5 greatest gunmakers of all time?

k77/22rp

New member
In your opinion. and

I mean people not company's.

I would go with,

1. John Moses Browning
2. Mikhail Kalashnikov
3. Hiram Maxim
4. Eugene Stoner
5. John Garand

I know there are better(except #1), but right now thats all I could come up with.
 

lonegunman

New member
I am not a history buff, but seems like Sam Colt should have been in there somewhere.

Didnt he invent the first cartridge firing handgun? I can never remember.
 

Zundfolge

New member
Judging by the large number of G-fanitics here you will soon be crucified for not putting Gaston Glock on that list :p
 
Designers, or manufactureres?

Browning never really manufactured many in the way of firearms. He was a designer.

Garand didn't manufacture any. Springfield Arsenal manufactured his rifles.

If designers whose ideas have had a lasting impact on world history...

1. John M. Browning

2. Mikahale (sp?) Kalashnikov

3. James Parris Lee

4. Hiram Maxim

5. Peter Paul Mauser

Firearms designed by these individuals have had a phenomonal impact on world history.

I'd say that the designers of long-arms have had a far greater impact on the course of world events than have handgun designers.
 

AugustWest

New member
Probably oughta mention Eli Whitney, not so much as a designer, but innovator in the manufacturing of guns. Maybe not top 5, but he was important.
 

Cap n ball

New member
Colt, Purdy, Maxim, Luger, Garand and Mauser. I know that's six but I had to include Purdy. You can't really discuss automobiles without mentioning names like Rolls or Bugatti. Same with firearms.
 
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44rugerfan

New member
1. John Browning
2. Samuel Colt
3. Mikial Kalishnikov
4. John Garand
5. Bill Ruger Sr.

John Browning invented so many important developments in firearms, including the 1911 pistol, various machine guns (I believe the Army still uses the 50 caliber verision) and the first practicail semi-automatic shotgun.
Samuel Colt and the Peacemaker won the West.
Kalishnikov invented the most widely distributed battle rifle, ever.
John Garand and his rifle set the stage for winning WWII.
Bill Ruger didn't invent much, but he sure perfected alot.
 

Zundfolge

New member
It's spelled Mikhail Timofeevich Kalashnikov (although I think his friends may have called him Mikey :) )

Just thought I'd look it up since several people here questioned their own spelling of his name.
 
Actually, that's NOT how he spells his name, Zun.

Kalashnikov uses the Cyrillic alphabet to spell his name.

That's how we spell his name after it has been converted from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet.

That disconnect between the different vocal pronunciations/letter representations have led to some pretty funky spellings of Russian, Chinese, Japanese, etc. names and places over the years.

I took Russian for awhile. It's hard as hell to get the Latin alphabet out of your head when you're spelling Russian words.
 

Correia

New member
Probably not in the correct order, but a few of the greats:

1. Browning (1911, 1917, 1919, M2, BAR, Winchester lever actions, lever, pump, over under, and semi shotgun, host of pocket pistols, and a slew I'm forgetting. He should be number 1-5 at least. Any one of his guns was an amazing invention, let alone dozens of them, yes we still use the M2, and the FN MAG, the most popular GPMG in the world is basically a BAR flipped over converted to a belt fed).
2. Mauser (The best and most copied rifle action ever).
3. Maxim (Father of the heavy machine gun)
4. Garand (M1 Garand)
5. Whitney (Interchangable parts for manufacturing, probably should be much higher on the list if you think about it)
6. Heckler, Koch, & Seidel (Roller locking bolt)
7. Saive (FN 49 rifle, FN-FAL, High Power)
8. Kalashnikov (though this is arguable. He didn't really invent anything new, he just recombined old ideas together well).
9. Horace Smith & Daniel Wesson
10. Sam Colt
11. Col. Lewis (His gun isn't as famous as it deserves to be)
12. Col. George Chinn (Mk.19, and one of the sharpest experts on the machine gun who has ever lived)
13. Hugo Borchardt & Georg Luger. (Borchardt invented the toggle lock, Luger just moved it around into a much nicer weapon)
14. Bill Ruger (As much as I don't really like the man, he has come up with some weapons that have really changed the gun world)
15. Stoner. (More for his pioneering work with aluminum than anything.)
16. Mondragon (kind of a quirky design, but he proved that a military semi-auto rifle could be made, and this was before the turn of the century)
17. Berdan (I believe he was the man that invented the primer cup, IIRC)
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#267. Larry Correia (CUR, CTR concept) :p Someday, you just wait. I'm working on building a prototype of the CUR. (Correia Utility Rifle). Its going to be cool, I promise.
 
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