The Industrialization of Firearms (Part 1)

WELCOME BACK TO THE MISSION94 FIREARMS EDUCATION CENTER VIDEO  SERIES. BEFORE WE EXPLORE THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF FIREARMS, LET’S  TAKE A LOOK AT OUR SPACE.  

WHEN YOU ENTER MISSION94, OUR RETAIL AREA IS ON THE RIGHT. OUR STORE  IS CURATED WITH PREMIUM BRANDS INCLUDING STACCATO, SIG SAUER,  GLOCK, AND MORE. DOWN THE HALL, WE ENTER THE HEART OF OUR FACILITY,  THE CLASSROOMS. WE BELIEVE THAT A STRONG FOUNDATIONAL EDUCATION  IN FIREARMS HISTORY AND PRACTICAL APPLICATION ARE THE HALLMARKS OF  RESPONSIBLE FIREARMS OWNERS.   

WE CANT FULLY APPRECIATE THE MODERN FIREARM UNTIL WE HAVE A BETTER  UNDERSTANDING OF THE HUGE IMPROVEMENTS USHERED IN BY THE  INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION. 

THE EARLY 1800S USHERED IN A PERIOD OF RELATIVE PEACE AND PROSPERITY  AT HOME AND ABROAD THAT ALLOWED PEOPLE TO DO WHAT THEY DO BEST –  INNOVATE. DURING THIS BOOM PERIOD, CALLED THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION,  CHANGES IN THE FIREARMS INDUSTRY HAPPENED RAPIDLY AND ALLOWED FOR  THE CREATION OF SAFER AND MORE RELIABLE FIREARMS AVAILABLE TO A  WIDER RANGE OF PEOPLE. LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING.   

WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR OVER AND THE STATE AND FEDERAL  GOVERNMENTS ESTABLISHED, THE UNITED STATES ENTERED A DYNAMIC  PERIOD OF ECONOMIC CHANGE. OVERSEAS POWERS BEGAN QUESTIONING THE  ABILITY OF THE UNITED STATES TO BE A PLAYER ON THE WORLD STAGE AND  TRADE FLOUNDERED AS THE BRITISH AND FRENCH CONTINUALLY VIOLATED US  NEUTRAL RIGHTS AT SEA. THESE CONTINUAL VIOLATIONS WERE A BIG REASON  THE US EVENTUALLY ENTERED THE WAR OF 1812.   

BUT THE US DIDN’T SIT BY AS BRITAIN AND FRANCE VIOLATED US RIGHTS AT  SEA. NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION AND WITH WAR ON THE  HORIZON, THE NEED FOR FASTER MEANS OF DOMESTIC MANUFACTURING  GAVE RISE TO ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT INVENTIONS OF THE 1800S, ONE  THAT WOULD AFFECT ALMOST EVERY MANUFACTURING OPERATION,  INCLUDING THE FIREARMS INDUSTRY – INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS.

THE CONCEPT OF INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS IS SIMPLE – AN ITEM IS MADE  FROM THE SAME STANDARD SET OF PARTS; PARTS THAT ARE ALL THE SAME  SIZE. IF ONE SHOULD BREAK, IT COULD BE EASILY REPLACED BY ANOTHER  IDENTICAL PIECE. WITH WAR ON THE HORIZON, SIMEON NORTH, ELI WHITNEY,  AND JOHN HALL APPLIED THIS PROCESS TO FIREARMS MANUFACTURING.   

THESE REVOLUTIONARIES ALL CONTRIBUTED DIFFERENT ASPECTS TO THIS  STANDARDIZED FORM OF FIREARMS MANUFACTURING. SIMEON NORTH  RECEIVED A CONTRACT FROM THE US ARMY TO PRODUCE PISTOLS, “THE  COMPONENT PARTS OF PISTOLS ARE TO CORRESPOND SO EXACTLY THAT ANY  LIMB OR PART OF ONE PISTOL MAY BE FITTED TO ANY OTHER PISTOL OF THE  TWENTY THOUSAND.” THIS WAS UNHEARD OF THEN. AFTER GOING THROUGH  A FEW DESIGN CHANGES, NORTH PROVIDED THE US ARMY WITH NEARLY  20,000 PISTOLS FROM 1817 TO 1820 ALL FITTED WITH INTERCHANGEABLE  PARTS. ELI WHITNEY TOOK THE SAME APPROACH BUT APPLIED IT TO  MUSKETS.   

WORKING AT THE SAME TIME AS NORTH AND WHITNEY, JOHN HALL TOOK A  DIFFERENT APPROACH.  

RATHER THAN FOCUSING ON THE PARTS THEMSELVES, HALL FOCUSED ON  MACHINERY, ENSURING THAT EACH PART CREATED WAS UNIFORM. HE  DEVELOPED MACHINE TOOLS, FIXTURES AND GAUGES AND EMPLOYED MORE  MACHINISTS THAN GUNSMITHS. THROUGH HIS WORK, JOHN HALL SHOWED 

THAT MACHINING COULD PRODUCE A SUPERIOR FIREARM IN A SHORTER TIME  THAN IN AN ARTISAN’S HANDS ALONE. 

OTHER INNOVATIONS FOLLOWED JOHN HALLS INCREDIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO  THE INDUSTRIALIZATIONS OF FIREARMS IN AMERICA. SEE HOW THE  PERCUSSION CAP AND THE CAPLOCK MECHANISM CREATED A BIG SHIFT IN  THE HISTORY OF FIREARMS IN PART 2.