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Reflective Essay: The Five Guns That Changed History

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In this weeks readings the author discusses the 5 guns that changed history. I agree with some of the weapons he has chosen but I believe there are a few others that should have made the list. I will start with the ones I agreed with. The Philadelphia Derringer defiantly changed history with the assassination of President Lincoln. The Philadelphia Derringer only held one shot and John Wilkes Booth effectively used the one shot. The Colt 1911 has had significant contribution to history as it is the first official semi-automatic side arm for the United States and was the longest serving side arm. The Kalashnlkov or AK47 is defiantly a history maker. With the AK-47 being developed at the end of WWII and is still widely used throughout the world today. The AK-47 is highly reliable and can function under the harshest of conditions. Which makes it ideal …show more content…

It is still in its testing phase and my unit was lucky enough to be issued a couple in Afghanistan. I did not have any experience with it personally but have heard from those who have, when it worked it was nice. At times it was pain to keep on target with the recoil. It uses a 25mm round which is smaller then the 30mm rounds we used in MK-19 and M-203. The difference from the MK-19, M-203 and XM-25 is the XM-25 system is an airburst round vs. an impact round. This system is still in its experimental phase and has not been widely used. I think it is too premature to add it to the list of the 5 gun that changed history. I believe the M1 Grand should be on the list. It changed how we fought in WWII. At the start of WWII the standard issue was the M1903 Springfield and by the end the M1Grand was the standard issue. General Patton once called the M1 Grand “The greatest battle implement ever devised”. With the .30cal punch, air cooled, gas operated, semi-automatic and the ability to use stripper clips made it perfect firearm of the

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