Five Most Iconic/Influential Firearms of All Time?

[Kynoch]

In your opinion what are the five most iconic and influential handguns, long guns and shotguns of all time? In my opinion (in no specific order):

Handguns:

* Colt 1873 SAA
* Colt M1911
* S&W M&P/Model 10
* Ruger MKI
* Glock 17

Long Guns:

* Winchester Model 1894
* Mauser Model 98
* Winchester Model 70
* M1 Garand
* Colt AR-15/AK-47 (tie)

Shotguns:

* Winchester Model 1897
* Browning Auto-5
* Winchester Model 12
* Remington Model 870
* Benelli M2

 

[TennJed]

Not a long gun or shotgun guy so I will stick with handguns

Iver Johnson 1879
Baby Browning
Colt 1873 SAA
Colt M1911
Glock17

 

[rskent]

In handguns:
Colt Walker
Colt 1911
Colt vest pocket
Smith & Wesson hand ejector
Glock 17

 

[Midwest]

.38 special (used by cops for decades)
1911 .45 acp
Thompson Machine gun
870 Shotgun
AK47

No special order

 

[Nanook]

Winchester 94
1911
Browning Hi Power
M-1 Garand
Remington 870

 

[303tom]

In your opinion what are the five most iconic and influential handguns, long guns and shotguns of all time? In my opinion (in no specific order):

Handguns:

* Colt 1873 SAA
* Colt M1911
* S&W Model 10
* Ruger MKI
* Glock 17

Long Guns:

* Winchester Model 1894
* Mauser Model 98
* Winchester Model 70
* M1 Garand
* Colt AR-15/AK-47 (tie)

Shotguns:

* Winchester Model 1897
* Browning Auto-5
* Winchester Model 12
* Remington Model 870
* Benelli M2

I can agree with that list.............Edited.

 

[fatcat4620]

Rifles:
AK 47
AK 47
AK 47
AK 47
AK 47

 

[SaxonPig]

Um... Colt didn't make the Garand.

You can ask 100 knowledgeable people this question and get 100 good, but different, answers.

I'm not a shotgun guy so I can't speak to that issue. In my opinion the 5 most significant handguns were...

1. The Walker Colt. Not the first revolver, but the first legitimate fighting handgun.

2. The 1873 Colt SAA. Ushered in the concept of a cartridge revolver in a serious caliber.

3. The Colt 1911. The most successful and arguably best semi-auto pistol design.

4. The S&W Military & Police Model. The grandfather for all DA revolvers.

5. The Ruger Standard Model 22 pistol. The gun that built Ruger and was the first affordable sporting pistol.

The 5 most significant rifles...

1. The Brown Bess musket. Ruled an empire.

2. The 1860 Henry. First in a long line of lever rifles. Some would argue for the Spencer, but I think the Henry outshines the Spencer for the most part and it becomes the ancestor of repeating rifles.

3. The Winchester Model 94. Essentially a variant of the Henry, but its incredible success has to rank it on its own merits. How many of these have been made?

3. The Mauser Model 98. The best military rifle of its time, it became the basis for all subsequent bolt action designs. Nobody has really improved on it.

4. The AK47. Sure, the Krauts did it first with their STG44 but the AK is the one we all think about when the term "assault rifle" is mentioned. Can 30 million Communist insurgents be wrong?

5. The Ruger 10/22. The rifle version of the Standard Model pistol.

that's my list. I'm sure 99 others will follow. BTW- I own 3 of the 5 rifles and 4 of the 5 handguns for a 70% average. Need to pick that up a bit.

 

[T.R.]

Henry lever action rifle
Colt 1860 revolver
Colt 1911
Armalite M-16
AK-47

 

[grampster]

Very subjective subject.

I have always been fond of the Ithaca Featherlite pump shotgun.

 

[Sobel]

1.ak series of rifles
2.garand
3.makarov
4.stg44
5.Dp-28 because pancakes aren't just for breakfast

honourable mention Rifle No.9 Mk1 one of the first ( to my knowledge ) bull pup rifles sadly the brits didn't stick with it

 

[bannockburn]

Handguns

1) Single Action Revolver-Black Powder (Colt 1851, Colt 1860)
2) Single Action Revolver-Metallic Cartridge (Colt SAA)
3) Double Action Revolver (S&W Model 10)
4) Semi-Auto Pistol (Colt M1911)
5) Semi-Auto Pistol (Glock 17)

Rifles

1) Black Powder Rifle (Kentucky Long Rifle)
2) Repeating Rifle-Lever Action (Henry Model 1860)
3) Bolt Action Rifle (Mauser Model 1898)
4) Semi/Full-Auto Rifle (AR-15/M-16)
5) Semi/Full-Auto Rifle (AK-47)

Shotguns

1) Pump Action Shotgun (Winchester Model 1897)
2) Pump Action Shotgun (Winchester Model 12)
3) Pump Action Shotgun (Remington Model 870)
4) Over/Under Shotgun (Browning Superposed)
5) Semi-Auto Shotgun (Browning Auto 5)

 

[tarosean]

Influential. As you can still see traces today..

Sturmgewehr 44
Palmer Carbine
Spencer Repeater
Stoner 63
Nylon 66


Borchardt C-93
Schönberger-Laumann 1892
Colt M1873
Hk vp70
1907 Roth Steyr

A5
Merkel O/U
Anson Deeley Boxlox
Winchester M1897
Winchester 12

Iconic conjures up different guns.

Desert eagle
Glock 17
Beretta 92

MP5
M16
AK47

Coach gun

 

[helotaxi]

4. The AK47. Sure, the Krauts did it first with their STG44 but the AK is the one we all think about when the term "assault rifle" is mentioned. Can 30 million Communist insurgents be wrong?

The interesting thing about the AK isn't the influence that it has had on the development of firearms but more in the influence it has had in shaping the politics of the world. Not just with the Communist rebels, but with every type of insurgent force most everywhere in the world regardless of their politics or religion. The Russians and Chinese will sell to anyone with money and "The Gun" was designed around cheap mass production making them both available and affordable regardless of means and backings of these groups. The fact that they are "soldier proof" means that there are tons of them out there still shooting.

 

[SaxonPig]

Like most Soviet machinery, the AK is built like a tank. It was designed for heavy use under adverse conditions in the hands of uneducated peasants with little or no service.

 

[gbeecher]

Tough Question

For firearms of all types my list would include:
Kentucky Long Rifle (rifling vs smoothbore)
Springfield Model 1842 (percussion cap; mass manufacturing)
Colt SAA Revolver (metallic cartridge; revolver; mass produced)
1888 Lee-Metford Rifle (magazine fed; bolt action repeater; clip loaded)
M1 Garand (semi-auto; mass produced)

 

[Buck Kramer]

AK-47
M16
1911
Glock 17
Winchester 1897

 

[dogtown tom]

Five Most Iconic/Influential Firearms of All Time?

Funny how most listed only American firearms.........and even in the US some of those are hardly "iconic" or "influential".

Do you mean influential by design or by it's actual use?

An argument could be made that these are some of the most "influential" firearms of all time:

.44 cal Henry derringer (used to shoot Lincoln)
FN 1910 (used to assassinate Archduke Ferdinand....leading to WWI and eventually WWII)
AK47- used by nearly every ComBloc nation and supplied to guerrillas, third world dictators and the like for decades.

 

[Ian]

Iconic and influential don't necessarily overlap - but given that, here are my picks:

Handguns:
Borchardt (influential)
Luger (iconic)
1911 (iconic)
1873 Colt (iconic)
Glock 17 (both)

Rifles:
AKM (both)
M16 (iconic)
Mauser 98 (iconic)
Lebel 1886 (influential)
Winchester 1873 (both)


Machine guns (since I'm really not a shotgun guy):
Maxim (both)
Gattling (iconic - yes, not technically an MG, I know)
MP-18 (influential)
Browning M2 (iconic)
ZB-26 (influential)

 

[claiborne]

Colt 1911 A1
Colt M-16/AR-15
Remington 870
Ruger 10-22
Winchester 1894

 

[Dr.Rob]

Influential?

Colt Patterson: the proof of concept of a revolver that worked reliably enough to foster numerous other designs up to the final interation of Colt's black powder series.

Smith And Wesson M&P: arguably more successful than Colt's DA revolvers and more often copied than Colts. Created in the late 1800's and still in production. Outclassed in the 80's by wondernines, still effective and soldiering on all over the world.

Mauser pattern bolt action rifle. I give Mauser the edge over Enfield by a wide margin. Mausers and clones are still being made, Enfields are not. While the British rifle may have been faster in battle, it's not suited to beefing up like a Mauser action is. If you have ONE bolt action rifle in your hands there's a good chance it's got some Mauser heritage in it.

Browning Hi-Power: Argue all you want about Browning vs. Saive.. this pistol continues to influence designs to this day. So many pistols use Browning's recoil system and staggered magazine that people forget these were at one time new and innovative designs.

STG44/45: As the grandfather of most modern assault rifles there was a lot wrong with the design and a lot right. Innovations we still use today are stamped steel mfg, hi cap, selective fire intermediate cartridges straight line recoil and a robust gas system. While the AK looks like it.. the AK internally owes almost nothing to the complexity of the STG. Thus.. The Russians made a better rifle that had some of the best features. After seeing one taken apart you can even see lineage of the STG design in the AR series of rifles.

 

[Ian]

Dr. Rob,

There were self-indexing revolvers before the Paterson, and some of them are known to have helped influence Colt's thinking. Like the one in this video:

http://www.forgottenweapons.com/pattern-room/

 

[Kyle M.]

Handguns
Colt SAA
C96 mauser
p08 luger
Colt 1911
Walther p38



Rifles
1894 winchester
1903 springfield
M1 garand
AK-47
AR-15/M16


Shotguns
Winchester 1897
Browning A5
Remington 11-87
Mossberg 500
Remington 870

 

[HDCamel]

Handguns:
Colt Patterson
S&W M&P revolver
Colt 1911
BHP
Glock 17

I don't really know shotguns, but I'll just say the Winchester 1893/1897 and the Browning Auto 5.

Rifles:
Jaeger/Kentuckey/Pennsylvania rifle
Mauser bolt action
BAR
M16
AK-47

 

[Cosmoline]

Springfield Model 1842 (percussion cap; mass manufacturing)

That's a great choice, and one you rarely see on these lists. Along with the 1841 Mississippi Rifle made by Whitney's mill, it represented a new era in industrial technology. Hall's unsuccessful attempt at a breechloader was the Xerox Park of its day, and the engineers who worked on Hall's machines went on to become the foundation stones of further developments. The 1842, while reverting to front stuffing, put this innovation into large scale practice. It's not just an important firearm but an incredible leap forward in industrial technology. Without interchangeable parts, all further development becomes much more difficult or outright impossible. Good musket too. They did a lot of leg work in the Civil War and you still see them around in shooting condition.

I would add:

First Model "Brown Bess"--one of the first and most successful pattern flintlock muskets

The Kentucky/Pennsylvania Long Rifle--An icon of American independence and an early example of a hunting rifle crossing over to military use.

Fusil 1886 "Lebel"--The original smokeless powder rifle, incredibly influential and an icon of the Great War

Mauser 1898--The perfection of the Mauser designs, and remains the standard against which all bolt actions are measured.