Self-loading pistols

Revolvers and Self-Loading Pistols. The pistol can be defined as a weapon designed to be fired using only one hand. It exists today in the form of the pistol revolver and the self-loading pistol. Of the two types the pistol revolver is the earlier and the self-loading pistol is, comparatively, a newcomer to the battlefield Pistol Revolver. 

The Brit Army adopted the Webley hinged frame in 1894. This had a stirrup-shaped lock which engaged over the barrel stop to produce a very rigid frame. Development of the revolver has subsequently produced no new principles but many small innovations Self-Loading Pistols. 

The self-loading pistol became possible because of the development in ammo. The production of a strong case, capable of producing total obscuration as well as withstanding not only proplnt pressure but the stress of extraction, was the first requirement. Next came the production of propints able to burn away completely in the first inch or so of bullet travel and lastly the jacketted bullet, firmly crimped into a brass case, which could withstand the shock of loading... 

When such a cartridge was available the self-loading pistol followed as a matter of course and... 

As early as 1718 there was a hand-operated repeating gun, and in 1862 Dr. Richard Gatling demonstrated a weapon of this kind which used revolving barrels. These weapons had severe limitations and it was not until 1884 that the first real fully automatic machine gun was patented by Sir Hiram Maxim. This was the first automatic firearm, and it was recoil operated.36 The development of the Maxim machine gun focused attention on the development of self-loading rifles and pistols. 

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