The Advancement of The Machine Gun Essay -- Warfare

War has been a recurring part of Americas history for the past hundreds of years. From the 1700s to the present, America has gotten into numerous situations and turmoil, which eventually lead to the wars we currently guide and know about today. Technological advancements in warfare were necessary and a great obligation during times of war. This was pursued with drastic improvement. From the transformation of the use of unrifled muskets during the Civil War to the industrial revolution leading to weaponry innovations post civil war, the nature of warfare dramatically changed. These developments proved to be proficient in battle. In the midst of these hundreds of years, while many technological advances demonstrated to be efficient in battle, the machine gun was one of the most significant advancements in technology that changed the face of warfare through its transformation of operations and strategy. During the civil war before the introduction of the machine guns, union soldiers predominantly used unrifled muskets. The rifles low muzzle velocity and consequent high parabolic trajectory made for difficult long-range shooting, especially since soldiers engaged in little target practice and received virtually no training in estimating distances or in using the adjustable sights to compensate for the bullets curved flight. The tangled terrain of most battlefieldsand the black powder smoke that engulfed every battleoften rendered enemy soldiers invisible until they were within smoothbore range (Hess 288). This was presume to be the reason of why the war was prolonged, and the combat losses were higher during the smoothbore era. Also with an ability of only firing a maximum of lead rounds per minute (Howey), this rat... ...smith, Dolf L., and R. Blake. Stevens. The Devils Paintbrush Sir Hiram Maxims Gun. Toronto Collector Grade Publications, 1989. Print.2. Hess, Earl J. The Rifle Musket in Civil War Combat Reality and Myth. Lawrence, Kan University Press of Kansas, 2008. Print.3. Howey, Allan W. Weaponry The Rifle-Musket and the Mini eyeball History Net. History Net. Weider History Group, Oct. 1999. Web. 12 May 2012. .4. Lee, Loyd E. World War II. Westport, CT Greenwood, 1999. Print.5. Popenker, Max R. Modern Firearms - MachineGuns. Max R. Popenker, 1999-2010. Web. 10 May 2012. .6. Simkin, John. Machine-Gun. Spartacus Educational - sept Page. John Simkin. Web. 10 May 2012. .