1800's manufacturing of guns?

[44 AMP]

oh, I don't know, my GI days taught me that if you can't complain, all that shows is a lack of imagination!

I think the lesson is that talent, skill, artistry, craftsmanship, or what ever you want to call it exists independent of modern technology.

Then there's also the old saying that "the first time is the work of a genius, the 5th time, the work of a skilled craftsman, the 15th time is the work of a tinsmith".

Consider the fact that back in those days people not only had to design the parts, but also cut them out of wood and metal themselves, using hand tools and some powered tools, and get it right, each and every time. Every curve and angle setting had to be done each time, and done right, each time. Quite a bit different from today where now a critical skill is programming the machine to operate rather then operating the machine.

we're not quite to the point of George Jetson, where everything can be done by pushing a single button, but we are closer to that than our forefathers dreamed of.

 

[James K]

Consider the time frame under discussion. The 19th century was the greatest period of advancement in machines and technology ever seen. But even in 1800, gun making (especially in factories working for the military) was partially mass production but with final fitting being done by hand with files and grinding wheels. Machines were uncommon, run usually by water power. A backwoods gunsmith might have designed each part and cut it out by hand, but major makers had advanced well beyond that level.

By 1900, there were still traditionalists, making guns the old way, but most factories had become forests of machine tools and belting, run by a single power source (steam engine or water wheel). Tools were little different from those in use almost up to the present day. In fact, it has only been in the last 30 years that the old machines and tools have been replaced by CNC and other automated and semi-automated tools.

Jim

 

[mete]

French 1874 - I remember working on one of those , Beautifully designed and made ! Remember that those were black powder days and you had a revolver that could be taken apart without tools except the one supplied. Cam locked parts , Take it all apart to clean that corrosive powder. I just sat there and studied a very fine gun !! We hear lots of snide remarks about French items but this is certainly not lacking in the best design !!

 

[Gunplummer]

I own a lot of french guns and the metallurgy and machining is there even on the mass produced military guns. The one thing I have noticed on all military guns is the screws just kept getting finer over the years. I believe that in the late 1800's and early 1900's there was a difficulty in making threads. Some of the threads are so course they look like wood screws.