The History And Development Of Small Arms

Part of the Weapons of War series, Small Arms 1870-1950 brings together the most important handheld guns of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in a single volume. The book includes some of the best-known weapons of the era, such as the Luger pistol, Mosin-Nagant rifle, Thompson M1928 submachine gun, Sten Gun, and Browning M2HB heavy machine gun. Small Arms 1870-1950 features 150 entries of the most important guns from history. Weapons design was revolutionised in the late nineteenth century with the development of the magazine loading system. Without doubt, the generation of firearms designers that altered, improved and generally revised the rifles of the years prior to World War I were influenced by a legion of innovators and designers who had gone before them. Every weapon in Weapons of War Small Arms 1870-1950 is illustrated with an accurate color artwork and each entry includes a specifications table with essential information such as weight, length, caliber and range. The concise text provides a summary of the design, development, service history, and performance of each weapon. Gun enthusiasts and history buffs alike will be blown away by this enlightening, thorough look inside the small arms of 1870- 1950.

An in-depth history of the small arms made by the Sterling Company of Dagenham, Essex, England, from 1940 until the company closed in 1989. The Lanchester and the Patchett Machine Carbines were both developed at Sterling Engineering Co Ltd during World War II. With the appearance of the earliest Patchett prototypes the military began testing them in ever more rigorous trials, wherein the Patchett kept proving its merits. This led to limited UK adoption of the MkII Patchett as the L2A1 in 1953, and the “first Sterling,” the MkII, as the L2A2 in 1955. Then came Sterling’s “Crown Jewel,” the superb Mk4, adopted as the general-issue UK “Gun, Sub-Machine, L2A3” in September, 1955. Manufactured briefly but intensively by ROF Fazakerley (1955–1959) and by Sterling for over 30 years, nearly 4,000,000 were made. Unlike wraparound bolt designs like the UZI, the Sterling was capable of being truly silenced with standard 9mm ball ammunition (as opposed to being merely “suppressed”). The excellent silenced Sterling-Patchett Mk5, adopted as the UK L34A1 in 1967, is the only Sterling remaining in British Service. All prototypes, military Marks, commercial and licensed production models of the Sterling are described, including the Canadian C1 SMG and the Indian 1A Carbine. Contains notes on manufacturing methods and procedures as used at Sterling, ROF Fazakerley, Canadian Arsenals Limited and the Indian Small Arms Factory, Kanpur (Cawnpore), plus extensive notes on inter-model interchangeability, serial number ranges, quantities produced, client-country purchases of the various Sterling Marks, and accessories. Praise for A History of the Small Arms made by the Sterling Armament Company “If you have an interest in small arms then this is a book that belongs in your library or book shelf. The book does a great job of providing the reader with the story of the weapons that evolved into the Sterling sub-machine gun and the changes in design that took place over that history. The result was a weapon that served in many fields of conflict and performed admirably.” —Armorama

This book examines Western military technological innovation through the lens of developments in small arms during the twentieth century. These weapons have existed for centuries, appear to have matured only incrementally and might seem unlikely technologies for investigating the trajectory of military-technical change. Their relative simplicity, however, makes it easy to use them to map patterns of innovation within the military- industrial complex. Advanced technologies may have captured the military imagination, offering the possibility of clean and decisive outcomes, but it is the low technologies of the infantryman that can help us develop an appreciation for the dynamics of military-technical change. Tracing the path of innovation from battlefield to back office, and from industry to alliance partner, Ford develops insights into the way that small arms are socially constructed. He thereby exposes the mechanics of power across the military- industrial complex. This in turn reveals that shifting power relations between soldiers and scientists, bureaucrats and engineers, have allowed the private sector to exploit infantry status anxiety and shape soldier weapon preferences. Ford's analysis allows us to draw wider conclusions about how military innovation works and what social factors frame Western military purchasing policy, from small arms to more sophisticated and expensive weapons.