Jamie+Weapons+Technology

=**//Weapons Technology//**=

Rifles
[|Rifles Timeline]toc Before the Civil War, weapons were very inaccurate. Firearms were simply not what they needed to be. On average a weapon from before the civil war would  hit one out of five times. The rifle barrel was enlogated throughout the war, while not compromising the weight. This would make the bullet shoot straighter, therefore giving soldiers the opportunity to hit targets that are far away. After the civil came to a close rifles that were invented, had a new approximate average of three out of five. Although this number still seems bad, at the time it was revolutionary. Also, rifles were very large and bulky, making it hard to reload the weapon. At the beginning of the civil war you could load one bullet per minute, antowards the end it was three, which is a big difference. If you look at the ammunition subcategory you will find out how this happend. Throughout the war the rifle experienced a change, that hasn't happened since they were first introduced.

Shotguns, and cose combat weapons
[|shotgun/combat weapons timeline] Since more often then not, you would miss your shot, close combat was essential in the Civil War. Soldiers being attacked would stand their ground, and all though they were shooting, they were not afraid to take out there bayonet and stab the opposing side. Rifles were also unmanageable, for soldiers on horseback, therefore they would either carry pistols or, swords. Although you would believe that the gun would win,but odds were almost against riflemen, against horseback soldiers always. Shotguns were a very rare site to see in the Civil War. They were mainly used to guard stage coaches when they were carrying items for the troops. Although they were not used often, for they were very expensive, they were definitely the most powerful gun in the Civil War. This shotgun was the first introduction of the double barrel shotgun. This design is still used today, for hunting, and other purposes.

Pistols
[|Pistols Timeline] Pistols were a very common, but barely used weapon of the war. Pistols technology hardly changed during the war, being as their was not much to do to them. The civil war era, was when pistol were turning from flint lock pirate like pistols, to revolvers, and modern pistols. They were seldom used in the war, because they could not shoot very far, and by the time they could get close enough to shoot someone, they would most likely have been stabbed by a bayonet. Furthermore pistols were mainly used by calvary, for they were easy to carry and light. Besides that they were sometimes used in close combat, because they were more accurate then rifles. Although pistols were certainly used in the civil war, they were more of a novelty, or prize. Pistols would cost on average, 20-40 dollars, and mossoldiers did not have one dollar to their name, therefore it was a prize if you got someone who had one. More often then not a soldier would send the pistol home, so their family could sell it, for it proved more useful to them, than a soldier.

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Cannons
Civil War artillery was somewhat limited to only firing at visible targets. This means that artillery fought side by side with the infantry.

Cannons were, with the exception of one or two types such as the Whitworth were all muzzle loading guns. They needed several men to properly crew a cannon. Each one of these artillerymen was typically cross-trained so that they could do other jobs with the different parts of loading and firing of the weapon. This was especially important if one member of the gun crew was wounded or killed, someone else could do his job as well as his own. Civil War Cannons were very valuable and expensive, because of this they were very highly maintained and artillerymen had to keep very strict, and discipline rules to keep them operating, and in proper working condition.

Revolutionary Weapons
Doctor Richard in the year 1861 created the Gatling Gun. It was a six-barreled gun capable of firing 200 rounds per minute. The Gatling gun was a hand-driven, crank-operated, multi-barrel, machine gun. It was the first machine gun with reliable loading. The Galting gun also had the ability to fire sustained multiple bursts. When Richard Gatling created this gun during the Civil War, he believed that his invention would end the war by making it unimaginable to use it because of the terrible carnage possible by his weapon. But, Gatling Gun's would reduce the amount of soldiers required to remain on the battlefield.

Ammunition
In 1848, Claude F. Minie, the French Army captain, created the Minie Ball. It was created for soldiers to shoot bullets much faster and much farther. It could reach at least a half-mile, and easily hit a target 250 yards away. The bullets were very expensive, but worth it because of the high precision when shooting them. In 1855, James H. Burton made a much cheaper version and it began being used by those in the U.S Army. Both sides of the Civil War had used this bullet, but neither side predicted how much of a difference this bullet would make.