MOST INFLUENTIAL GUN INOVATORS
03-07-2006, 11:53 AM
#23
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 5,425
RE: MOST INFLUENTIAL GUN INOVATORS
Well....John Deere did manufacture the first steel plow...made it out of a saw blade...before then they were made of cast iron and the black, rich soils of the plains stuck to them terribly, you literally had to stop every few feet and clean the soil off of the plow share...So he was a pretty good blacksmith...
But when Eli Whitney invented interchangable parts and sat down in front of the Army brass and started pulling parts out of boxes and making rifles, he opened up a whole new way of producing firearms....Before then guns were handmade and hand fitted...so if a part broke....you had to go to a gunsmith or blacksmith to repair....
But when Eli Whitney invented interchangable parts and sat down in front of the Army brass and started pulling parts out of boxes and making rifles, he opened up a whole new way of producing firearms....Before then guns were handmade and hand fitted...so if a part broke....you had to go to a gunsmith or blacksmith to repair....
03-07-2006, 12:39 PM
#24
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: S Texas
Posts: 1,037
RE: MOST INFLUENTIAL GUN INOVATORS
True! But if he had not come up with the cash to bankroll the Henry invention, and the marketing expertise to popularize the design, it might not have achieved it's stature as "The Gun that Won the West"!
Much the same might be said of Roy Weatherby. He was not the only guy in his era to design blown-out magnums on the .300 H&H case. All he did was cook up the venturi shoulder, which was merely a cosmetic feature allowinghim to claim great things for his rounds, that fit into his high-pressure sales approach! IMO, ol' Roy was more of a salesman than a gun designer too, just like Winchester!
Much the same might be said of Roy Weatherby. He was not the only guy in his era to design blown-out magnums on the .300 H&H case. All he did was cook up the venturi shoulder, which was merely a cosmetic feature allowinghim to claim great things for his rounds, that fit into his high-pressure sales approach! IMO, ol' Roy was more of a salesman than a gun designer too, just like Winchester!
And yeah, Eli Whitney probably had more toinfluence of the firearms industry than any of the designers (and marketers!) mentioned here. Without interchangable parts, we'd be up a certain creek that we don't need to name.
