Which gun designer made the largest contribution to the firearms world?

[churchmouse]

I had to go with Kalashnikov for the same reason others have started from the beginning of this thread. There's something to be said for designing the most common weapon on the planet. And I don't see any other firearm on multiple countries' flags.

A one hit wonder. A great hit but just one.
The gun is on flags because they made so freaking many of them and they are more common than hammers in those war torn country's. Really no different than all the SKS pieces they made and buried, stashed etc.
How does this one gun (except for body count and numbers) match all the other offerings by those other engineering genius's.

You are of course giving your opinion and no knock on that as I am just bringing some facts to the debate.

 

[richardraw316]

A one hit wonder. A great hit but just one.
The gun is on flags because they made so freaking many of them and they are more common than hammers in those war torn country's. Really no different than all the SKS pieces they made and buried, stashed etc.
How does this one gun (except for body count and numbers) match all the other offerings by those other engineering genius's.

You are of course giving your opinion and no knock on that as I am just bringing some facts to the debate.

dont forget cheaply. if the weapons were not so cheap to make, then i dont think they would be neat as popular.

i believe if the garand cost 200 dollars a piece, everybody would have it to.
like the sks, and the mosin-nagant.

kalashnikov made a simple weapon that illiterate farmers could operate with minimal training. and that is why he is on this list. it was a great tactic.

 

[dubsac]

Not much of a debate.

 

[Sgt 1371]

the only debate is who is second.

 

[Excalibur]

Well each one of these guys contribute a great deal to the advancement in firearms and the cool thing is, these guys pop up one after another over the course of a 100 plus years. Guns have been around for hundreds of years, but it was the last century and a half where the cool stuff started popping up

 

[packin24/7]

I think Glock did he opened the door to polymer guns even thou H&K was the first at the time they didn’t

Go with it until the usp series

 

[M. Rockatansky]

A one hit wonder. A great hit but just one.
The gun is on flags because they made so freaking many of them and they are more common than hammers in those war torn country's. Really no different than all the SKS pieces they made and buried, stashed etc.
How does this one gun (except for body count and numbers) match all the other offerings by those other engineering genius's.

You are of course giving your opinion and no knock on that as I am just bringing some facts to the debate.

Take biology for instance. The extent of the one hit cannot be discounted. For example, Louis Pasteur had a laundry list of discoveries, vaccines from anthrax to rabies. He did more in the field if you count volume than someone like Alexander Fleming. But Fleming's big "hit" was penicillin. You just cannot discount the scope of the impact of Penicillin. Billions of people have taken penicillin at some point to cure an ailment of some kind, "the most efficacious life-saving drug in the world."

Just like you cannot discount the scope of the impact of the Kalashnikov.

Volume of patents does not automatically mean the largest contribution IMO, and I think that's what those who may have voted for Kalashnikov understand.

 

[churchmouse]

Take biology for instance. The extent of the one hit cannot be discounted. For example, Louis Pasteur had a laundry list of discoveries, vaccines from anthrax to rabies. He did more in the field if you count volume than someone like Alexander Fleming. But Fleming's big "hit" was penicillin. You just cannot discount the scope of the impact of Penicillin. Billions of people have taken penicillin at some point to cure an ailment of some kind, "the most efficacious life-saving drug in the world."

Just like you cannot discount the scope of the impact of the Kalashnikov.

Volume of patents does not automatically mean the largest contribution IMO, and I think that's what those who may have voted for Kalashnikov understand.

Penicillin is a wonder drug. It is not because they made it in mass. It is because it works. AK 47's work at the job intended as do M-16's and so on.
I have no knock on Kalashnikov or his weapon. It does the job. It is also the most mass produced piece in history. That is another reason for it's success.
Mass production made easy by stamped parts....great idea.
The over all impact from his design is likely the highest body count from a single design or close anyway. As stated, it does the job and is noteworthy.
Problem is (in my mind) that was it for him. That might be enough (again, body count) but nothing of substance after. JMHO and is open to debate.

 

[hookedonjeep]

Without a doubt - Mikhail Kalashnikov. With as many weapons / variants produced / in production; and the sheer numbers of conflicts they are involved in, he clearly made the most impact. Not the greatest designer, not the most accurate weapon made, not the prettiest by any standard - but simple, effective, and goes bang every time....

 

[sig1473]

I have just have one question.............What weapon had more of an impact on modern warfare?

The Maxim machine gun(devil's paintbrush) vs. 1911, BAR, 1919, etc. Without a doubt it was the Maxim machine gun. It completely changed the way tactics that military doctrine was/is devised.

 

[richardraw316]

I have just have one question.............What weapon had more of an impact on modern warfare?

The Maxim machine gun(devil's paintbrush) vs. 1911, BAR, 1919, etc. Without a doubt it was the Maxim machine gun. It completely changed the way tactics that military doctrine was/is devised.

straight from wikipedia.
U.S. M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun
FN Browning M1899/M1900
Colt Model 1900
Colt Model 1902
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammer (.38 ACP)
Colt Model 1903 Pocket Hammerless (.32 ACP)
Colt Model 1905
Remington Model 8 (1906), a long recoil semi-automatic rifle
Colt Model 1908 Vest Pocket (.25 ACP)
Colt Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless (.380 ACP)
FN Model 1910
U.S. M1911 pistol (.45 ACP)
Colt Woodsman pistol
Winchester Model 1885 falling-block single shot rifle
Winchester Model 1886 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1887 lever-action repeating shotgun
Winchester Model 1890 slide-action repeating rifle (.22)
Winchester Model 1892 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1894 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1895 lever-action repeating rifle
Winchester Model 1897 pump-action repeating shotgun
Browning Auto-5 long recoil semi-automatic shotgun
U.S. M1917 water-cooled machine gun
U.S. M1919 air-cooled machine gun
U.S. M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR)
U.S. M2 .50-caliber heavy machine gun of 1921 (the famed "Ma-Deuce" weapon)
Remington Model 8 semi-auto rifle
Remington Model 24 semi-auto rifle (.22) Also produced by Browning Firearms (as the SA-22) and several others
Browning Hi-Power (Grand Puissance or GP), the standard sidearm of many military and police forces
The Browning Superposed over/under shotgun was designed by John Browning in 1922 and entered production in 1931
Ithaca Model 37 pump-action repeating shotgun

the maxim was a huge step forward, but there is a whole lot of firearms on this list. some of the designs and at least two whole weapon still in use today.
can you show me a working maxim not in a museum?
cause i can show you a working ma duece. in fact i could show you alot of them.

 

[The Meach]

I would say that Leonardo De Vinci should get a lot of credit. His designs for the wheel lock firing mechanism played a massive role in the evolution of firearms as it created the separation between handheld cannons and true firearms (although the true inventor may be lost to history). The Chinese get the credit for the original invention developing gunpowder during the Tang dynasty and weaponizing it in the form of "huo qiang" of fire spears during the Song dynasty around 950 AD.

 

[Blackhawk2001]

I had to vote for Browning: Yes the 1911 is iconic, but the first thing I thought of was the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. Maxim may have been the inventor of the heavy machine gun, but the M2 is one of the world's best even after almost 100 years of weapons development.

 

[Colts]

A Colt 1911 is great, but not without Browning's design behind it.

 

[quicksdraw]

I have just have one question.............What weapon had more of an impact on modern warfare?

The Maxim machine gun(devil's paintbrush) vs. 1911, BAR, 1919, etc. Without a doubt it was the Maxim machine gun. It completely changed the way tactics that military doctrine was/is devised.

The question was NOT what firearm had the most impact, it was "Which gun designer made the largest contribution to the firearms world?"
The Maxim, like the Kalashnikov, the Garand, the Luger and most of the others all had great impact for their time, but they all were one hit wonders (sorry, but the AK 47, the RPK, the AKM and the AK 74 are all variations of the same action.) John Browning held 128 patents for his firearm designs. No other designer can come anywhere near that record.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I have just have one question.............What weapon had more of an impact on modern warfare?

You cannot change the question unless you post your own poll.

The question was regarding the world of firearms, not warfare.

No other designer is copied or influenced so many other designs than Browning.