and his firearm designs set new standards.

The flintlock muzzleloading musket. Invented centuries ago, obviously all the second amendment covers and soon it'll be the only thing you can purchase. Way ahead of it's time

Not to mention the Broom was Steam Punk before Steam Punk was invented...!

AR18 /180. Early piston action.

Remington Nylon 66.

Savage M99.

Steyr AUG.

using this criteria, i would have to go with the MP-18

Remington Nylon 66

Attached File

I wish they would bring this back for us to buy.

@Makarov Not really.  Although the original 1915 version is a goofy thing, the Villar Perosa  was first, and there were conversions of it to a more conventional single gun used in WW1. The original twin gun version was stripped down and fitted with a belt mount for the Arditi.  


The eventual final version of it, saw service right at the end of war, and is a more modern SMG than the Thompson that came out 3 years later.  Certainly it was lighter and much easier/cheaper to produce.

Whatever that shotgun revolver looking thing is that has smart rounds than can do a variety of things like detonate in the air above the target or pierce a wall then detonate...

Agreed. How John Browning thunked up his barrel/breach lockup system staggers my pea brain.

I'm a Glockfag to the core, but Gaston rightfully incorporated Browning's glorious action.

Rayline tracer gun.  

Shoots jet discs.

Glock

Danish propaganda!

Excellent choice.

Belton 16 shot flintlock rifle.
Federov select fire intermediate cartridge rifle.  Sometimes the Russians do invent things first.
1911 - tilting barrel is still used today (modern variation is breech cam that doesn't need a link but conceptually are the same)

Belton 16 shot flintlock rifle.
Federov select fire intermediate cartridge rifle.  Sometimes the Russians do invent things first.
1911 - tilting barrel is still used today (modern variation is breech cam that doesn't need a link but conceptually are the same)

Very cool thread.  Thank you for posting.

There were air rifles before his but his innovation include:

1) breech loader instead of muzzle loader
2) tubular magazine.

VZ-61 Skorpion beat the PM-63 by a few years but I will admit the PM-63 is really neat and I'm looking forward to building mine.

VZ-61 is also holster able SMG/machine pistol that is similar to a scaled down VZ58 in a few notable ways. The VZ61 is lighter and shorter when folded. Due to the magazine it is taller. 32ACP is pretty anemic.

Locking block lockup used in Beretta 92 and DA/SA trigger.

Chaumette had the rotating breechblock before Ferguson and Ferguson modified it by:

1) Taper the breechplug slightly
2) Changing the twist so that it took only one full rotation to expose the breech
3) clean out slots milled into the breechplug for fouling to help keep threads clean

Weakness

1) Very weak stock.  He needed resin laminated wood before that was invented.  Stocks tended to crack